It’s probably no secret that I’m a fan of scripting. I love the ability to be able to get consistent and even results on every job, install or upgrade my support team or I do. The end result is it makes installations and updates faster. And it definitely makes everyone’s life easier when trouble finds you – all you have to do is compare your broken system to a working system that is configured the same way and you can usually figure out the issue. Also I’ve been around the industry long enough to remember DOS 5, DOS 6.22, and early versions of OS/2 (not to mention the Vic20, C64 and Amiga 500s I had over the years) – I’m generally always faster on a keyboard than with a mouse (although I actually use a trackball when I’m at my desk), albeit sometimes the mouse is just simpler – but those cases are few and far between in an enterprise class IT world.
One of the tools I end up often having to install from scratch at client locations is WSUS (Windows Server Update Services). And it’s a pain in the ass to install. You need to install IIS, you need to install SQL, you need to install WSUS, and then you have to configure WSUS itself. All time consuming if you use Server Manager. But hey – breakout the Command Prompt and PowerShell and you can be done in no time with a few simple commands.
Before you follow these instructions, make sure the server you are doing this on is an already updated Windows 2012 R2 Server with all current Microsoft Updates (otherwise it may cause you extra bullshit and grief later on). Then after WSUS is installed, be to check for Microsoft Updates (hey – you could probably use your shiny new WSUS server to do that!) again to update the prerequisites you had to install before even installing WSUS.
Speaking of those prerequisites, of course WSUS on Windows Server 2012 R2 has a few prerequisites. The first one is IIS – it must be installed with specific features. Being lazy, I usually install most all the features with my catch-all IIS installation script. Open an Administrative Command Prompt and run:
DISM.EXE /enable-feature /online /featurename:IIS-ASP /featurename:IIS-ASPNET /featurename:IIS-ASPNET45 /featurename:IIS-ApplicationDevelopment /featurename:IIS-ApplicationInit /featurename:IIS-BasicAuthentication /featurename:IIS-CGI /featurename:IIS-CertProvider /featurename:IIS-ClientCertificateMappingAuthentication /featurename:IIS-CommonHttpFeatures /featurename:IIS-CustomLogging /featurename:IIS-DefaultDocument /featurename:IIS-DigestAuthentication /featurename:IIS-DirectoryBrowsing /featurename:IIS-HealthAndDiagnostics /featurename:IIS-HttpCompressionDynamic /featurename:IIS-HttpCompressionStatic /featurename:IIS-HttpErrors /featurename:IIS-HttpLogging /featurename:IIS-HttpRedirect /featurename:IIS-HttpTracing /featurename:IIS-IIS6ManagementCompatibility /featurename:IIS-IISCertificateMappingAuthentication /featurename:IIS-IPSecurity /featurename:IIS-ISAPIExtensions /featurename:IIS-ISAPIFilter /featurename:IIS-LegacyScripts /featurename:IIS-LegacySnapIn /featurename:IIS-LoggingLibraries /featurename:IIS-ManagementConsole /featurename:IIS-ManagementScriptingTools /featurename:IIS-ManagementService /featurename:IIS-Metabase /featurename:IIS-NetFxExtensibility /featurename:IIS-NetFxExtensibility45 /featurename:IIS-ODBCLogging /featurename:IIS-Performance /featurename:IIS-RequestFiltering /featurename:IIS-RequestMonitor /featurename:IIS-Security /featurename:IIS-ServerSideIncludes /featurename:IIS-StaticContent /featurename:IIS-URLAuthorization /featurename:IIS-WMICompatibility /featurename:IIS-WebServer /featurename:IIS-WebServerManagementTools /featurename:IIS-WebServerRole /featurename:IIS-WebSockets /featurename:IIS-WindowsAuthentication /featurename:NetFx4Extended-ASPNET45
Next, we need to install SQL Express. I’ve been pretty much standardized on SQL Express 2014 SP2 with tools (SQLEXPRWT_x64_ENU.exe) for a while now. From the command prompt you are going to extract it to C:\TEMP then run an unattended SQL setup using these two commands from an Administrative Command Prompt (**note: this command line expects you to be using SQL Express 2014 SP2 and not a previous version of SQL Express, even if WSUS supports it**):
SQLEXPRWT_x64_ENU.exe /q /x:"c:\TEMP\SQLEXPRWT_x64_ENU"
c:\TEMP\SQLEXPRWT_x64_ENU\SETUP.exe /ACTION=Install /ADDCURRENTUSERASSQLADMIN /AGTSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE" /AGTSVCSTARTUPTYPE="AUTOMATIC" /BROWSERSVCSTARTUPTYPE="AUTOMATIC" /FEATURES=SQLENGINE,Replication,Tools /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS /INDICATEPROGRESS /INSTANCEID=MSSQLSERVER /INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER /NPENABLED=1 /QS /ROLE=AllFeatures_WithDefaults /SQLSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" /SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS="Administrators" /SQMREPORTING=0 /TCPENABLED=1
WSUS also has a prerequisite that IIS_WPG, NETWORK, NETWORK SERVICE, and SERVICE have “Log on a service” rights on the WSUS server. Unfortunately, this part is a mouse job (I haven’t done the research yet to script this). Start the Local Security Policy Management Console on the WSUS server. Navigate to Local Policies –> User Rights Assignment branch, edit the “Log on as a service” setting, and add the following four accounts (you should be able to cut and paste these into the add accounts dialog box):
IIS_WPG; NETWORK; NETWORK SERVICE; SERVICE
There is a chance IIS_WPG won’t exist, don’t worry about it, just remove it and keep on going (if it doesn’t exist now, then it isn’t going to exist when WSUS is installed either). After closing Local Security Policy, don’t forget to update the policy with “gpupdate /force” from the Administrative Command Prompt before continuing.
Now open an Administrative PowerShell and run:
Install-WindowsFeature -Name UpdateServices-Services, UpdateServices-DB -IncludeManagementTools
Once Install-WindowsFeature completes, back in the Administrative Command Prompt run:
"C:\Program Files\Update Services\Tools\wsusutil.exe" postinstall SQL_INSTANCE_NAME="%computername%" CONTENT_DIR=D:\SHARED\WSUS
When wsusutil.exe has completed, if KB3148812, which is a May 2016 Windows Update (or later version of it, which is required for distributing Windows 10 Anniversary or new version updates) has not yet been installed on the server (this is why told you earlier to start with a fully patched Windows 2012 R2 Server because you don’t need to deal with this bullshit if you do), after installing KB3148812 (or whatever Microsoft superseded it with) you must open an Administrative PowerShell and run:
Install-WindowsFeature -Name NET-WCF-HTTP-Activation45
Then, still related to KB3148812 (see my bullshit comment above – you should have started with a fully patched Windows 2012 R2 Server to begin with), open an Administrative Command Prompt and run:
"C:\Program Files\Update Services\Tools\wsusutil.exe" postinstall /servicing
Finally, after taking care of all the KB3148812 bullshit (I told you that you should have started with a fully patched Windows 2012 R2 Server to begin with), or if you smart enough to actually take my advice and start with a fully updated Windows 2012 R2 server, it’s finally time to the launch the WSUS console and run the configuration wizard by running this from the Administrative Command Prompt :
"C:\Program Files\Update Services\AdministrationSnapin\wsus.msc"
Lastly, if you are lazy like me, you’ll just next, next, next all the way through the WSUS Setup Wizard, skipping the “Synchronize Now” option. Once you end up at the normal WSUS console, open a new Administrative PowerShell and run:
Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusClassification | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Classification.Title -Eq "Applications"} | Set-WsusClassification Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusClassification | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Classification.Title -Eq "Critical Updates"} | Set-WsusClassification Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusClassification | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Classification.Title -Eq "Definition Updates"} | Set-WsusClassification Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusClassification | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Classification.Title -Eq "Security Updates"} | Set-WsusClassification Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusClassification | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Classification.Title -Eq "Service Packs"} | Set-WsusClassification Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusClassification | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Classification.Title -Eq "Tools"} | Set-WsusClassification Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusClassification | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Classification.Title -Eq "Update Rollups"} | Set-WsusClassification Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusClassification | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Classification.Title -Eq "Updates"} | Set-WsusClassification Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusClassification | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Classification.Title -Eq "Drivers"} | Set-WsusClassification -Disable Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusClassification | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Classification.Title -Eq "Feature Packs"} | Set-WsusClassification -Disable Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusClassification | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Classification.Title -Eq "Upgrades"} | Set-WsusClassification -Disable Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "CAPICOM"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Developer Tools, Runtimes, and Redistributables"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Dictionary Updates for Microsoft IMEs"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Exchange Server 2007 and Above Anti-spam"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Exchange Server 2013"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Exchange Server 2016"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Expression"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Expression Design 1"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Expression Design 2"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Expression Design 3"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Expression Design 4"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Expression Media 2"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Expression Media V1"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Expression Web 3"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Expression Web 4"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Microsoft SQL Server 2012"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Microsoft SQL Server 2014"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Microsoft SQL Server 2016"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Microsoft SQL Server 2017"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio v17"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "New Dictionaries for Microsoft IMEs"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Office 2002/XP"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Office 2003"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Office 2007"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Office 2010"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Office 2013"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Office 2016"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Report Viewer 2005"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Report Viewer 2008"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Report Viewer 2010"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "SDK Components"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "SQL Server"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "SQL Server 2000"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "SQL Server 2005"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "SQL Server 2008"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "SQL Server 2008 R2"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "SQL Server 2012 Product Updates for Setup"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "SQL Server 2014-2016 Product Updates for Setup"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "SQL Server Feature Pack"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Silverlight"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Visual Studio 2005"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Visual Studio 2008"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Visual Studio 2010"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Visual Studio 2012"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Visual Studio 2013"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Windows 10 LTSB"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Windows 2000"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Windows 7"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Windows Server 2008 R2"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Windows Server 2012 R2"} | Set-WsusProduct Get-WsusServer | Get-WsusProduct | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Product.Title -Eq "Windows Server 2016"} | Set-WsusProduct
You can then go back to the WSUS console, select Options, and now Products and Classifications. The above PowerShell commands will give you a great Product and Classification base to start your WSUS server configuration from without all the mouse clicks during the configuration wizard.
Congratulations – you now have a fully installed and configured WSUS server!
As always – Use any tips, tricks, or scripts I post at your own risk.
Bits & Other Bytes 
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