System Requirements: Update Management in System Center 2012 and in System Center 2012 SP1

 

Updated: May 13, 2016

Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1 - Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager

Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) provides the capability to use a Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server to manage updates for the following computers in your VMM environment:

  • Virtual machine hosts

  • Library servers

  • VMM management server

  • PXE servers

  • The WSUS server

You can configure the update baselines, scan computers for compliance, and perform update remediation.

Software requirements

WSUS Notes
For System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager:

- A 64-bit edition of Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 Service Pack 2 (SP2)

For VMM in System Center 2012 SP1:

- A 64-bit edition of Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 Service Pack 2 (SP2)
- A 64-bit edition of Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server role on Windows Server 2012
- For information about WSUS system requirements and to download WSUS 3.0 SP2, see Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP2 on the Microsoft Download Center.
- On Windows Server 2012, WSUS is an integrated server role.
- VMM can use either a WSUS root server or a downstream WSUS server. VMM does not support using a WSUS replica server.
- The WSUS server can either be dedicated to VMM or can be a WSUS server that is already in use in your environment.
- VMM supports using a WSUS server that is part of a Configuration Manager 2007 R2 or System Center 2012 Configuration Manager environment, but additional configuration steps are required. For more information, see How to Integrate Fabric Updates with Configuration Manager.
- If VMM will process a very large volume of updates, consider installing the WSUS server on a separate computer from the VMM management server.
- In System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager, if you do not install WSUS server on the same computer as the VMM management server, you must install a WSUS Administrator Console on the VMM management server. If you use a highly available VMM management server, you must install a WSUS Administrator Console on each node. Important: If you use WSUS 3.0 SP2 to enable updates for Windows Server 2012 hosts, then you must apply KB2734608. Make sure that you carefully read the Known Issues for this update as they apply to VMM.

Additional information

  • There must be full trust between the WSUS management server and the VMM management server domains.

  • For more information about update management in VMM, see Managing Fabric Updates in VMM.

  • VMM can also work with System Center Updates Publisher, but only full content updates are supported. Metadata-only updates cannot be added to an update baseline.