Back Up Update Services

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Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 (Windows SBS 2003 R2) builds in a simple-to-use but powerful backup feature for the computer that is running Windows SBS 2003 R2. You can use this backup feature to easily back up and restore Update Services.

Back up files

Because Update Services uses Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 2.0 as the underlying engine for managing updates, backing up Update Services involves backing up the following important WSUS 2.0 data:

  • The WSUS 2.0 database, which contains:
    • Update metadata, which contains information about updates (for example, properties). Metadata is also where End-User License Agreements (EULAs) are stored.
    • Information about the configuration of the WSUS server.
    • Information about client computers, updates, and client-computer interaction with updates.
  • The folder where the update files are stored. Update files are the actual files that are required to install an update on a computer. The location of the update files depends on the location you specified during Setup. Update Services Setup creates a subfolder named WSUSContent in the specified folder on the computer that is running Windows SBS 2003 R2.

Considerations

In addition to the information given about the data that you should include when backing up Update Services, consider the following:

  • By default, Update Services folders are added to the default set of backup folders. If you do not want to include the Update Services folders as part of your back up, you must manually exclude them. To do so, run the Windows Small Business Server Backup Configuration Wizard. On the Backup Data Summary page, add the folder containing your WSUS content to the list of excluded folders.
  • Over time, the amount of WSUS 2.0 metadata and update files can grow considerably. This can greatly increase the size and duration of your backups. You should regularly monitor the amount of WSUS data that you are backing up to ensure that you do not exceed the amount of data that your backup system can accommodate.
    For example, if you are currently using a back up strategy that requires only a single tape, a large increase in the amount of WSUS content could cause your backup size to exceed the capacity of one tape.
  • To completely restore a computer that is running Windows SBS 2003 R2 with Update Services installed, you need to restore the WSUS 2.0 database. For detailed instructions about restoring WSUS content, see the "Back up and restore WSUS" section in the WSUS Help file. To do so, click Start, and then point to Administrative Tools. Click Microsoft Windows Server Update Services. On the home page for WSUS, click Help. When the help file for WSUS appears, click Back up and restore WSUS on the Contents tab. On the Back up and restore WSUS topic page under Related Topics, click Restore your WSUS server.

See Also

Concepts

Advanced Management
Import Content
Branch Office
Manage Laptop Computers
Troubleshooting