Appendix H: The wuauclt Utility

The wuauclt utility allows you some control over the functioning of the Windows Update Agent. It is updated as part of Windows Update.

Command line switches for wuauclt

The following are the command line for wuauclt.

 

Option Description

/a /ResetAuthorization

Initiates an asynchronous background search for applicable updates. If Automatic Updates is disabled, this option has no effect.

/r /ReportNow

Sends all queued reporting events to the server asynchronously.

/? /h /help

Shows this help information.

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Community Content

Lik Leung
All command line options
From a dump of the .exe (W2k3 R2 version ) we can extract the following options:<br />/DetectNow<br />/ReportNow<br />/RunHandlerComServer<br />/RunStoreAsComServer<br />/ShowSettingsDialog<br />/ResetAuthorization<br />/ResetEulas<br />/ShowWU<br />/ShowWindowsUpdate<br />/SelfUpdateManaged<br />/SelfUpdateUnmanaged<br />/UpdateNow<br />/ShowWUAutoScan<br />/ShowFeaturedUpdates<br />/ShowOptions<br />/ShowFeaturedOptInDialog<br />/DemoUI<br /><br />Most of these options don't give any noticable response, but that may be because of the state of the service.<br />The command 'wuauclt /ResetAuthorization /DetectNow' worked for me right away.<br /><br /><br />
Tags : updatenow

usmctech99
Report Now & Reset Authorization switches
The reportnow switch should be entered: wuauclt /reportnow /detectnow<br /><br />If there are updates, the Windows Update shield should appear in the taskbar like normal. If not, check C:\Windows\WindowsUpdate.log after 10-15 minutes, and if there are no updates available, the end of the file should look somthing like this:<br /><br />2010-08-02 11:28:52:400 952 37d8 AU # 0 updates detected<br />2010-08-02 11:28:52:400 952 37d8 AU #########<br />2010-08-02 11:28:52:400 952 37d8 AU ## END ## AU: Search for updates [CallId = <br /><br />The resetauthorization switch should be entered: wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow<br /><br />Neither switch will work unless you add /detectnow, and in the correct order. At least, that's the way it works in my environment...

Preston Carter
No help
wuauclt /?, wuauclt /help, wuauclt /h does not work. Where is documentation for /detectnow?<br /><br />@<span>LuckyLindy</span>: Documentation for /detectnow here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc708575%28WS.10%29.aspx<br />
Tags : contentbug

aehill1309
This works well. Save to a .cmd or batch file and run.
net stop wuauserv<br />REG DELETE "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update" /v LastWaitTimeout /f<br />REG DELETE "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update" /v DetectionStartTime /f<br />Reg Delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update" /v NextDetectionTime /f<br />net start wuauserv<br />wuauclt /detectnow
Tags : update wsus force

rich,fieler
report now steps
<p>I Found that I had to do both</p> <p>wuauclt /a /detectnow</p> <p>and then</p> <p>wuauclt /r</p> <p> </p> <p>for an update to occur</p>
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Bradwarr
To Overcome automatic detection frequency setting !!
<p>The "automatic detection frequency" on clients node are 1 hour. can i force the client to detect the newly approved update without waiting for one hour. </p> <p>I tried to use wuauclt.exe /detectnow but it did not help.</p> <p> </p> <p>Did you use both /detectnow and /r /reportnow</p>
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BigBadJohn
Other switches
<p>I've never seen <strong>wuauclt /?</strong> display anything useful.</p> <p> </p> <p>However, if you want to initialize Windows Update to install updates on a client, use <strong>wuauclt /detectnow</strong>.</p>

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