Install the WSUS 3.0 SP2 Server Software in Unattended Mode

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Applies To: Windows Server Update Services, Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1

You can install the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 SP2 server software in unattended mode by using command line parameters. To manually install this software by using the user interface, see Install the WSUS 3.0 SP2 Server Software Through the User Interface.

Before you install WSUS, you should follow these steps:

  1. For a summary of recent changes, enhancements and bug fixes in this release of WSUS 3.0 SP2, see the Release Notes (WSUS 3.0 SP2). For a downloadable copy of this document, see Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP2 Release Notes in the Microsoft Download Center.

  2. Confirm that the system meets the system requirements that are described in the topic WSUS 3.0 SP2 System Requirements.

  3. Prepare the network and the server for WSUS as described in the topic Prepare the Network and Server for WSUS 3.0 SP2.

Warning

WSUS Setup restarts Internet Information Service (IIS) without notification. This restart can disrupt existing websites. As a best practice, notify affected parties before you install WSUS. If IIS is not running, WSUS 3.0 SP2 Setup will start IIS.

To run WSUS Setup from the command line

  1. Log on to the computer by using an account that is a member of the local Administrators group.

  2. Click Start, and then click Internet Explorer.

  3. Browse to the Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP2 Download Site.

  4. Select and download the WSUS 3.0 SP2 file that is appropriate for your environment. When you are prompted to run or save the file, click Save and save the download file to the local file system.

  5. Open a command prompt (Cmd.exe) as an administrator. To open a command prompt as an administrator, click Start. In Start Search, type Command Prompt. At the top of the Start menu, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, enter the appropriate credentials (if requested), confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.

  6. In the Command Prompt window, open the folder that contains the downloaded WSUS Setup file.

  7. Type the following command that matches the computer operating system:

    • WSUS30-KB972455-x86.exe /parameter property=value

    • WSUS30-KB972455-x64.exe /parameter property=value

    where:

    • command-line parameter is a valid command line parameter.

    • property is a valid property.

    • value is the value of the property.

    For example, to install WSUS on a 64-based computer that uses a remote SQL Server database, you would run the following command:

    WSUS30-KB972455-x64.exe SQLINSTANCE_NAME= dbservername\instancename

    where:

    • dbservername is the name of the remote database server.

    • instancename is the name of the SQL Server database that will be used for WSUS.

    You can use the /help flag to display all command-line parameters, for example: WSUS30-KB972455-x86.exe /help.

WSUS setup command-line parameters

Option Description
/q Perform silent installation.
/u Uninstall WSUS.
/p Inspect the system and report any missing prerequisites. This command does not install WSUS.
/? or /h Display command-line parameters and their descriptions.
/g Upgrade from a previous version of WSUS. The only valid parameter that you can use with this option is /q (silent installation). The only valid property that you can use with this option is DEFAULT_WEBSITE.

WSUS setup properties

Property Description
CONTENT_LOCAL 1=host content locally, 0=host content on Microsoft Update
CONTENT_DIR Path to content directory. The default is WSUSInstallationDrive\WSUS\WSUSContent, where WSUSInstallationDrive is the local drive that has the largest amount of free space.
WYUKON_DATA_DIR Path to Windows Internal Database data directory.
SQLINSTANCE_NAME The database instance name must be in the format of ServerName\SQLInstanceName. If the database instance exists on the local computer, use the %COMPUTERNAME% environment variable. If an existing database instance is not present on the local computer, the default value is %COMPUTERNAME%\WSUS.
DEFAULT_WEBSITE 0=port 8530, 1=port 80. We recommend that you use port 8530 for the WSUS website.
PREREQ_CHECK_LOG Path and file name for log files.
CONSOLE_INSTALL 0=install the WSUS server, 1=install WSUS administration console only.
ENABLE_INVENTORY 0=do not install inventory features, 1=install inventory features.
DELETE_DATABASE 0=retain database, 1=remove database.
DELETE_CONTENT 0=retain content files, 1=remove content files.
DELETE_LOGS 0=retain log files, 1=remove log files (used with the /u install switch).
CREATE_DATABASE 0=use current database, 1=create database.
PROGRESS_WINDOW_HANDLE Window handle to return Microsoft Windows Installer progress messages.
MU_ROLLUP 1=join Microsoft Update Improvement Program, 0=do not join Microsoft Update Improvement Program
FRONTEND_SETUP 1=do not write the content location to the database, 0=write the content location to the database (for NLB).