Issues with Client Computer Groups

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003 with SP2, Windows Server Update Services

Use the information in this section to troubleshoot issues with client computer groups.

Client computers appear in the wrong groups

Using Group Policy or registry settings to move computers into target groups is called client-side targeting. For more information about how to set up client-side targeting, see Deploying Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=79983). There are a number or reasons why computers might not appear in groups when you are using client-side targeting. Use the following information to try to resolve this problem.

Verify that the WSUS console is set to use client-side targeting

By default the WSUS server is set to use server-side targeting. If you are using client-side targeting, you need to set an option on the WSUS server. For more information about how to set up client-side targeting, see Deploying Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=79983).

Verify that target computer group names match groups on the WSUS server

Make sure the name of the target computer group matches the name of the computer group on the WSUS server. Check the Group Policy object (GPO) or the registry setting where you enabled client-side targeting. Make sure that there are no discrepancies between the name of the computer group used in Group Policy and the name of the group used on the server. If WSUS cannot find a computer group on the server reported by a client computer, the computer will appear in the Unassigned Computers group.

Reset the Automatic Update client

If you make a change to group membership by using client-side targeting, you can reset the Automatic update client with the wuauclt utility. For more information about wuauclt, see Appendix H: The wuauclt Utility.

To reset the Automatic Update client

  1. Open a command window.

  2. Type wuauclt.exe /resetauthorization /detectnow

  3. Wait 10 minutes for the detection cycle to finish.