The WSUS blog on TechNet updated yesterday to clarify WSUS’ role in the Windows 10 v1511 upgrade process. With the ‘Windows-as-a-Service’ functionality with Windows 10, you can use either WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) or SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager).
WSUS serves as a local cache for Windows Updates to reduce external bandwidth usage and the time it takes to download updates. The Windows 10 v1511 feature upgrade is comparable to a full operating system being delivered, like Windows 8.1 was to Windows 8, when it comes to the Enterprise builds of Windows. Being able to use WSUS and Group Policy to control when updates are available and caching the ~3GB update locally is very important to most organizations.
The WSUS blog post made yesterday evening adds some extra details that were not first available when KB3095113 was released. This hotfix is needed for WSUS 4.0 to best handle the Windows 10 feature upgrades. WSUS 3.0 SP2 and unpatched WSUS 4.0 servers will be able to dish up Windows 10 security updates but not the feature upgrades. It’s time to upgrade to Server 2012 R2 if you are using WSUS 3.0 SP2 or older.
WSUS patched with KB3095113 introduces a new classification called Upgrades that allows you to choose to synchronize the Windows 10 feature upgrades with Microsoft’s update servers. This classification will only be visible after that content type has been published to Microsoft’s WSUS servers.
KB3095113 is also clarified in this blog post to specify that it has been thoroughly tested and is safe to install. The question was raised because the patch was shipped with boilerplate text requiring the hotfix to be emailed to the requester and only told to install if you are experiencing the issue.
Some folks are cautious about updates like KB 3095113 being released with boilerplate text that include verbiage such as “do not install unless you are experiencing this issue.” Hotfix is our most expedient release vehicle, and we wanted to provide as much time to deploy this ahead of the Windows 10 1511 feature upgrade release to WSUS as possible. We have tested it the same as we would any Windows Update release, so there is no reason to wait to install the update on your WSUS 4.0 servers. For your convenience, we’ll be releasing the update more broadly to DLC and Catalog, as well as to WSUS itself, in the first quarter of 2016. If you prefer to wait for those releases, then please review the caution described next.
Not installing the patch can leave you with some future work to clean up your WSUS environment. The post also stated that the Windows 10 v1511 feature upgrade will be available in WSUS in the next 1-2 weeks. Read the WSUS blog post for full details and get your server patched in the next 1-2 weeks if you haven’t already to avoid future headache.