Understanding How ConfigMgr Interacts with WSUS
This deep dive covers how Configuration Manager interacts with WSUS to set up a software update point and synchronize data between WSUS and ConfigMgr.
Tip: To get the most from this guide, we recommend watching the video guide and then using this doc as a reference throughout the video.
When you install a new software update point, the following will take place!
Component/Log | Log Line Text |
sitecomp.log | Starting service SMS_SERVER_BOOTSTRAP_DEMO1 with command-line arguments "DM1 D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager /install D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\bin\x64\rolesetup.exe SMSWSUS "... |
SUPSetup.log | SMSWSUS Setup Started.... |
SUPSetup.log | Supported WSUS version found |
SUPSetup.log | Installation was successful. |
WSUSCtrl.log | Attempting connection to local WSUS server |
WSUSCtrl.log | Successfully connected to local WSUS server |
WCM.log | WSUS Server configuration has been updated. Updating Group Info. |
WCM.log | Subscribed Update Categories <?xml version="1.0" ?>~~<Categories>~~ |
WCM.log | Configuration successful. Will wait for 1 minute for any subscription or proxy changes |
WCM.log | Setting new configuration state to 2 (WSUS_CONFIG_SUCCESS) |
Once the software update point installation is completed, a list of products/categories won't happen until the first successful SUP sync.
Incomplete WSUS catalog after initial setup
You can right-click All Software Updates and click Synchronize Software Updates to start the first sync.
Sync software update point in ConfigMgr
The first synchronization can take a while to complete!
The table below lists the flow to verify the first synchronization and population of the WSUS catalog/categories.
Note: The log lines below are with debug and verbose logging enabled. You log lines may not contain this level of data.
Component/Log | Log Line Text |
wsyncmgr.log | Starting Sync |
wsyncmgr.log | Synchronizing WSUS server DEMO1 ... |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: Starting WSUS synchronization |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: WSUS synchronizing categories |
wsyncmgr.log | Synchronizing SMS database with WSUS, default server is DEMO1.CONTOSO.LOCAL |
wsyncmgr.log | Synchronizing SMS database with WSUS server DEMO1 ... |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: Starting SMS database synchronization |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: SMS synchronizing categories |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: SMS synchronizing categories, processed 0 out of 246 items (0%) |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: SMS synchronizing categories, processed 246 out of 246 items (100%) |
wsyncmgr.log | declare @refd xml = N'<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><Categories><Category Id="Product:7e903438-3690-4cf0-bc89-2fc34c26422b" /><Category Id="Product:e903c733-c905-4b1c-a5c4-3528b6bbc746" />...... |
wsyncmgr.log | Done synchronizing SMS with WSUS Server DEMO1 |
wsyncmgr.log | Set content version of update source {891B2E1B-4873-4092-B1FD-7EAADE75A3D3} for site DM1 to 10 |
Tip: During the first sync, the longest part will be WSUS pulling the catalog for Microsoft Update.
WSUS performing first sync from Microsoft update catalog
The ConfigMgr database pulls the update catalog from the WSUS database. Below, you can find more details about how this happens.
In our example below, we manually triggered a sync using the step above.
Component/Log | Log Line Text |
wsyncmgr.log | Wakeup by inbox drop |
wsyncmgr.log | select cat.CategoryInstance_UniqueID, cat.CategoryInstanceName from fn_ListUpdateCategoryInstances(9) cat where cat.AllowSubscription=1 and cat.IsSubscribed=1 and cat.IsParentSubscribed=0 order by 1 |
wsyncmgr.log | Read SUPs from SCF for DEMO2.CONTOSO.LOCAL |
wsyncmgr.log | Synchronizing SMS database with WSUS, default server is DEMO2.CONTOSO.LOCAL |
wsyncmgr.log | Synchronizing SMS database with WSUS server DEMO2 ... |
wsyncmgr.log | Syncing updates arrived after 03/05/2021 21:07:43 |
wsyncmgr.log | Requested categories: Company=Patch My PC, Product=Windows 10, version 1903 and later, UpdateClassification=Security Updates, UpdateClassification=Updates, UpdateClassification=Critical Updates |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: SMS synchronizing categories, processed 378 out of 378 items (100%) |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: SMS synchronizing updates |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: SMS synchronizing updates, processed 0 out of 30 items (0%) |
wsyncmgr.log | select CI_UniqueID, RevisionNumber, LastModifiedDate=convert(nvarchar, DateLastModified, 126)+N'Z', IsDeployed~from v_UpdateCIs~where CIType_ID in (1,8) and IsExpired=0 and UpdateSource_ID=16777217 and CI_UniqueID='6ec13d2d-306c-41fe-83bf-9789346721bf' |
wsyncmgr.log | insert vCI_ConfigurationItems (CI_UniqueID, CIVersion, ModelID, CIType_ID, PolicyVersion, Precedence, DateCreated, DateLastModified, LastModifiedBy, CreatedBy, ContentSourcePath, PermittedUses, IsBundle, IsHidden, IsUserDefined, IsEnabled, IsExpired, SourceSite, ApplicabilityCondition, CI_CRC, IsTombstoned) values ('6ec13d2d-306c-41fe-83bf-9789346721bf', 200, 16780004, 8, 1, 0, '05/11/2021 18:15:49', '05/11/2021 18:15:49', N'', N'', N'', 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 'DM2', '<ApplicabilityRule ExpressionLanguage="Custom" Handler="{2DB70103-3DFB-4806-85B0-B27B561284BB}"><UpdateId>6ec13d2d-306c-41fe-83bf-9789346721bf</UpdateId><CISource><Id>{CA3F999B-7A81-43BF-912C-56E267C1E565}</Id><Version>9</Version></CISource><ProductId>b3c75dc1-155f-4be4-b015-3f1a91758e52</ProductId></ApplicabilityRule>', 'c02abc2', 0) |
wsyncmgr.log | insert into CI_DocumentStore (DocumentIdentifier, Body, IsVersionLatest, DocumentType) values ('c344e7f6-f83b-4693-8c02-41b2e072127e', '', 0, 0)~;select SCOPE_IDENTITY() |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: SMS synchronizing updates, processed 30 out of 30 items (100%) |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: SMS performing cleanup |
wsyncmgr.log | Done synchronizing SMS with WSUS Server DEMO2 |
wsyncmgr.log | Updated 60 items in SMS database, new update source content version is 9 |
Here's an example of us querying an update in the ConfigMgr database that was synchronized:
select * FROM CI_DocumentStore where DocumentIdentifier = 'c344e7f6-f83b-4693-8c02-41b2e072127e'
Below are some key points mentioned in the video related to the cleanup.
The setting in the Supersedence Rules tab determines how long an update needs to be superseded before it will be expired.
This setting in the WSUS Maintenance tab will determine if expired updates should be declined (improves WSUS performance and health)
Component/Log | Log Line Text |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: SMS performing cleanup |
wsyncmgr.log | Removed 54 unreferenced updates |
wsyncmgr.log | Starting cleanup on WSUS, default server DEMO2.CONTOSO.LOCAL |
wsyncmgr.log | Cleaning up WSUS server DEMO2 ... |
wsyncmgr.log | nclLocalizedPropertyID Index Already exists in column LocalizedPropertyID on table tbLocalizedPropertyForRevision. Did Not Create Index.Server: DEMO2, DataBase: SUSDB |
wsyncmgr.log | nclSupercededUpdateID Index Already exists in column SupersededUpdateID on table tbRevisionSupersedesUpdate. Did Not Create Index.Server: DEMO2, DataBase: SUSDB |
wsyncmgr.log | Done Indexing SUSDB. Custom indexes were created if they didn't exist previously. DEMO2 |
wsyncmgr.log | sync: SMS performing cleanup |
wsyncmgr.log | Cleanup processed 57 total updates and declined 27 |
wsyncmgr.log | Done Declining updates in WSUS Server DEMO2 |
wsyncmgr.log | Starting Deletion of ObseleteUpdates |
wsyncmgr.log | 0 update(s) were deleted from SUSDB in Server: DEMO2 Database: SUSDB |
wsyncmgr.log | Deletion Completed |
wsyncmgr.log | Updated 54 items in SMS database, new update source content version is 11 |
Quick dive into getting compliance data. The below query is an example of how you can retrieve the compliance status of updates for all machines in SQL. This view pulls from a few different points of interest.
View Name | Purpose |
v_Update_ComplianceStatus | Get compliance state for a CI_ID and a ResourceID (filtered) |
v_UpdateInfo | Get real world Update Info |
v_StateNames | Get the human meatning of state values |
SELECT CASE
WHEN v_Update_ComplianceStatus.Status = '0' THEN 'UNKNOWN'
WHEN v_Update_ComplianceStatus.Status = '1' THEN 'NOT REQUIRED'
WHEN v_Update_ComplianceStatus.Status = '2' THEN 'NON COMPLIANT'
WHEN v_Update_ComplianceStatus.Status = '3' THEN 'COMPLIANT'
ELSE 'NA'
END AS 'PatchStatus'
, v_Update_ComplianceStatus.Status
, v_Update_ComplianceStatus.CI_ID
, v_Update_ComplianceStatus.resourceID
, v_Update_complianceStatus.LastStatusCheckTime
, v_StateNames.StateName
, v_stateNames.StateDescription
FROM v_Update_ComplianceStatus
LEFT OUTER JOIN v_UpdateInfo on v_Update_ComplianceStatus.CI_ID = v_UpdateInfo.CI_ID
LEFT OUTER JOIN v_StateNames on v_Update_ComplianceStatus.Status = v_StateNames.StateID
WHERE v_UpdateInfo.CIType_ID = '8' and v_StateNames.TopicType = '500'
The other side of the coin when you get ALL the data.
View Name | Purpose |
v_Update_ComplianceStatusAll | Get compliance stat for a CI_ID and a ResourceID (ALL) |
Note the query below can return a massive data set when run in production.
SELECT CASE
WHEN v_Update_ComplianceStatusAll.Status = '0' THEN 'UNKNOWN'
WHEN v_Update_ComplianceStatusAll.Status = '1' THEN 'NOT REQUIRED'
WHEN v_Update_ComplianceStatusAll.Status = '2' THEN 'NON COMPLIANT'
WHEN v_Update_ComplianceStatusAll.Status = '3' THEN 'COMPLIANT'
ELSE 'NA'
END AS 'PatchStatus'
, v_Update_ComplianceStatusAll.Status
, v_Update_ComplianceStatusAll.CI_ID
, v_Update_ComplianceStatusAll.resourceID
, v_Update_ComplianceStatusAll.LastStatusCheckTime
, v_StateNames.StateName
, v_stateNames.StateDescription
FROM v_Update_ComplianceStatusAll
LEFT OUTER JOIN v_UpdateInfo on v_Update_ComplianceStatusAll.CI_ID = v_UpdateInfo.CI_ID
LEFT OUTER JOIN v_StateNames on v_Update_ComplianceStatusAll.Status = v_StateNames.StateID
WHERE v_UpdateInfo.CIType_ID = '8' and v_StateNames.TopicType = '500'
Software update groups are typically what we filter against as we typically have a group that we are targetting for a specific month.
Get Software Update Group Names, and their CI's.
SELECT v_UpdateInfo.CI_ID
, v_UpdateInfo.Title
FROM v_UpdateInfo
WHERE v_UpdateInfo.CIType_ID = '9'
Mapping the relationship of all updates in a software update group.
WITH SUGInfo AS
(
SELECT v_UpdateInfo.CI_ID
FROM v_UpdateInfo
WHERE v_UpdateInfo.CIType_ID = '9'
)
SELECT v_CIRelation.FromCIID
, v_CIRelation.ToCIID
FROM SUGInfo
LEFT OUTER JOIN v_CIRelation ON SUGInfo.CI_ID = v_CIRelation.FromCIID
