Troubleshooting WSUS server

Are you straggling to troubleshoot WSUS server. Those who followed the steps, I mentioned in my previous posting Install and Configure WSUS—Step by Step but couldn’t get it going and still got issue with deployment. you might have few issues with WSUS. Here are solutions for you.

Client not showing in WSUS Server:

There are several reasons client don’t pop up in WSUS server. a) GPO and WSUS miss-configured. b) Proper prerequisite has not been meet both for server and client as I mentioned in my post.

Log on to WSUS sever as Domain Admin. Open WSUS Console>Option>Computers>Select use group policy or registry settings on computers>Apply>ok.

WSUS Console>Server Name>computers>All Computers>Add Proper Computer Groups, I mean client target group you have mentioned in GPO.

Are all the computers and Server pointing proper client target group as you mentioned in GPO? Did you configure parent GPO and computers pointing child GPO???  Check group policy object using GPO management console to find out any miss-configuration!!! Make sure the computer you are looking WSUS console is placed in right GPO. Rungpresult.exe from command prompt to find out computer and user config. Wait until GPO refresh time and you will see client in WSUS console.

Another way to see client quickly in WSUS console is to log on to Windows XP SP2 (Must have SP2) client. Run WUAUCLT /DETECTNOW and GPUPDATE /FORCE  from command prompt. Reboot client. Log back again.

Start menu>run>Type regedit.exe>ok. Now go to HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Update

You are suppose to see

client target group	REG_SZ	Group Name in GPO say Desktop, WindowsXP, Windows7, Server, etc
ClientGroupEnabled	REG_DWORD	0×00000001(1)
WUServer	REG_SZ	Http://ServerName:8530
WUStatusSever	REG_SZ	Http://ServerName:8530

This mean this client is reporting to WSUS server.

Another critical point to note here, don’t use default configuration port that is 80. Use port 8530 because in ISA server or corporate firewall might be pointing this port to corporate web site unless web publisher added in ISA.

WSUS database full of BugCheck Dump causing WSUS to stop functioning:

***This file is generated by Microsoft SQL Server version 9.00.4035.00 upon detection of fatal unexpected error. Please return this file,  the query or program that produced the bugcheck, the database and the error log, and any other pertinent information with a Service Request***

***Stack Dump being sent to c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\LOG\SQLDump0154.txt***

I am one of the victim of this SQL error. This will occupy entire disk space in system partition causing WSUS to stop working. This error got nothing to do with WSUS. This is purely SQL problem. It happens when WSUS is running long and you don’t run clean up wizard to clean database and WSUS. I have to be honest here. I am not an SQL Expert. I found some clues by searching books and google, this SQL error occur when SQL index is corrupt. I logged to SQL server using management studio express and follow this Microsoft link and run DBCC CHECKDB.  But this will not solve this issue. Basically, SQL database is screwed. You have to backup database, reinstall WSUS and restore will solve this issue. But my best suggestion would be fresh installation of everything….. start from scratch.

You may also try this link if you require re-indexing database.

Connection Error

“An error occurred trying to connect the WSUS server. This error can happen for a number of reasons. Check connectivity with the server. Please contact your network administrator if the problem persists.
Click Reset Server Node to connect the server again.”

Reason: WSUS-related Web services (IIS) may stop working when you upgrade a Windows Server 2003-based computer to Windows Server 2008

Solutions:

Verify that the Update Services service, IIS and SQL are running on the server. If the problem persists, try restarting IIS, SQL, and the Update Services Service.

Try removing the persisted preferences for the console by deleting the wsus file under C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application data\Microsoft\MMC\

To work around this problem, uninstall the ASP.NET role service in IIS, and then use Service Manager to reinstall the service. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then clickServer Manager.
2. Expand Roles, and then click Web Server (IIS).
3. In the Role Services section, click Remove Role Services.
4. Disable the ASP.NET check box, and then click Next.
5. Click Remove.
6. Wait for the removal process to finish, and then click Close.
7. In the same Role Services section, click Add Role Services.
8. Enable the ASP.NET check box, and then click Next.
9. Click Install.
10. Wait for the installation process to finish, and then clickClose
11. Restart all WSUS related services such as IIS, SQL, Update services (Location Administrative Tools>Services)

WSUS debug tools Download WSUS debug tools from Microsoft WSUS sites. Extract Clientdiag.exe in client machine and WSUS server diagnostic tools in WSUS server. In both case extract in %windir%\system32 location. Open command prompt>change directory to %windir%\system32. Run clientdiag.exe (client machine) and wsusdebugtool.exe (WSUS server) from command prompt. You can run both in wsus server to test whether wsus server is contacting itself for update or not. If you see checking machine state PASS that means client is contacting wsus.