Work-around steps for installing WSUS on OEM Pre-installed SBS machines

As promised, I've been keeping my eye on the work around for the problem installing Windows Software Update Services on SBS OEM Pre-installed computers. I've received a ton of emails on this based on my previous post on How to configure WSUS on SBS.

The steps below are a release candidate version of the steps that Microsoft will publish to the web in the next few days. So feel free to use them, but know that they may still change slightly.

Download the WSUS installer to your computer

1. On the SBS server, create a folder called C:\WSUSFiles


2. Download Windows Software Update Services: You'll have to answer questions in order to obtain the download


3. Save the file to the C:\WSUSFiles directory you created in step 1

Prepare the WSUS database separately

1. Extract the WSUS setup files using the command WSUSSetup.exe /X


2. Change to the newly existing directory at C:\WSUSFiles\wmsde.


3. Now the tricky part: Type the following command line:
   
   Sqlrun03.msi INSTANCENAME=WSUS BLANKSAPWD=1 REBOOT=ReallySuppress DISABLENETWORKPROTOCOLS=1 DISABLEAGENTSTARTUP=1 DISABLETHROTTLE=1
   
   
   • This setups up a blank password for the msde database, but when WSUS is installed a randomly generated password is set


4. Open the services.msc snap-in and right-click the MSSQL$WSUS and choose Start. If the service isn't there, try running the command line again.

Install WSUS

1. In the command prompt, launch c:\WSUSFiles\WSUSSetup.exe and follow the onscreen instructions

When the setup is complete, you can delete the C:\WSUSSetup folder as it is no longer needed. Be careful not to delete the C:\WSUS folder :o)

I know it's a pain, and we'll definitely fix this in future releases, but for now, you've got the work around steps! So WSUS your network!

Cheers,