User Experience

Non-scheduled Installation Notification

Scheduled Installation

MIT's Windows Automatic Update Service

Features

Windows 2000 Domain Machines

Explanation of Registry Settings

Approved Updates

Help Desk
computing-help@mit.edu
617.253.1101

MIT Windows Automatic Update Service: Advanced Installation and Configuration Instructions

User Experience

Configuration Options
Once the .reg file is run to configure the client to use the MIT Windows Update Service (WAUS) server. A local administrator can modify the Automatic Updates schedule and properties. A container administrator can configure Group Policy settings in an active directory environment or by configuring registry entries. This can be done using a wizard that is displayed 24 hours after connectivity to the update service is established on a computer, or by using the Automatic Updates configuration page in Control Panel in Windows 2000. In Windows XP, go to System Properties>Automatic Updates Properties.

There is no requirement to change the settings, the WAUS server's default is to automatically download updates and install them at 1 AM. The local System Properties configuration options are shown in Figure 1.


Figure 1. Automatic Updates control panel with options

These options give the local administrator control over how they want updates downloaded and installed on their computer. They can select:

• to be notified before downloading updates, and notified again before installing the downloaded updates
• to have updates automatically downloaded, and notify an administrative user before installing updates
• to have updates automatically downloaded and installed based upon a specified schedule

Notification is through a notification-area icon and balloon (Figure 2). The download notification is similar to the installation notification. All notification events are logged in the system event log.

Download Behavior
Automatic Updates downloads updates based on the configuration options set on the local computer or in Group Policy. It uses the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) in Windows to perform the download by using idle network bandwidth. If the Automatic Updates is configured to notify when there are updates that are ready to download, Automatic Updates feature sends the notification to a logged-on local administrator. If no local administrator is logged on, Automatic Updates waits for local administrator to log on before offering the notification that updates are ready to be downloaded.

Note: BITS is included in Windows XP, Windows 2000 SP3, and Server 2003.

Installation Behavior 
Automatic Updates installs updates based on the configuration options that the local administrator selected.

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Non-Scheduled Installation Notification

If Automatic Updates is configured to notify when updates are ready to install, the notification is sent to the system event log and to the notification area as shown in Figure 2 (below).


Figure 2.  Notification area display

When a local administrator clicks the balloon or notification area icon, Automatic Updates displays the available updates to install as shown in Figure 3. The local administrator must then click the Install button to allow the installation to proceed. If the update requires a restart of the computer to complete the installation, a message is displayed stating that a restart is required. Until the system is restarted, Automatic Updates cannot detect any additional updates that might be applicable to the computer.


Figure 3. Automatic Updates Ready to Install notification

The Remind Me Later button provides a way for the installation to be deferred. The options are: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, tomorrow, and 3 days.

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Scheduled Installation

If Automatic Updates is configured to install on a set schedule, updates are automatically downloaded and marked as ready to install. If a local administrator is logged on, Automatic Updates notification is sent to the system event log and to the notification area as shown in Figure 2. If the icon or balloon is clicked, the local administrator sees a dialog box similar to Figure 3 but with the Remind Me Later button disabled. Installation can be done at any time prior to the scheduled install time by clicking the Install button.

At the scheduled day and time, Automatic Updates installs any updates marked as ready to install and restarts the computer (if necessary), even if there is no local administrator logged on. If a local administrator is logged on, Automatic Updates displays a warning that an installation is about to begin, as shown in Figure 4.


Figure 4. Automatic Updates pre-install countdown

If a restart is required and a user is logged on, a similar countdown dialog box is displayed, warning the user about the impending restart.

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