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WSUS Post Deployment Configuration Fails on Windows Server 2012

  • Article

I ran into a problem a few weeks ago at a customer’s site. We were trying to install Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 on Server 2012. A requirement to use software updates with Configuration Manager is the need to install WSUS. I Installed WSUS via Server Manager with no problem, however when I tried to run the Post Deployment Configuration the task failed. The error pointed to a 1KB file in the %TEMP% directory. Upon investigation there was nothing in the file. I noticed the Tools folder was missing from the Update Services folders. I believe the post install task uses WSUSUtil to complete post installation configuration. If there is no WSUSUtil.exe in the Tools folder then the post install task will fail.

  

 

I found WSUSUtil by searching for it on my 2012 server. I copied WSUSUtil into my newly created Tools folder in the Update Services folder.

 

 

I tried running the Post Deployment Configuration after creating the tools folder, but it continued to fail. I opened PowerShell with administrative privileges and ran the below command.

wsusUtil.exe postinstall content_dir=c:\wsus sql_instance_name=%computername%

 

 

 

After a few minutes the command completes and WSUS should be installed. You will not be able to run the Post-Deployment Configuration, however WSUS will be installed. My setup consisted of SQL and the content directory being stored locally. Slight modifications to the command line should accommodate your specific setup. 

For WID
%programfiles%\update services\tools\wsusutil.exe postinstall CONTENT_DIR=C:\Wsus

SQL Server databases
%programfiles%\update services\tools\wsusutil.exe postinstall CONTENT_DIR=C:\Wsus SQL_INSTANCE_NAME=<database server name>

 

These steps should only be used to address the issue described above. Special thanks to the WSUS Team for providing insight into this problem.

 

**UPDATED***

After further troubleshooting with Alex of the WSUS team, we discovered an unintended result during the installation of WSUS. When using SQL for your database instance you must specify the name of your SQL server. One would assume if the database is local the wizard would find the instance without specifying the SQL server name. If you select Check Connection without specifying a server name it will return Successfully Connected to server. Despite this misleading result, it was not successful. The server name value it expects when running the Post Deployment step will be empty and will cause Post Deployment to fail. If you specify the SQL server name, then there is no need to run the PowerShell command above. You can simply run the Post Deployment step thru the GUI.

 

 

 

 

The absence of the Tools folder may still cause a failure, however there is a workaround above. The WSUS team is still working on why this is happening and will provide an update on their findings.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    I found a solution and I posted here: http://www.windows-noob.com/forums/index.php?/topic/9030-how-to-configure-wsus-on-sccm-2012-win-server-2012/?p=36633

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Great story

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    It was my post above (I didn't know why is said "Anonymous").

  • Anonymous
    October 29, 2013
    Hi Aleksander! Has there been any further fix for this by the WSUS team. I just ran into this issue while building our pre production lab. Where you talk about entering the instance name I actually did that it is came back with no problem. Then received the post install error. Here is the question I submitted on tech net social.technet.microsoft.com/.../wsus-keeps-failing-on-sccm-2012-r2 Thanks Phil

  • Anonymous
    October 30, 2013
    I have been deploying WSUS on Windows Server 2012 and I have been dealing with this issue in all my installs.  I am using the internal Windows database.  It has been a long time since RTM and Microsoft should have fixed this issue already, so I don't know why they are taking so long for this fix!!!   I think Microsoft is not testing their stuff anymore!!

  • Anonymous
    October 30, 2013
    I am having the same problem adding WSUS on Windows Server 2012 and have tried two different servers and have the problem on booth servers.  I am using the internal Windows Database (WID).  

  • Anonymous
    November 19, 2013
    This too also occured to me.  It appears the logic is not there to run the powershell script as an administrator and is why it fails the post install and requires you to manually enter the informaiton via administrator powershell command.  Once I ran the command .wsusutil.exe postinstall content_dir=c:wsus sql_instance_name=localhost I was then able to continue on with the setup...

  • Anonymous
    November 20, 2013
    Didn't work for me. I'm using the WID and I get the error: Database creation failed.

  • Anonymous
    November 27, 2013
    filling in the server in the gui didn't work for me, powershell afterwords worked

  • Anonymous
    November 29, 2013
    Easy solution: Start the WSUS Console. Then a message appears that the post configuration task did not run yet. You can specify again the WSUS content directory and successfully run the post configuration from this message window.

  • Anonymous
    December 03, 2013
    When I repoint the WSUS content directory to a newly created folder named "WSUS" on the root of C:, this is what I get: Log file is located at C:Usersadministrator.MBNAppDataLocalTemp2tmpD99C.tmp Post install is starting Fatal Error: Cannot start service MSSQL$MICROSOFT##WID on computer '.'.

  • Anonymous
    December 13, 2013
    Great post! Thanks to your post, I was able to resolve my problem within minutes. I'm working local in my lab environment. I have not tried it on a SQL DB but, ope it goes smooth just the same. I printing this out and putting it in my notes. Just wanted to that you for posting.

  • Anonymous
    March 20, 2014
    tried what FranzSchenk suggested. It worked for me.

    Thank you a lot!

  • Anonymous
    May 11, 2014
    I had same issue and I solved it with help of my colleague.

    I was having WSUS & SCCM Servers on different machines. I had used WID and given remote path for content file at SCCM Server. So while integrating them for synchronizing updates, I faced this issue and Solution is to add SUP role as Server & Site System Role without giving credential of WSUS Server instead of adding SUP role in primary server.

    Thanks!


  • Anonymous
    June 11, 2014
    I have solved it by using the website below it was a simple problem.

    http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/e1003863-e331-46da-8803-e8625bb6324b/server-2012-wsus-postdeployment-configuration-fails-comprehending-the-log-file?forum=winserverwsus

  • Anonymous
    July 08, 2014
    Tried the solution provided by FranzSchenk, It worked. Thanks!

  • Anonymous
    July 30, 2014
    This worked fine for me (was getting same errors thought)
    Firstly during installation specify server name only
    Then during Post deployment i again used the server name only and it worked fine
    Didn't specify instance name anywhere and my instance is default msslserver

  • Anonymous
    October 15, 2014
    FranzSchenk


    29 Nov 2013 10:33 AM


    Easy solution: Start the WSUS Console. Then a message appears that the post configuration task did not run yet. You can specify again the WSUS content directory and successfully run the post configuration from this message window.


    Please dont post things that obviously dont work, the GUI doesnt work and you need to run a powershell command




  • Anonymous
    November 07, 2014
    Thanks for this. I was reinstalling WSUS on one of my servers, and probably because I removed all folders to make sure my install was clean, I was missing the wsusutil.exe. Shouldn't the install manager create this? (or at least check?)

  • Anonymous
    November 07, 2014
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    November 12, 2014
    tried what FranzSchenk suggested. It worked for me too. Thanks Franz.

  • Anonymous
    December 03, 2014
    I have tried what FranzSchenk suggested but still failed.
    Fyi, I install Wsus and Symantec EndPoint on same server

    Please advice me.

  • Anonymous
    January 16, 2015
    This happened to me when I stated the FQDN of the SQL server. WSUSUtil command worked a treat. Thank you!

  • Anonymous
    February 06, 2015
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    September 08, 2015
    tried what FranzSchenk suggested. It worked for me too. Thanks Franz.

  • Anonymous
    September 10, 2015
    Thank you very much !

  • Anonymous
    September 11, 2015
    Rsharp2024, that updated version worked like a charm!! Merci

  • Anonymous
    October 11, 2015
    Thanks for the Tip - Creating "Tools" and using the first command was all I needed, also, added the "WSUSUpdates" folder inside the WSUS folder on my secondary drive (D:WSUSWSUSUpdates) - Setup failed until I created that directory. I assume that occurs when you change the default directories during install.

  • Anonymous
    October 21, 2015
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    November 04, 2015
    I am also had lot problems with WSUS, finally I reinstalled Win server 2012(CLean Installation) and tried to install and setup the wsus, I fond yes it is running.

    The reason was this: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff646928(v=ws.10).aspx

    thank you

  • Anonymous
    November 07, 2015
    Just Delete Wsus From IIS , and restart the PC, Then Reconfigure Pre-Deployment ,., It will Work

  • Anonymous
    December 03, 2015
    After many attempts of installing and uninstalling WSUS and reading through the "fixes" on all the blogs, I was finally able to successfully complete the installation by entering the FQDN of the server without the db instance; ex: servername.domain.com.

  • Anonymous
    March 16, 2016
    My business partner was wanting a form last month and encountered a company that has 6 million forms . If others need to fill out it too , here's ahttp://goo.gl/egDP1i

  • Anonymous
    April 21, 2016
    If you are reinstalling from scratch using Internal DB, make sure that you delete the old WID DB and log:
    C:WindowsWIDData
    SUSDB.mdf
    SUSDB_log.ldf