Step 1: Review WSUS 3.0 Installation Requirements

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server Update Services

This guide explains how to install WSUS 3.0. For software requirements and supported platforms for WSUS 3.0, see the Release Notes (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=71220). on Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server® 2008 operating systems.

Software Requirements for Installing WSUS 3.0 on Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1

To install WSUS 3.0 on Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, you must have the following installed on your computer. If any of these updates require restarting the server when installation is completed, you should restart your server before installing WSUS 3.0.

Software Requirements for Installing WSUS 3.0 on Windows Server 2008

To install WSUS 3.0 on Windows Server 2008, you must have the following installed on your computer. If any of these updates require restarting the server when installation is completed, you should restart your server before installing WSUS 3.0.

  • Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0. Ensure that the following components are enabled:

    • Windows Authentication

    • ASP.NET

    • 6.0 Management Compatibility

    • IIS Metabase Compatibility

  • Microsoft Report Viewer Redistributable 2005. To download this software, go to the Download Center (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=70410).

  • Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 Service Pack 1. To download this software, go to the Download Center (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=66143).

The .NET Framework 2.0 and BITS 2.0 update are available on Windows Server 2008 as part of the operating system.

Disk requirements and recommendations

To install WSUS 3.0, the file system of the server must meet the following requirements:

  • Both the system partition and the partition on which you install WSUS 3.0 must be formatted with the NTFS file system.

  • A minimum of 1 GB of free space is recommended for the system partition.

  • A minimum of 20 GB of free space is recommended for the volume where WSUS stores content; 30 GB of free space is recommended.

  • A minimum of 2 GB of free space is recommended on the volume where WSUS Setup installs Windows® Internal Database.

Console-only installation requirements

WSUS 3.0 now allows you to install the WSUS Administration console on remote systems separate from the WSUS server. Console-only installations may be performed on the following operating systems:

  • Windows Server® 2008

  • Windows Vista®

  • Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1

  • Windows XP Service Pack 2

The following are the software prerequisites for console-only installation

Automatic Updates requirements

Automatic Updates is the client component of WSUS 3.0. Automatic Updates has no hardware requirements other than being connected to the network. You can use Automatic Updates with WSUS 3.0 on computers running any of the following operating systems:

  • Windows Vista.

  • Windows Server® 2008.

  • Microsoft Windows® Server 2003, all versions and service packs.

  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2.

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 4, Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 4, or Windows 2000 Advanced Server Service Pack 4.

Permissions

The following disk permissions must be granted to the specified users for the specified directories:

  1. Either the built-in group Users or the NT Authority\Network Service account (on Windows Server 2003) should have read permission for the root folder on the drive where the WSUS content directory resides. If this permission is missing, BITS downloads will fail.

  2. The NT Authority\Network Service account should have "Full Control" permission for the WSUS content directory, usually <SystemDriver>:WSUS\WsusContent. This permission is set by WSUS server setup when it creates the directory, but some security software may reset this permission. If this permission is missing, BITS downloads will fail.

  3. The NT Authority\Network Service account should have “Full Control” permission for the following folders in order for the WSUS Administration snap-in to display correctly:

    • %windir%\Microsoft .NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Temporary ASP.NET Files

    • %windir%\Temp

For more information about setting permissions, see DCPROMO Does Not Retain Permissions on Some IIS Folders at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=76332.