KB4601318 fails to update, fails at 24% Windows Server 2016

Question

Hello,

I have 3 virtual servers that have this exact same issue where when I try to update KB4601318, it stalls at 24%. The servers are 2016 servers, I have disabled anti-virus, I have rebooted, followed instructions on this blog, added RAM and enabled and disabled firewall. I have updated 15 other servers in my environment successfully, running the same antivirus software, same kind of setup. The servers all have 2 or 4 processors, 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM and at least 200+ GB of available disk space. No errors in the event viewer that I can see.

I've let the update run on these machines for 2 hours and what happens is that it will install KB890830 and KB4601392 on all of these machines but not KB4601318 on any of them. It gets stuck at 24% and then eventually stops and reads "KB4601318 is available" "Updates are ready" and Download button is enabled. If I click it, it goes through the exact same cycle where it stalls at 24% again.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Answer 1

I've successfully ran the KB on 2 machines at this point. Pretty much the steps other people listed. I can do on a few VMs but dozens or hundreds across an organization would not work for this....too resource intensive for 1 admin!

-Download the update from Microsoft Catalog (.msu file)

-Stop Windows Update Service. For me it didn't stop so I had to set the service to Disabled then go to a command prompt and run "sc queryex wuauserv" then do a "taskkill /f /PID xxxx" (where xxxx is the PID listed from the prior query command).

Delete or rename the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\ folder

Now run the .msu update file. A few times I got a pop-up about a stub file error. What is that? Anyway, I waited a minute and ran the .msu again and it unpacked and ran successfully.

Set Windows Update back to manual

Reboot. KB installed.

Answer 2

Right, so I already tried the manual update, it does the same thing. It stalls out at 24%.

I mentioned it above but I wanted to clarify (because it's buried in my post) but I was able to successfully install the SSU's (KB4601392) on all three machines.

Answer 3

We ALSO have this issue, stuck at 24%, tried everything in this thread, even turning off and back on again ;). 15 servers and only 1 has this issue.

Had to make an account and post here so certain individuals can stop saying how new threads need to be made.... ;) Posting what you have tried helps us all narrow things down.

Found some other threads on google saying the same thing, stuck at 24%.

This months updates are going great... :/ Another long night, this plus 1909 not getting CU for this month, maybe someone should start another thread about that. Ha

Answer 4

At the moment the fix is to download manually as mentioned here:

1. Download the update file as @Dave Patrick mentioned on this URL: https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4601318
2. Taskkill the Windows update service (yes, kill - it will be stucked)
3. Disable the service temporarily (yes, disable. otherwise it will start before you are able to clean SoftwareDistribution)
4. Delete the SoftwareDistribution folder content.
5. Switch the Windows update service back to Manual
6. Run the installation from the downloaded update file
7. Takes approx 30 - 45 minutes to install and additional standard reboot time

Just tested this approach and it worked fine.

Answer 5

For your information, this was a known issue which should have been fixed already by this KB: https://support.microsoft.com/cs-cz/topic/security-update-for-secure-boot-dbx-january-12-2021-f08c6b00-a850-e595-6147-d0c32ead81e2. I checked and on the clean server install I did a few days ago, this is actually the KB I installed before this bug appear on my server.

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-10-1607-and-windows-server-2016#392msgdesc

So I assume the fix did not work. Let's hope this is going to be fixed.