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Backing Up Windows Server Update Services 3.0

Applies To: Windows Server 2003 with SP2, Windows Server Update Services

You should back up WSUS data and update content in order not to lose information about the state of your WSUS network. Update content can always be synchronized from Microsoft Update, but all WSUS information (administrative settings, computer groups and group membership, and the installation status of updates) is kept in the WSUS database. Moreover, re-synchronization can take a considerable amount of time.

Backing up WSUS involves backing up the following:

  • The WSUS database, which contains:

    • Update metadata.

    • WSUS server configuration information.

    • Information about client computers, updates, and client interaction with updates.

  • The folder where the update files are stored, if you are storing updates locally and not on Microsoft Update. By default, update files are stored in the \WSUS\WSUSContent folder on the largest partition of your WSUS server.

  • The folder containing the WSUS repair path (by default, \WSUS\UpdateServicesPackage on the largest partition of your WSUS server). The repair path is the location of any .msi files used to repair locally published packages.

Although WSUS does not provide a built-in backup tool, you can use the Backup Utility that is available on all servers running Windows Server 2003 to back up and restore both the WSUS database and update file storage folder. The Backup Utility is also known as Ntbackup.exe. If you are using a full version of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 for your database, you should use SQL Server Enterprise Manager as an alternative to the Backup Utility. For more information about SQL Server Enterprise Manager, refer to your SQL Server documentation. For more information about database options and configurations for WSUS, see Deploying Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=79983).

To back up content and data

  1. On your WSUS server, click Start, and then click Run.

  2. In the Open box, type %windir%\system32\ntbackup.exe, and then click OK.

  3. In the Backup or Restore Wizard, click Next.

  4. Verify that Back up files and settings is selected, and then click Next.

  5. Click Let me choose what to back up, and then click Next.

  6. Under Items to back up, check the WSUS folder (typically %systemdrive%\WSUS\), and then click Next.

  7. Click the Browse button to choose a place to save your backup, type a name for the backup, and then click Next.

  8. If you want to set additional specifications for your backup, including whether it will be an incremental backup, whether you want to verify the backup, set a recurring schedule for the backup, or other options, click Advanced, and then follow the instructions in the wizard.

  9. When the wizard is finished, click Finish.

  10. When the message appears that informs you that the backup is complete, click Close.

To restore content and data

  1. On your WSUS server, click Start, and then click Run.

  2. In the Open box, type %windir%\system32\ntbackup.exe, and then click OK.

  3. In the Backup or Restore Wizard, click Next.

  4. Click Restore files and settings, and then click Next.

  5. In the What to restore dialog box, under Items to restore, expand the file that contains the WSUS folder (typically %systemdrive%\WSUS\), and then click Next.

  6. If you want to set additional specifications for your restore, including whether you want to restore the files or folders to a different location, replace existing files, restore security settings, or specify other options, click Advanced, and then follow the instructions in the wizard.

  7. When the wizard is finished, click Finish.

  8. When the message appears that informs you that restoring is complete, click Close.

Important

You should restore the backup file to only one WSUS server. The backed-up information includes the Server ID, so if you restore the same backup file to two or more WSUS servers there will be two or more WSUS servers with the same ID. If you attempt to roll up information from downstream servers with duplicate IDs to an upstream server, you will get information from only one of these downstream servers.

After restoring the WSUS database you must recycle the WSUS Application Pool in IIS, as described in the next procedure. This will ensure that the restored database will sync up correctly with IIS, through which you manage the WSUS Web site and Web services. For more information about application pools, see IIS Help. For more information about how WSUS is installed, see Deploying Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=79983).

To recycle the WSUS Application Pool in IIS

  1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

  2. In the tree view, expand the tree under the WSUS server name, and then expand Application Pools.

  3. Right-click WSUSPool, and then click Recycle.

  4. Close IIS Manager.

If you store updates locally on the WSUS server, after restoring the WSUS database you should also reset it. This is done with the wsusutil.exe command-line utility, which ensures that every row of update metadata in the database is matched by the corresponding update files in the local storage location. If the utility does not find matching data, it will download the update files from Microsoft Update. For more information about the WSUS command-line utility, see Managing WSUS 3.0 from the Command Line.

To reset update content

  1. Open a command shell.

  2. Navigate to the WSUS tools directory at WSUSInstallDir\Tools.

  3. Type the following command: wsusutil reset

  4. Wait until the command returns, and close the command window.