SUS Reset and Trial Version ==================== Version: 1.5 README file updated on: 05-04-2006 (C) Copyright 2006 by Agile Software Development, LLC. All Rights Reserved. SUS Reset will cause workstations and servers that support the Windows automatic update service to reset their download status and refresh with what is currently available either from the Windowsupdate.microsoft.com site or your corporate SUS/WUS server. Table of Contents ----------------- 1. Introduction 2. Versions Available 3. Licensing 4. Installation Instructions 5. Release History Introduction ------------ What is SUS Reset? SUS Reset will connect to all selected PC's in a Windows domain, and reset their automatic update service status to awaiting updates. This will greatly improve the accuracy of your updates. An example is when you automatically download the updates, however you manually install them. The automatic update service will stop after the first set of patches are released. If a second set are released before you actually install the patches, only the first set will be implemented, and within a short time you already have new patches to install on the systems. SUS Reset should be ran about a day before you are to do the manual install. It will tell each worsktations automatic update service that it needs to refresh itself with the current updates available. Then, when you run the manual update the next day, you can be assured of having a complete set of patches available on each system. Another scenario that SUS Reset becomes extremely useful is when a patch is accidentally released to your systems and they have already downloaded and queued the patch. There is no typical "easy" way to fix this issue. But with SUS Reset, you can simply unselect the patch from the SUS Server, and then reset all the computers. About ten minutes later, they will all start downloading the patch list again, this time without the patch that was mistakenly released. How do I use SUS Reset? When you start the SUS reset program, it will automatically return a list of the domains available. Select a domain to scan, and click the Load button. The Load button will attempt to connect to every workstation in the selected domain, returning its name and its current SUS status. If the system does not use the autoupdate service, such as a Windows NT or Windows 98 system, SAMBA, or otherwise, it will not be shown at all. If the system is offline or cannot be reached, it will again not be shown in the list of available systems. When completed, highlight the systems you wish to reset. To select multiple systems, simply hold the control key while selecting, or use the shift key to select a whole range of systems. You may use the Select All button to simply select all available systems. When you click the Reset button, one by one SUS Reset will connect to each system, stop the automatic update service, reset the registry where the settings are kept, and then restart the automatic update service. It then moves on to the next selected system. Within a few hours, each system will randomly check for the latest updates. The Reset button turns into a Cancel button when the processing starts. If you need to stop the process, you may click it. Please note that this stops immediately, and if a system has not had the service restarted, you will need to do it manually. When selecting systems to be restarted, it is generally not useful to select systems already in the Detect Pending status. These systems will periodically check for updates. Due to this, it is useful to click the Status column and sort systems that way. Exporting the grid is done by clicking the Export button. This will export to comma separated value (csv) format, which is easily imported into spreadsheet or database programs. SUS Possible Status Values New System - Initial 24 hour timeout (the AU wizard does not run until 24 hours after it first detects an Internet connection) No Wizard - Waiting for a user on the system to run AU wizard Detect pending - Currenly no patches are queued. This is the reset state Download pending - Waiting for user to accept pre-download prompt Downloading - Patch download in progress Install pending - Patches are downloaded, and waiting to be installed Install complete - Patches have been installed Disabled - SUS is disabled. SUS Reset WILL CHANGE THIS STATUS TO ENABLED! Reboot pending - Updates that require a reboot were installed but the reboot was declined. Possible Errors When loading the domain, sometimes it may appear to hang on certain systems. These systems are either turned off or otherwise do not have the registry available remotely due to firewall, network configuration, access control, etc. They will be skipped when displaying the list of systems. If you see an Error message when resetting systems, this is almost always due to the service not starting or stopping fast enough. If the service did not stop in time, nothing further will be done. If it did not restart in time, usually there is no problem, as the reset has completed, and the service is just taking a bit longer than the timeout value of 5 seconds. Additional Help and Support An excellent SUS resource is available at http://www.susserver.com We are not affiliated with this site, however there are multiple tools and support forums available. Versions Available ------------------ SUS Reset Trial Version The SUS Reset demonstration version contains nearly the full functionality of the Pro client. It’s only limitations are that it will only function 5 times before the program becomes disabled, and that you may only select one PC at a time to reset. The Trial Version is available for free download from http://www.agile-software-development.com. SUS Reset Pro SUS Reset Pro offers full functionality, with no limitations. With the Pro version, you can select some or all PC's in a domain and reset them all at the same time. The same registration key will always unlock future versions. Licensing --------- Please see the files named License.rtf or license.txt. Information on individual licensing and on discounted, bulk quantity licensing can all be found at http://www.agile-software-development.com. Installation Instructions ------------------------- To install SUS Reset, follow these steps. 1. Locate the SR_SETUP.EXE installation file. 2. Double-click the SR_SETUP.EXE file. 3. Click the [Next] button at the “Welcome to the SUS Reset Setup Wizard” screen. 4. Read through the entire License Agreement. If you do not agree to the terms of the agreement, then click the [Cancel] button. If you do agree, then select the “I accept the agreement” bullet, and click the [Next] button. 5. Select the path in which SUS Reset is to be installed. If you have no preferences as to the installation path, then simply click the [Next] button to accept the default path. 6. Enter the title of the Start Menu folder in which the program’s shortcuts will be created. If you have no preferences as to the name of the Start Menu folder, then click the [Next] button to accept the default title. 7. If you would like additional icons created, then check the boxes associated with your preference. You can select a Desktop icon and/or an icon on the Quick Launch toolbar to be created. 8. On the “Ready to Install” screen, review your selected settings. If you wish to make any changes, then use the [Back] button to do so. Otherwise, click the [Install] button to proceed. 9. After the installation, you will be given some important information to review. Read through this information, and then click the [Next] button. Release History --------------- 1.5 - Changed: SUS Reset is now free (as in beer) 1.4 - Added: Update capability under System Menu 1.3 - Added: About Screen under System Menu and new icons 1.2 - Added: Detects XP SP2 BITS 2.0 clients. No state is available with these clients, but you may still reset the remote system 1.1 - Added: Performs "ping scan" to verify that the scanned system is online and responding before scanning. Added: Ability to export the scan results to a CSV file. 1.0 - Initial Release