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Shifnal

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Use WSUS on none domain computers

Hi all, Is it possible to set a WSUS server up on a workgroup and not a domain?
I have the server with WDS and WSUS and that is a domain controller but what i am after is imaging a load of computers but not joining the domain as we hire these out so domain membership is not needed.
We want a fast option to perform updates once a new image is installed and if we say do 50 builds we don't want to have 50 computers logging onto the internet to do the same updates.
i know we could refresh the build with the new updates but as they come out nearly every day this is a right pain.
Any help appreciated :-)
Avatar of Miguel Angel Perez Muñoz
Miguel Angel Perez Muñoz
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We use WSUS to deplay updates to a training domain that is seperate from the domain that our WSUS server is a member of, it works fine, we use a registry update via the login script to configure the Automic Updates service on the workstations to point at this WSUS server.

If you are pre-configuring the image with this information then ensure you clear the WSUS client id prior to creating your image.

We use this batch file on our image before sysprep.

@echo off
Echo This batch file will do the following:
Echo 1.    Stops the wuauserv service
Echo 2.    Deletes the AccountDomainSid registry key (if it exists)
Echo 3.    Deletes the PingID registry key (if it exists)
Echo 4.    Deletes the SusClientId registry key (if it exists)
echo.
Pause
@echo on
net stop wuauserv
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate" /v AccountDomainSid /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate" /v PingID /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate" /v SusClientId /f
Pause

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Shifnal

ASKER

will try both options and update when done.
Many thanks
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ASKER

fist responce fails with an error you can only import binary registry files from within the registry editor
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ASKER

Second response fails as well say files not there.
Can i not just change something on the local policy to point to the WSUS server?
The code on that website is missing the correct first line that makes regedit understand the file.  My manual wsus registry update file looks like this:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"WUServer"="http://WSUS01:8530"
"WUStatusServer"="http://WSUS01:8530"

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Avatar of Shifnal

ASKER

Same as before, comes up with an error saying i can only import binary files from within regedit, i try and it still fails.
Just to confirm, these computers are not part of a domain and never have been
Ah sorry I see what you are doing.

Don't use the import feature in regedit, instead use

regedit "c:\<path_to_file>\filename.reg"

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on the command line to import the settings from a .reg file into the registry.
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ASKER

still get the same message
"Cannot import c:\wsus.reg: The specified file is not a registry script.
Yo can only import Binary registry files from within the registry editor"

I am running command prompt as an administrator with the same results
Might have a better solution...WSusOffline - http://download.wsusoffline.net/

Not related to WSUS as such, its a standalone app that downloads the updates from Microsoft and you then run 'UpdateClient.exe' on the client machine to install the updates on each machine you need them on...

It keeps record of all the updates you download - so in a way it acts like a WSUS
It can download all updates for XP/2003/2008/7/etc...x86 and x64
.Net, Service packs...the works

Just an other alternative, I use it for updating machines we reinstall from time to time, saves the downloads you mentioned...
What are you using to create the .reg file?  it needs to be notepad or a text editor like notepad++

I've just tried copy inthe code into a blank notepad document, I saved it as wsus.reg to the root of my C: drive, then went into a command prompt and type regedit c:\wsus.reg.

It asked me to confirm that I wanted to import the values into the registry which i did and it came up with a message confirming it had successfully added the values into the registry.
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ASKER

did exactly the same, used notepad and saved it as wsus.reg ????
Can you advise what operating system you are trying this on.
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ASKER

Windows 7 pro 64 bit
I posted this yesterday, I must have posted it to the wrong thread as it obviously isn't here, oops!

http://crmdev.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/the-specified-file-is-not-a-registry-script-how-encoding-can-ruin-your-morning/
Avatar of Shifnal

ASKER

still get the same error no mater what code i save it under :-(
Here is the one from my machine that worked ok, by all means view it to check it only contains legitimate code but DO NOT edit it.

Try importing this into to your registry using
regedit "c:\<path to file>\wsus.reg"

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ASKER

none of the above worked for me :-(
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ASKER

I've requested that this question be deleted for the following reason:

no answer worked so changed sollotion
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Shane McKeown
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ASKER

it's a work around although not all updates worked it gives 80%
You have an issue with importing .reg files Shifnal, you need to investigate this issue as it could lead to potentially lots of other problems.

Have you tried disabling your security software and retried a .reg import?
Avatar of Shifnal

ASKER

Thanks for the post but the original question was about WSUS and not having problems with importing .reg files.
I will sort the WSUS out and then have a look into if i have issues importing .reg files and if i have problems may post another question onto here then.
many thanks to all experts who have helped in this :-)
Not sure which updates didn't work...but there's a bit of playing around with the settings to get exactly everything you need...but its a bandwidth saver for us either way...cheers