Patching Office Products

If I perform update management (in planning mode) and use the microsoft site for scanning, I see all the missing office patches... I have them set to download them in both WSUS and Patch Manager side, but the Computer Management, Windows Update Scan does not show them.

Hmmm....interesting. I seem to be able to see the Microsoft Office patches and even the thiird party patches when I go to Computer Management, Windows Update Scan. You do need to make sure you have the office products selected in WSUS before Patch Manager can see them. That is the only thing I can think of at the moment.

They are selected in WSUS. I can create custom lists from them and everything.... just no dice on them showing up in the Win Update Scan

Ok, the only other thing I can thik of is if the C:\Windows\Software Distribution folder get's cleared once in a while. Usually that folder does not get touched, but if it does get cleared then the data for windows updates will not appear in the Windows Update Scan. That is for Windows XP SP 3 workstations that use that folder.

This is a 2008R2 server. The regular OS patches are showing up no problem. I can even use and deploy the Office patching using the customer lists, however I NEED them to show up in the view from the Windows Update Scan.

I have cleaned up the server and checked to insure that it is correctly talking to the WSUS server... its all good. Which is why this is so frustrating... esp hearing that you can see them in yours!

Yes, sorry I cannot be more helpful. We do not install office on any of our 2008 R2 servers. Give the folks at Solarwinds a call or ticket, I am sure they can assist with your issue.

Figured it out... There is a fundamental difference between "Windows Update" and "Microsoft Update"... Understand the difference, understand the problem.

In short:

Windows update only patches the OS

Microsoft Update patches the OS AND other MS products

Without having MS Update enabled, it will NOT show the app (office) updates.

This kind of info should be in a sticky somewhere. (watch there be one)

Oh wow, that makes perfect sense. I had not even thought of that. Since the image we use for workstations already has Microsoft Updates enabled. That would explain a lot. Good sleuthing Bryan.

Whenever Patch Manager is used to initiate an update scan, it is the WIndows Update Agent that performs that scan, and it performs the scan according to how the client is configured. Microsoft Update is an opt-in service that contains application patches -- as noted earlier in this thread. This option is off by default on all Windows systems and must be enabled. It can be enabled via Group Policy.

When the WUAgent scans the WSUS server, this option is irrelevant, as the scan is always based on what content is synchronized to the WSUS server, but when teh scan is performed against Microsoft (WU/MU), then  the behavior is dependent upon the client configuration -- if MU is not opted-in, then only OS updates will appear in the scan results, as noted in the thread.

The best information source is to go to the Control Panel Windows Update applet and select the "Updates: frequently asked questions" link from the navigation list on the left side of the dialog.

In addition, I'm going to explore whether there might be something we can do in Patch Manager to better convey the configuration state of the client system.