Updating Windows from the Command Line

scottalanmiller

Keeping a system up to date is very important and doing so from the command line can be one of the easiest ways to do this on Windows.

Updating a Windows system, server or desktop, can be as simple as running this command as an administrator:

wuauclt.exe /detectnow /updatenow

If you only want to look for the latest updates without applying them, you can just run:

wuauclt.exe /detectnow

Lakshmana

@scottalanmiller I tried this command in Windows 10 no reply

scottalanmiller

@Lakshmana said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

@scottalanmiller I tried this command in Windows 10 no reply

It should be silent.

thwr

@scottalanmiller @Lakshmana Absolutely silent. No output at all. There are other ways to monitor the actual behavior (Windows event log, WSUS, ...)

IRJ

It would be a nightmare to do this on a medium to large size network without WSUS control. It is a good command for updating a pc here or there.

thwr

@IRJ said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

It would be a nightmare to do this on a medium to large size network without WSUS control. It is a good command for updating a pc here or there.

You will most probably have some means of deploying updates in larger environments, like WSUS or something bigger like SCCM.

IRJ

@thwr said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

@IRJ said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

It would be a nightmare to do this on a medium to large size network without WSUS control. It is a good command for updating a pc here or there.

You will most probably have some means of deploying updates in larger environments, like WSUS or something bigger like SCCM.

Yeah sir. I was just adding that comment in case a rookie admin sees this post and tries to send the command out to the whole network.

thwr

@IRJ said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

@thwr said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

@IRJ said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

It would be a nightmare to do this on a medium to large size network without WSUS control. It is a good command for updating a pc here or there.

You will most probably have some means of deploying updates in larger environments, like WSUS or something bigger like SCCM.

Yeah sir. I was just adding that comment in case a rookie admin sees this post and tries to send the command out to the whole network.

scottalanmiller

It's just for those cases where you need to push the updates before getting started with something

IRJ

@scottalanmiller said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

It's just for those cases where you need to push the updates before getting started with something

I dont want to see a thread saying I pushed this out to 500 PCs in the middle of the day and my network is toast....lol

thwr

@IRJ said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

@thwr said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

@IRJ said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

It would be a nightmare to do this on a medium to large size network without WSUS control. It is a good command for updating a pc here or there.

You will most probably have some means of deploying updates in larger environments, like WSUS or something bigger like SCCM.

Yeah sir. I was just adding that comment in case a rookie admin sees this post and tries to send the command out to the whole network.

You mean like

Invoke-Command -ComputerName (Get-ADComputer -filter * | Select -Expand Name) -Script { wuactl.... }

(DON'T TRY THIS AT ~~HOME~~ WORK)

thwr

http://www.toodarkpark.org/computers/humor/shoot-self-in-foot.html

StrongBad

A little network traffic is good for keeping users on their toes. Remind them that you are doing things.

alex.olynyk

its nice to see the windows administration tag, good stuff coming in

scottalanmiller

@alex.olynyk said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

its nice to see the windows administration tag, good stuff coming in

No official page yet, but getting some little nuggets ready as I am working towards some stuff.

nadnerB

@scottalanmiller said in Updating Windows from the Command Line:

Keeping a system up to date is very important and doing so from the command line can be one of the easiest ways to do this on Windows.

Updating a Windows system, server or desktop, can be as simple as running this command as an administrator:
wuauclt.exe /detectnow /updatenow
If you only want to look for the latest updates without applying them, you can just run:
wuauclt.exe /detectnow

Also:
wuauclt.exe /a /detectnow

(/ResetAuthorization)

http://ss64.com/nt/wuauclt.html