A centralized device management tool is any MSP’s best friend for deploying Windows updates. Without the right tool, getting the right updates to the right clients at the right time can put you through the wringer. While some MSPs have historically used WSUS, its deprecation creates a conundrum for loyal users: What now?
We’ll walk you through how MSPs manage Windows updates in PDQ Connect so you can keep client endpoints up to date with less effort.
What are Windows update packages in PDQ Connect?
PDQ Connect offers six prebuilt packages that target specific tasks related to Windows updates. For the sake of simplicity, the names are self-explanatory.
PSWindowsUpdate – Get All Applicable Updates from Microsoft (Audit Only)
PSWindowsUpdate – Install All Applicable Updates from Microsoft (No Drivers, No Feature Updates)
PSWindowsUpdate – Install Applicable Critical and Security Updates from Microsoft
PSWindowsUpdate – Install Applicable Drivers from Microsoft
PSWindowsUpdate – Install Applicable Feature Updates from Microsoft
PSWindowsUpdate – Install Specific Microsoft KB
Each of these packages relies on PSWindowsUpdate, a popular PowerShell module for managing Windows updates. That means each package works by backing up existing WSUS settings, downloading updates from Microsoft online servers, and then restoring WSUS settings. (That also means this approach won’t work on air-gapped networks.)
Also note that the same package may deploy different patches to different endpoints because the updates are specific to each machine.
How to deploy a Windows update package in PDQ Connect
Once you’ve built out groups for your tenants, it’s remarkably easy to deploy your Windows update package of choice to target machines.
In the left navigation bar, select Packages. In the Search packages field, type pswindowsupdate, then select your package of choice. For this example, I’ll select PSWindowsUpdate – Install Applicable Critical and Security Updates from Microsoft. Then, click Deploy.
Select your target device group, which might be a static group you created for a client or subsequent dynamic groups. In this example, I’m targeting the My favorite customer group I created to manage tenants.
Click Deploy.
And that’s it! But there are a couple of slight caveats:
If you run PSWindowsUpdate – Get All Applicable Updates from Microsoft (Audit Only), the results you’re looking for will be in the output log after deployment. Just scroll down to the Available Microsoft Updates section for those juicy deets.
If you want to run PSWindowsUpdate – Install Specific Microsoft KB, you’ll need to modify it based on your goals. Detailed instructions are available in the package description, which you can get to by selecting Packages > PSWindowsUpdate - Install Specific Microsoft KB. Once you’ve modified the package, you can deploy it just like we did above.
Now with that in mind, go forth and manage client Windows updates with ease!
Ready to see your clients gasp in disbelieving delight? Get Windows updates on their endpoints with less hassle. Schedule a demo to see PDQ Connect in action.
