Deploying Updates to Server 2003 Machines

[Shump]

Hello!

My company has approximately 15 servers, each running Windows Server 2003 Standard SP2, that serve a variety of functions.

I want to find a way to manage updates and patches for all of the servers from a central point, where all are downloaded only once and deployment is handled according to our schedule.

However, given the nature of these servers, updates cannot automatically reboot the machines at any time, even in the middle of the night, unless we are aware of it in advance. I have looked at the Windows SUS for deployment, but it seems like while it gives you control over the selection of updates and the time when they are deployed, updates are still going to be installed automatically and those that require a reboot will cause it to happen, though it looks as though you can delay the reboot for a preset period of time.

What I would really prefer is not to have updates auto-deployed at all. I would like to have our update server check for and download updates on a regular basis, but then for us to manually log into it periodically, choose the updates we want deployed, and push them out to the other machines on the network at the time of our choosing.

Is there a way I am missing to have SUS do things in this manner? Or is there another tool, either built-in to Server 2003 or available separately, to accomplish what I want?

Thanks in advance for all assistance!

- Shump

[cluberti]

WSUS meets those needs. All of the update logic can be set on the clients (specifically you probably want the WU on the clients to be set to auto-notify or download, but do not install - this can easily be done via the registry or local policy on the servers - specifically, you would probably consider setting AUOptions to either 2 or 3).

WSUS is your answer.