Windows updates, and backups

[NathanNieman]

Just wanted to see what other people do when they need to reboot there servers for a windows update.

Right now my backups start at 6pm, and we reboot our servers for windows updates at around 9pm.

If the backup is running it fails etc etc.

What do other people do to try and prevent this, or does anyone do anything?

[Marianne]

We disable Automatic Updates and manually install Windows updates at a convenient time.

[riva11]

We have configured Windows Update deployment but disabled the automatic update. Manual reboot during the night is done using a a batch job in any case on Sunday is scheduled the batch job to reboot automatically all servers.

[J_H_Is_gone · Accepted solution]

Most are done on the weekend when they push the patching, but with retry set I may get a failure on the one that was running, but after it comes backup the retry will kick in at some point and always finishes ok.

[NathanNieman]

Have a copy of this batch job you could share?

As it looks it looks like we are doing what most people are doing.

[riva11]

It is an easy tool, the basic command is shutdown.exe , a tool included in Windows resource Kit, here some details:

Add following command to a batch file called server_restart.bat :

shutdown /L /R /Y /C

/l (Note that this is a lowercase "L" character): Use this switch to shut down the local computer
/a: Use this switch to quit a shutdown operation. You can do this only during the time-out period. If you use this switch, all other parameters are ignored.
/r: Use this switch to restart the computer instead of fully shutting it down.
/y: Use this switch to force a "yes" answer to all queries from the computer.
/c: Use this switch quit all running programs. If you use this switch, Windows forces all programs that are running to quit.

Reference : How To Use the Remote Shutdown Tool to Shut Down and Restart a Computer in Windows 2000


 

[NathanNieman]

ah ok we have used shutdown.exe.   But a lot of servers to set this up on.