The applicability rule sets that you can use when creating or editing software updates are listed in My Saved Rules. Use the following procedures to edit the rules in those sets of rules.

To edit a rule set in My Saved Rules

  1. In the Updates Publisher 2011 console, click Rules. The workspaces are listed in the console tree.

  2. In the Rules workspace, select the rule set that you want to edit, and then click Edit. You can also right-click the rule set in the list, and then click Edit.

  3. In the Edit Rule dialog box, you can perform the following edits:

    • Specify a new name for the rule set in the Rule name field.

    • Click New to add a new rule to the rule set. The new rule is added immediately following the selected rule. For procedures on how to add rules, see How to Create Applicability Rule Sets.

    • Click Edit to change how a rule is defined. The following procedures in this topic describe how to edit the different types of rules.

    • To add an And operator to the rule, click And. Updates Publisher 2011 adds the operator to the bottom of the rule. Select the rules that you want to include in the statement, and then click Up or Down to move them into the And statement.

    • To change an And operator to an Or operator, click Toggle.

    • To add an Or operator to the rule, click Or. Updates Publisher 2011 adds the operator to the bottom of the rule. Select the rules that you want to include in the statement and click Up or Down to move them into the Or statement.

    • To change an Or operator to an And operator, clock Toggle.

    • To add a Not operator, select a rule, and then click Not. This icon is also used to remove a Not operator.

    • Click Up Arrow and Down Arrow to move rules up or down in the rule.

    • Click Delete to remove a selected rule.

    • Click Save to save a selected rule or logical operator. This allows you to use that rule or logical statement in another rule set.

  4. Click OK to save your edits. Updates Publisher 2011 does not allow you to save the rule if there are rules that are not valid.

To edit a File rule

  1. In the Applicability Rule dialog box, verify that File is set in the Rule type field. If you change this field, you create a new type of rule.

  2. In the Rule Name field, specify the name of the file to test. This field is required.

  3. To use the path of the file to specify the file location, use the Common Paths and Path fields.

  4. To use a registry key to specify the file location, select the Use the Registry to determine file location check box and fill in the Subkey and Value fields.

    If this rule is associated with a 32-bit application that is installed on a Windows 64-bit operating system, select the check box This registry key is associated with a 32-bit application on a 64-bit operating system to ensure that the rule is applied to the correct location. Windows 64-bit operating systems separate the registry entries for 32-bit and 64-bit applications.

  5. Specify the criteria that is used when the rule is applied to the file.

    To verify that the file exists and that it matches certain properties, click The file must exist on the target computer and match the specified properties and fill in the following fields:

    • Language: Specify the language of the file.

    • Version: Specify the version number of the file.

    • Size: Specify the size of the file.

    • Date created: Specify the date when the file was created.

    • Date modified: Specify the date when the file was last modified.

    To verify only that the file has a certain property, click The file must match the following property and fill in the following fields:

    • Property: Specify the property of the file that is tested, such as Created Date.

    • Operator: Specify the logical operator to use in the test, such as Equal To.

      Important
      If you are testing for the version of the file, the Less Than and Less Than or Equal To operators return True if the file does not exist.
    • Value: Specify the value to test against, such as a date. For example, you can specify that the rule applies only if the file was created on 1/1/2011.

  6. Click OK to save the revised rule.

To edit a Registry Key rule

  1. In the Applicability Rule dialog box, verify that Registry is set in the Rule type field. If you change this field, you create a new type of rule.

  2. In the Subkey field, specify the subkey of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE that this rule applies to. For example: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework. This step is required.

  3. In the Value field, specify the value of the registry key to test against, or select the Default Value check box to test against the default value of the registry key.

  4. If this rule is associated with a 32-bit application that is installed on a Windows 64-bit operating system, select the check box This registry key is associated with a 32-bit application on a 64-bit operating system to ensure that the rule is applied to the correct location. Windows 64-bit operating systems store the registry entries for 32-bit and 64-bit applications in different locations.

  5. Specify the criteria to use when the rule is applied to the registry key.

    • To verify only that the registry key exists, click The Registry setting must exist on the target computer.

    • To verify a condition of the registry, click The Registry setting must satisfy the following condition and fill in the following fields:

      • Operator: Specify the logical operator to use in the test, such as Equal To.

        Important
        The Less Than and Less Than or Equal To operators return True if the registry key does not exist.
      • Value: Specify the value of the registry key to test against.

  6. Click OK to save the revised rule.

To edit a Windows Operating System rule

  1. In the Applicability Rule dialog box, verify that System is set in the Rule type field. If you change this field, you create a new type of rule.

  2. To apply the rule to a specific version of the operating system, click Windows version and specify the version of the operating system, such as Windows 7. If Custom is selected fill in the following fields:

    • Operator: Specify the operator to use in the test, such as Equal To.

    • Version: Specify the version number of the operating system, such as Windows 7.

    • Major version: Specify the major version number of the operating system. This field is required.

    • Minor version: Specify the minor version number of the operating system. This field is required.

    • SP major version: Specify the service pack major version number of the operating system. This field is required.

    • SP minor version: Specify the service pack minor version number of the operating system. This field is required.

    • Build number: Specify the build number of the operating system. This field is required.

    • Type: Specify the type of the operating system, such as workstation, domain controller, and server.

  3. To apply the rule to an operating system that displays its content in a specific language, click Windows language, and then select the language.

  4. To apply the rule to an operating system designed for processor architecture, click Processor architecture and select x86, x64, or IA64.

  5. To apply the rule to an operating system that is identified by using a WMI query, click WMI query and fill in the following fields:

    • WMI namespace: Specify the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) namespace where the objects that are used in the query are defined.

    • WMI query: Specify the query that identifies the operating system. This field is required.

  6. Click OK to save the revised rule.

To edit a Windows Installer rule

  1. In the Applicability Rule dialog box, verify that Windows Installer is set in the Rule type field. If you change this field, you create a new type of rule.

    Important
    If you use MSI rules, the Windows Update Agent cannot detect Windows Installer packages that were installed on a per-user basis. If you must use MSI rules, always configure additional applicability rules, such as file versions or registry key values, so that the Windows Installer package can be correctly detected, whether or not the package was installed on a per-user basis or on a per-system basis.
  2. To apply the rule to an installed product or Windows Installer patch, click Windows Installer product or patch installed and fill in the following fields:

    • Product code: Specify the product code that this rule applies to.

    • Patch code: Specify the Windows Installer patch code that this rule applies to.

    • Maximum version: Specify the maximum version of the product or Windows Installer patch that this rule applies to.

    • Minimum version: Specify the minimum version of the product or Windows Installer patch that this rule applies to.

    • Language: Specify the language of the product or Windows Installer Patch that this rule applies to.

  3. To apply the rule to features or components of a product or patch, click Component or feature installed and fill in the following fields:

    • Product code: Click Add and Delete to specify the products that the rule applies to. This field is required.

      If the rule applies to all of the products of the product codes that you listed, select the All products must be installed check box.

    • Component and Feature: Click Component to test for installed components of the product and click Feature to test for installed features of the product. Specify the GUID of the component or the name of the feature, and then click Add to add it to the list. The list can contain both components and features.

      If the rule applies to all of the components and features for the product codes that you listed, select the All components and features must be installed check box.

  4. Click OK to save the revised rule.

To add a saved rule

  1. In the Applicability Rule dialog box, select Saved Rule in the Rule type field.

    Tip
    When editing rule sets, to save a rule, select the rule or logical operator that you want to save, and then click Save. When you save a logical operator, everything within the selected operator is saved, including nested logical operators.
  2. Select one of the saved rules that are displayed.

  3. Click OK to add the rule to the rule set.

See Also