Software updates in Configuration Manager 2007 consist of metadata and software update files. The metadata provides the information about the software update, such as name, description, products that the update supports, update classification, article ID, download URL, applicability rules, and so on. The software update file is the actual file that the client computer downloads, such as an executable (.exe), Windows Installer (.msi) file, or Windows Installer Patch (.msp), and then installs to update a component or application. The software update file might be stored on a Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 server that is configured to be an active software update point, and is always stored on distribution points for the site when the software update is downloaded or deployed.
How WSUS Stores Update Files
When software updates are synchronized at the central site, the software updates metadata is synchronized from Microsoft Update, but depending on how the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server is synchronized, the update files might or might not be copied down to a shared folder on the WSUS server. When synchronization completes on the WSUS server, only the metadata is synchronized from the WSUS server database to the Configuration Manager site database. For more information about synchronization in Configuration Manager, see About Software Updates Synchronization.
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| When System Center Updates Publisher is used to publish software updates, the update files are automatically stored in the shared folder on the WSUS server. |
How Configuration Manager Stores Update Files
Software update files are retrieved and copied to distribution points when the software update is downloaded using the Download Updates Wizard or deployed to client computers using the Deploy Software Updates Wizard. Both methods download the software update file to a temporary location on the site server hard drive, which creates and stores a compressed package file containing the software update, decompresses the package file, and then copies the update file to the package shared folder on the distribution point. For more information about deployment packages, see About Software Update Deployment Packages. When client computers receive a deployment with the update, they will download the software update file from the distribution point, store the update file in the local cache, and then run the update file.
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| When a software update has an associated license terms, the license terms is not downloaded by Configuration Manager. Client computers retrieve the license terms during installation by accessing them from the WSUS server (when updates are stored locally) or from the Internet. When a client computer cannot access the license terms, the software update installation will fail. |
The logged-on user account and proxy settings configured in Internet Explorer for the user are used by default when the site server downloads software update files from the Internet. The command-line utility, UpdDwnldCfg.exe, is provided on the Configuration Manager 2007 DVD and on every site server and can be used to modify the default server and account settings used when downloading software update files from the Internet. For more information about using the UpdDwnldCfg.exe utility, see How to Configure Proxy Settings Used When Downloading Software Update Files.