Timeout expired error message

[Bohdan]

Hi again,

Every now and then, I get a "timeout expired" error message when trying to
approve or reapprove selected updates. I usually try again and the approvals
go through without a problem. For the past few days, however, I almost
always get the error, sometimes on the first update I try to approve,
sometimes some 20 updates in. The text of the message is:

"Windows Server Update Services error -- Web Page Dialog

Windows Server Update Services encountered an error.

Timeout expired. The timeout period elapsed prior to completion of the
operation or the server is not responding.

[Show Details] [Close]"

When I press "Show Details", the following information is given:

"System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Timeout expired. The timeout period
elapsed prior to completion of the operation or the server is not responding.
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.DatabaseAccess.DBConnection.DrainObsoleteConnections(SqlException e)
at Microsoft.UpdateServices.DatabaseAccess.DBConnection.ExecuteReader()
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.SingleResultSetSPHandler.ExecuteStoredProcedure(DBConnection connection)
at Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.GenericDataAccess.ExecuteSP(String
spName, DBParameterCollection args, IExecuteSPHandler handler)
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.DataAccess.ExecuteSPSingleResultSet(String
spName, DBParameterCollection args, Type resultType)
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.DatabaseAccess.AdminDataAccess.ExecuteSPDeployUpdate(Guid
updateId, Int32 revisionNumber, Int32 deploymentAction, Guid targetGroupId,
String adminName, DateTime deadline, Boolean isAssigned, DateTime goLiveTime,
Int32 downloadPriority, Guid deploymentGuid, Boolean translateSqlException)
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.DatabaseAccess.AdminDataAccess.ExecuteSPDeployUpdate(UpdateRevisionId
updateId, Int32 deploymentAction, Guid targetGroupId, DateTime deadline,
String adminName)
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.BaseApi.Update.Approve(UpdateApprovalAction
action, IComputerTargetGroup targetGroup, DateTime deadline)
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.BaseApi.Update.Approve(UpdateApprovalAction
action, IComputerTargetGroup targetGroup)
at Administration.Updates.UpdateProxy.Deploy(String xpostXml)
at Administration.Updates.UpdateXPost.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e)

at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.DatabaseAccess.DBConnection.DrainObsoleteConnections(SqlException e)
at Microsoft.UpdateServices.DatabaseAccess.DBConnection.ExecuteReader()
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.SingleResultSetSPHandler.ExecuteStoredProcedure(DBConnection connection)
at Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.GenericDataAccess.ExecuteSP(String
spName, DBParameterCollection args, IExecuteSPHandler handler)
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.DataAccess.ExecuteSPSingleResultSet(String
spName, DBParameterCollection args, Type resultType)
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.DatabaseAccess.AdminDataAccess.ExecuteSPDeployUpdate(Guid
updateId, Int32 revisionNumber, Int32 deploymentAction, Guid targetGroupId,
String adminName, DateTime deadline, Boolean isAssigned, DateTime goLiveTime,
Int32 downloadPriority, Guid deploymentGuid, Boolean translateSqlException)
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.DatabaseAccess.AdminDataAccess.ExecuteSPDeployUpdate(UpdateRevisionId
updateId, Int32 deploymentAction, Guid targetGroupId, DateTime deadline,
String adminName)
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.BaseApi.Update.Approve(UpdateApprovalAction
action, IComputerTargetGroup targetGroup, DateTime deadline)
at
Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.BaseApi.Update.Approve(UpdateApprovalAction
action, IComputerTargetGroup targetGroup)
at Administration.Updates.UpdateProxy.Deploy(String xpostXml)
at Administration.Updates.UpdateXPost.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs
e)"

Unfortunately, I know very little SQL, so I am at a loss as to how to
troubleshoot this. I have completely disabled Symantec AntiVirus just in
case, but this has not helped. According to Task Manager, the server's CPU
utilization barely reached 25% during the approval process, when the error
happens. SQL seems to be eating about 800MB of RAM, but I have 4GB, so this
should not be a problem. There seem to be no latency problems on the server
otherwise, so I really have no idea why this is happening. Would the
resolution of this problem also address why approvals in general take
extremely long, despite very fast hardware?

Help would be greatly appreciated.

Bohdan

[Rajiv Poonamalli [MSFT]]

We have identified a few performance issues with update approval, especially
when multiple updates are chosen for approval or the server has many target
groups.

How many updates are you attempting to approve at a time?
How many target groups are present on this server?
What is your approval strategy? Could you cut-paste the approvals for a
typical update in your WSUS server?

Thanks.

--
Rajiv Poonamalli [MSFT]
Windows Server Update Services

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

"Bohdan" <Boh...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2F2453B3-9D4E-499B...@microsoft.com...

[Bohdan]

Rajiv,

The WSUS environment here is still in an experimental stage, so I am
changing the target groups and approvals fairly often before I settle down on
any one particular strategy. However, the strategy I have been using fairly
consistently for the past few days and will probably settle on is as follows:

1. All Computers. This group is allowed to detect all possible updates but
not install.
2. Unassigned Computers - Same as All Computers.
3. Force - This is an experimental group which forces an installation of all
possible updates by specifying a deadline of 12:00AM, 10/01/2005.
4. SP2 - This is the group to which computers are slowly being added through
client-side targeting and a dedicated WSUS OU. Initially, this group denied
all updates except for XP SP2, which it installed based on the GP schedule.

I now want the SP2 group to approve the installation of all possible
critical updates in addition to SP2 and so am trying to approve some 550 or
so updates according to this strategy. Sometimes I receive the timeout error
after the first attempted approval, sometimes more get approved before the
timeout. Today, WSUS managed to approve some 220 updates before timing out.

Additionally, it seems that every time I change approvals, the approval
process takes longer and longer. The first time I approved updates, each
approval took some 10 seconds. Today, each approval that manages to go
through takes between 70 and 90 seconds EACH. Why this performance hit? Why
are approvals so complicated and lengthy?

If you have any fixes or suggestions, please let me know. I would like to
put this server into production soon, but it is quickly becoming a major
headache, having to devote an entire business day just for approvals to
happen (or not happen, as has been the case lately).

Thanks,

Bohdan

[David Hennessey (MSFT)]

Are you running Full SQL or WMSDE?

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"Bohdan" <Boh...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:4836AC7C-2E0E-43A8...@microsoft.com...

[Bohdan]

MSDE, with whatever patches and updates are currently available. The WSUS
server is Windows 2000 Standard, with SP4.

[Rajiv Poonamalli [MSFT]]

Bohdan,
We are currently in the process of addressing some of the performance issues
in this area. The steps below would fix part of the performance problems you
are facing. Please try these on your server and let us know if it solves the
timeout issues.

1) Save the attached file to disk on the WSUS server
2) As administrator, run the following command.
osql -E -S <MSDEServerName> -n -b -i addDeploymentIndex.sql

The osql utility can be found in under the Program Files\Update
Services\Tools folder.

--
Rajiv Poonamalli [MSFT]
Windows Server Update Services

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

"Bohdan" <Boh...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:85813053-D2D6-4FBA...@microsoft.com...

[Lawrence Garvin [MVP]]

I may have a tip that will help...

Based on this comment: "so am trying to approve some 550 or so updates

according to this strategy".

Since the actual number of updates that are applicable to an XP SP2 system
is fairly short, might I suggest that you run a Computers report for one of
your XP SP2 systems, itemize the updates that are actually showing as
"Needed" for that XP SP2 system, and then approve /only/ that short list of
updates for your XP SP2 systems.

Following a reasonable period of time for the detection and installation of
those updates, run another Computers report and see if any additional
updates are still listed as "Needed" by /any/ XP SP2 system, and approve
those updates as well.

>Today, WSUS managed to approve some 220 updates before timing out.

This is an excessively large number of update to try to change in one shot,
and quite frankly, is not even realistically representative of the actual
updates that /need/ to be marked as Approved for Installation.

In short, you're probably creating much more work for yourself than is
actually necessary.

"Bohdan" <Boh...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:4836AC7C-2E0E-43A8...@microsoft.com...

[Bohdan]

Rajiv,

I attempted to follow your advice by RDPing into the server and performing
the steps you outlined. First, I found that the osql utility is actually in
the osql subdirectory of Tools. I copied the sql file into the directory
with the osql utility and ran the command exactly as you specified. I
received an error, which I am pasting below. The name of my WSUS server is
NY1221WSUS2K.

"C:\Program Files\Update Services\Tools\osql>osql -E -S
NY1221WSUS2K -n -b -i add
DeploymentIndex.sql
Msg 911, Level 16, State 1, Server NY1221WSUS2K, Line 1
Could not locate entry in sysdatabases for database 'SUSDB'. No entry found
with that name. Make sure that the name is entered correctly."

Am I doing something wrong, or is this not supported via RDP? Please
advise.

Thanks,

Bohdan

"Rajiv Poonamalli [MSFT]" <raj...@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:eW1EjW5...@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

[ServerAdmin999]

Saying that approving that many updates is not helpfull at all!

I have a new wsus server with new groups and need to approve/detect for
5 groups to make the new server work, and yes, I've wasted a whole day
as well trying to get the damm thing to approve the updates.

Please reply to News Groups, not my email, as its got a full mailbox of
spam, I only use the address for posting to NG's

Could the microsoft chap post the sql code to the newsgroup so everyone
having the problem can try to get it working, and out of interest what
testing was done with msde and say 5 or 6 groups, or is this the normal
M$ "lets release untested untried software, and waste peoples time"?

Thanks

[Bohdan]

This is exactly my concern as well. While I agree that the day-to-day
operation of WSUS should not require approving or reapproving hundreds of
updates at a time, the initial setup should be as troublefree as possible,
and this includes being able to put WSUS into production quickly. The only
realistic way to do this would be to do "batch" approvals to establish a
baseline of sorts, and then to worry only about new updates as they become
available. So far, WSUS has been a major disappointment in this respect.

As far as the updates I was approving, Lawrence, like I said, I get the
timeout error regardless of how many updates I choose to approve. Yesterday
evening I tried approving just one update and always kept receiving the
timeout error after some 75 seconds of attempted approval. This was
definitely not the case last week, when I first set up the server; back
then, each approval took a maximum of 30 seconds, irrespective of how many
updates at a time were being approved.

I would like to know what is going on, because at this rate, rolling WSUS
out to our clients will inevitably result in more headaches than it's worth.

Bohdan

"ServerAdmin999" <gordo...@totalise.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1129201770.9...@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

[Torgeir Bakken (MVP)]

ServerAdmin999 wrote:

Hi,

Content of addDeploymentIndex.sql:

--------------------8<----------------------
USE SUSDB
GO
BEGIN TRAN
IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sysindexes where name='nc7DeploymentRevision')
BEGIN
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX nc7DeploymentRevision ON
dbo.tbDeployment(RevisionID, TargetGroupID, ActionID)
END
COMMIT TRAN
GO
--------------------8<----------------------

Note that the text starting with "CREATE NONCLUSTERED " between the
BEGIN
...
END block needs to be one single long line, it will wrap over two
lines in this post.

--
torgeir, Microsoft MVP Scripting, Porsgrunn Norway
Administration scripting examples and an ONLINE version of
the 1328 page Scripting Guide:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/default.mspx

[ServerAdmin999]

WOW!!! Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou

I don't have a clue what that sql code actually did, but it damm well
did the trick, I was 1/2 way through trying to approve them again
(about 90 secs/approval) and as soon as that script finished, its
dropped to about 5 secs/approval (didn't even have to restart the
approval process)

Thanks Again
Gordon

[Bohdan]

Gordon,

Can you please tell me how you ran the sql code? I followed the steps given
to me by Rajiv earlier and got an error message. The sql file itself though
is the same version that Torgeir recently posted. Did you run the code
differently from Rajiv's instructions?

Thanks,

Bohdan

"ServerAdmin999" <gordo...@totalise.co.uk> wrote in message

news:1129220339.1...@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

[Rajiv Poonamalli [MSFT]]

Bohdan,
Based on your error message, it seems that the WSUS server database (SUSDB)
is not on the default SQL server instance on the machine. It is probably on
a named instance. Look at the following registry key to find out which SQL
server/MSDE server you have to run the command at.

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Update Services\Server\Setup\SqlServerName

You can replace the value of this key for the <MSDEServerName> place holder
in the command below.

--
Rajiv Poonamalli [MSFT]
Windows Server Update Services

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

"Bohdan" <byar...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:u3ULhF7...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

[David Hennessey (MSFT)]

Bohdan, make sure you know the 'name' of the MSDE instance where the SUSDB
lives. As Rajiv mentioned in his post above the registry key will show the
instance name of MSDE that WSUS is using. Specifying that in the -S
parameter to OSQL should allow it to run against the db successfully.

As for what this does, we found that the reason the approvals were taking so
long was the query plan that SQL was choosing when we delete approvals in
the DB (of course, the reason we are deleting approvals at all is another
story, but that is something we'll try to fix in SP1) was quite inefficient
because one of the pieces of data we were querying on wasn't indexed
properly.

Creation of that index allows SQL to choose a much more performant query
plan and in our tests reduced the deployment delete time 'significantly'.

--
This posting is provided "As Is" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
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"Bohdan" <Boh...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:OUPOaOB0...@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...

[Lawrence Garvin [MVP]]

David.. is this index enhancement recommended for any particular
'environment' of deployment, i.e. a certain database file size, certain
number of clients, certain number of metadata records... or is this still
being offered only on an 'as needed' basis?

"David Hennessey (MSFT)" <davi...@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:OazSyvE0...@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

[ServerAdmin999]

I just took the sql code, put it in a text file called
addDeploymentIndex.sql
in c:\program files\updateservices\tools\osql

I did have to adjust the line

"CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX nc7DeploymentRevision ON
dbo.tbDeployment(RevisionID, TargetGroupID, ActionID)"

as google had put it on two lines

I then ran the command

"osql -E -S susserver1 -n -b -i addDeploymentIndex.sql" (no quotes)

where susserver1 is the netbios name of our main sus server

Interestingly though, if I run the same command on our susserver2,
(which is a replica of sus1) I get the same screen you get when you
type "osql /?"

I checked the registry as Rajiv says, but the servername is listed as
%computername% (which typing "set" at a command prompt shows as being
susserver2) and the DB name is listed as SUSDB.

Interesting though, sus1 was a brand new install, SUS2 was an upgrade
from the previous version of sus

As SUS2 synchronizes from SUS1, its not so bad that I cant get it to
work on that one
SUS2 does sometimes give the error

Windows Server Update Services encountered an error.

Object reference not set to an instance of an object

A reboot of the server fixes that, but not the osql error.

Goodluck with it
Gordon

[Lawrence Garvin [MVP]]

As Rajiv, and others, have pointed out...

If WSUS is running on named instance -- which it /will/ be unless you've
installed WSUS on a pre-existing installation of SQL Server 2000 SE/EE --
then you must include the name of the named instance in the -S parameter of
the osql command, e.g.

osql -E -S susserver2\WSUS -n -b -i addDeploymentIndex.sql

otherwise it looks for the /default/ instance on that server.

Furthermore, a point not previously included, the named instance /will/ be
"WSUS", as there's no way to complete the install with any other named
instance of MSDE or WMSDE.

"ServerAdmin999" <gordo...@totalise.co.uk> wrote in message

news:1129281554....@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

[David Hennessey (MSFT)]

When osql returns the help text (same as /?) it means something in the
command line was incorrect.

Generally when I have this problem I just manually type the command and make
sure of the 'case' used in the paramters. It is case sensitive.

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"ServerAdmin999" <gordo...@totalise.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1129281554....@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

[David Hennessey (MSFT)]

It can be applied for any WSUS environment, but it hasn't been widely
released as of yet. It is something we are looking into, but no firm ETA.

--
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Use of included script samples are subject to the terms specified at
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"Lawrence Garvin [MVP]" <onsitech...@news.postalias> wrote in message
news:OuEkNMG0...@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...