"Ross" <R...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>A short list of things I'd like to see in WSUS:

> Give me an option to copy approval settings from one group to another:
> If I create a new group a year after implementing WSUS it's likely I'm
> going
> to want all the currently approved updates to apply here.  I do not
> particularly want to trawl through 600+ updates to find which ones I'd
> applied to my general computers and manually add them to this list.

> Make updates easier to apply / manage on a per group basis
> I don't test updates one at a time, there are simply not enough hours in
> the
> day.  Instead our test network gets hit with a batch of updates which I'll
> want to apply to the live network a week or two later.  Managing this is
> currently a nightmare.  On the updates screen the approval status here
> often
> says "Mixed" since we have a 3 stage process:  Test machines first, then
> workstations, then eventually servers.
> Finding which patches are at which stage is nearly impossible

> My suggestion to improve this in WSUS would be to give improved views /
> filtering on the updates list:
> - allow me to view all updates approved for a particular group
> - allow me to view approval status for a selected group

> That would allow me to see a single screen listing all the updates
> currently
> approved on the test machines, with the approval status shown for the live
> clients.  Even better would be to allow filtering of the approval status
> so
> it only showed patches currently live on the test servers but not applied
> to
> the main clients.

> This brings me to my 3rd point:
> Change the way you approve updates!!!

> When I've gone through the above process and selected a batch of updates
> to
> apply to my general computers, I'm now ready to approve these for my main
> clients only.  Why oh why does WSUS insist on asking me what settings I
> want
> to apply for every other group?

> When I'm approving updates I *do not* want all my groups listed and
> prompting me for actions.  I want a blank screen there with the ability
> for
> me to add groups as required.

> ie:  It's likely I just want to update one or two groups.  Allow me to
> select a group and an action and add it to the list.

> That allows me to make changes to the approvals for one group without the
> risk of changing the settings that currently apply to other groups.

"Ross" <R...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>A short list of things I'd like to see in WSUS:

> Give me an option to copy approval settings from one group to another:

> My suggestion to improve this in WSUS would be to give improved views /
> filtering on the updates list:
> - allow me to view all updates approved for a particular group
> - allow me to view approval status for a selected group

> This brings me to my 3rd point:
> Change the way you approve updates!!!

> When I've gone through the above process and selected a batch of updates
> to
> apply to my general computers, I'm now ready to approve these for my main
> clients only.  Why oh why does WSUS insist on asking me what settings I
> want
> to apply for every other group?

> When I'm approving updates I *do not* want all my groups listed and
> prompting me for actions.  I want a blank screen there with the ability
> for
> me to add groups as required.

> ie:  It's likely I just want to update one or two groups.  Allow me to
> select a group and an action and add it to the list.

> That allows me to make changes to the approvals for one group without the
> risk of changing the settings that currently apply to other groups.

> "Ross" <R...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:617A3CDC-AE2D-4538-BA74-A78A54E7DA9D@microsoft.com...
>>A short list of things I'd like to see in WSUS:
>> This brings me to my 3rd point:
>> Change the way you approve updates!!!

>> When I've gone through the above process and selected a batch of updates
>> to
>> apply to my general computers, I'm now ready to approve these for my main
>> clients only.  Why oh why does WSUS insist on asking me what settings I
>> want
>> to apply for every other group?

>> When I'm approving updates I *do not* want all my groups listed and
>> prompting me for actions.  I want a blank screen there with the ability
>> for
>> me to add groups as required.

>> ie:  It's likely I just want to update one or two groups.  Allow me to
>> select a group and an action and add it to the list.

>> That allows me to make changes to the approvals for one group without the
>> risk of changing the settings that currently apply to other groups.

> An interesting interface modification, Ross. I'll bounce this suggestion
> up to the development team and see if they can offer any feedback as to
> why the interface is the way it is now, or why it can or cannot be
> accomodated to work as you'd like.

> - allow me to view all updates approved for a particular group
> - allow me to view approval status for a selected group

"Lawrence Garvin (MVP)" wrote:

> "Ross" <R...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:617A3CDC-AE2D-4538-BA74-A78A54E7DA9D@microsoft.com...
> >A short list of things I'd like to see in WSUS:

> > Give me an option to copy approval settings from one group to another:

> The tool is in the API Samples and Tools Kit.

> > My suggestion to improve this in WSUS would be to give improved views /
> > filtering on the updates list:
> > - allow me to view all updates approved for a particular group
> > - allow me to view approval status for a selected group

> Both of these can be done in the current interface.

> > This brings me to my 3rd point:
> > Change the way you approve updates!!!

> > When I've gone through the above process and selected a batch of updates
> > to
> > apply to my general computers, I'm now ready to approve these for my main
> > clients only.  Why oh why does WSUS insist on asking me what settings I
> > want
> > to apply for every other group?

> > When I'm approving updates I *do not* want all my groups listed and
> > prompting me for actions.  I want a blank screen there with the ability
> > for
> > me to add groups as required.

> > ie:  It's likely I just want to update one or two groups.  Allow me to
> > select a group and an action and add it to the list.

> > That allows me to make changes to the approvals for one group without the
> > risk of changing the settings that currently apply to other groups.

> An interesting interface modification, Ross. I'll bounce this suggestion up
> to the development team and see if they can offer any feedback as to why the
> interface is the way it is now, or why it can or cannot be accomodated to
> work as you'd like.

> --
> Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MVP-Software Distribution
> Everything you need for WSUS is at
> http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/technologies/featured/...
> And, eveything else is at
> http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
> ....

Lawrence Garvin (MVP) wrote:
> "Ross" <R...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:617A3CDC-AE2D-4538-BA74-A78A54E7DA9D@microsoft.com...

>>A short list of things I'd like to see in WSUS:

>>Give me an option to copy approval settings from one group to another:

> The tool is in the API Samples and Tools Kit.
> (snip)

Ross wrote:
> A short list of things I'd like to see in WSUS:

> Give me an option to copy approval settings from one group to another:
> If I create a new group a year after implementing WSUS it's likely I'm going
> to want all the currently approved updates to apply here.  I do not
> particularly want to trawl through 600+ updates to find which ones I'd
> applied to my general computers and manually add them to this list.
> (snip)

"Ross" <R...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>A short list of things I'd like to see in WSUS:

> Give me an option to copy approval settings from one group to another:
> If I create a new group a year after implementing WSUS it's likely I'm
> going
> to want all the currently approved updates to apply here.  I do not
> particularly want to trawl through 600+ updates to find which ones I'd
> applied to my general computers and manually add them to this list.

> Make updates easier to apply / manage on a per group basis
> I don't test updates one at a time, there are simply not enough hours in
> the
> day.  Instead our test network gets hit with a batch of updates which I'll
> want to apply to the live network a week or two later.  Managing this is
> currently a nightmare.  On the updates screen the approval status here
> often
> says "Mixed" since we have a 3 stage process:  Test machines first, then
> workstations, then eventually servers.
> Finding which patches are at which stage is nearly impossible

> My suggestion to improve this in WSUS would be to give improved views /
> filtering on the updates list:
> - allow me to view all updates approved for a particular group
> - allow me to view approval status for a selected group

> That would allow me to see a single screen listing all the updates
> currently
> approved on the test machines, with the approval status shown for the live
> clients.  Even better would be to allow filtering of the approval status
> so
> it only showed patches currently live on the test servers but not applied
> to
> the main clients.

> This brings me to my 3rd point:
> Change the way you approve updates!!!

> When I've gone through the above process and selected a batch of updates
> to
> apply to my general computers, I'm now ready to approve these for my main
> clients only.  Why oh why does WSUS insist on asking me what settings I
> want
> to apply for every other group?

> When I'm approving updates I *do not* want all my groups listed and
> prompting me for actions.  I want a blank screen there with the ability
> for
> me to add groups as required.

> ie:  It's likely I just want to update one or two groups.  Allow me to
> select a group and an action and add it to the list.

> That allows me to make changes to the approvals for one group without the
> risk of changing the settings that currently apply to other groups.

"Ross" <R...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> Thanks Craig, that's great news.  Thought of another point this morning -
> will the new interface allow me to view the update status of the computers
> in
> a particular group?

> I'm basically thinking there's no quick way at the moment to look at a
> group
> & see if all the recently selected updates have been applied to all
> members.
> Right now I don't even know if my test network is up to date, let alone
> the
> live network.  Yeah, I can drill down into the detail for each computer &
> see
> if any updates are flagged as 'needed', but I really want to be able to
> see
> this at a glance.  Something like:

> [Selected group:  test]
> Computer Name    OS                 Last Report    Current Status
> XXXX                   Windows XP    7am today     Up to date
> YYYY                    Windows XP    1 hour ago     Needs 5 approved
> updates

> The current status should only deal with approved updates for that group.
> The updates screen is where I go to look at unapproved ones.

> Thinking about it, this is kind of an extension of what I was asking for
> before, but applied to the computer view instead of the update view.
> Again,
> I'm filtering the list to a selected group, and viewing the status for a
> particular group.

> The nested group stuff sounds awesome, it'll do away with some of the
> copying needs I've had.  Will you allow groups to be moved & to assume the
> inherited properties as they move?

> Ross

> PS.  Put me down for the beta if you can - I've a good knack for breaking
> things & finding bugs, just ask Veritas :D