BackUp & Restore WSUS

Saw another thread in these forums where it was mentioned that you should know how to BU and restore WSUS. I have 3 books and none of them talks about how to do this. So I did some checking on my own.

Basically you BU and restore through the backup utility on an 03 server.
- Backup or restore the following for WSUS Database - %sysdrive%\wsus\mssql$wsus – data folder, log folder
- Backup and restore the Folder with update files - %sysdrive%\wsus\wsuscontent (default)
(Dont BU if updates kept on Microsoft's site)

I feel as though there is more to it. Am I missing anything?

Find more posts tagged with

Save $250 on 2025 certification boot camps from Infosec!

Book now with code EOY2025

Button

Comments

sprkymrk

In a real world situation, you would probably also backup the system state.

Mishra

I'm pretty sure you need to backup IIS correctly as well.

sprkymrk

Mishra wrote:

I'm pretty sure you need to backup IIS correctly as well.

System state includes IIS.

CoryS

If you didnt backup the system state, or didnt want to restore everything thats included in the system state, you would also then need to backup the metabase of the site as well.

Typically from the study requirements point of view it was...

-db
-updates folder where they are typically stored
-folder containing the website files
-iis metabase

Thats shootin from the hip but I am pretty sure thats all. YMMV

Mishra

sprkymrk wrote:

Mishra wrote:

I'm pretty sure you need to backup IIS correctly as well.

System state includes IIS.

It includes the meta-database but you should really grab the other data from IIS as well.

I'm sure we are going far beyond microsoft so I would just make sure to read the books to understand what microsoft says you need to backup. I remember reading WSUS backup section so it should be in your press books.

geezer301

"http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/0f0b7103-052e-481e-9efb-be7ab06fbd181033.mspx?mfr=true"

sprkymrk

Thanks for the link geezer - your info was for WSUS3.0. The 70-291 tests on WSUS 2.0:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/0f0b7103-052e-481e-9efb-be7ab06fbd181033.mspx?mfr=true

I found that quite easily based on your link for 3.0, so I can't take credit for finding it.

Summary for backing up WSUS 2.0:

1. The WSUS database - Under %systemdrive%\WSUS\MSSQL$WSUS\, select the Data and LOG folders.

and

2. The folder where the update files are stored - by default under %systemdrive%\WSUS\WSUSContent.

Odd they don't include IIS/System State. In the real world I would certainly include those.