Monitor and control the Microsoft Windows Update Agent (WUA)

You can monitor Microsoft WUA using our custom integration driver scripts. The first script uses the SSH-based PowerShell commands (in particular CreateupdateSearcher) to retrieve information about the available updates and their severity and category.

The second script uses the SSH-based WMI commands through PowerShell and checks if there are pending reboots for the updates to take effect. Through this script, the user can also issue a reboot command.

The scripts have been validated and tested on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019 and the usage of PowerShell 5.1.19041.2364.

• windows_update.js - this script uses PowerShell commands to retrieve the list of updates available at the Microsoft Windows system level
• windows_pending_reboot_sensor.js - this script uses WMI commands to check if there are pending reboots to allow the updates to be effective. Moreover, it exposes a custom button to issue a reboot command to the Windows system

You can find the Microsoft Windows Update Agent scripts in our examples library. Just customize the drivers to fit your needs.

You can list all the types of updates missing from a Windows System. Updates have been broken down per Category (Security vs. Generic updates) and Severity.

For instance, you can set an alert on the number of missing security updates so that you can be notified as soon as a new Security update is required.

You can then use Domotz to apply the updates to your Windows systems directly.

To enable the custom integration for Microsoft Windows Update Agent monitoring, open the WebApp and follow these few steps:

1. From the left menu, click on "Integration" then on the tab "Custom Integration"
2. By clicking on “Create a new driver” will open a window where you need to choose the “Driver name” and the “Driver description”
   For example: “Windows Update Agent Check” as a Driver name and a brief description of the purpose for this integration (e.g., “Shows the number of system updates available listed by their severity or category, provides a button to install them on demand”). You can use the “Windows Pending Reboot Sensor” as a Driver name for the script, which checks for updates that require a reboot.
3. Copy the content of the following scripts from the example in the Driver code area (the empty space for the code):
   • windows_update.js
   • windows_pending_reboot_sensor.js
4. Apply the Custom Integration to your Microsoft Windows Systems.
5. Note that the scripts use SSH-based PowerShell and WMI commands to access the Microsoft Windows Systems. Therefore credentials to access the SSH of the Systems are required for the execution of this script.

Domotz is developing similar scripts which support WinRM instead of SSH.

The example driver code can be found at the links below:

• windows_update.js - this script uses PowerShell commands to retrieve the list of updates available at the Microsoft Windows system level
• windows_pending_reboot_sensor.js - this script uses WMI commands to check if there are pending reboots to allow the updates to be effective. Moreover, it exposes a custom button to issue a reboot command to the Windows system