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How to make an offline Windows Update server?

By fitzy89 ·
I should clarify that WSUS, although it may do the job, is not really ideal for my situation as it would involve changing registry/GP settings.

I am looking to do mobile computer repairs on a street market, I have electricity but my internet connection would be very limited using a 3G modem so bandwidth would be too costly do download updates for each customers machine that way.

What I am hoping to achieve, would be an offline 'mirror' of the official Windows Update website, so that as would normally be the case, on XP, you could click Tools>Windows Update within IE but instead of it going outbound to the official site, it would look at my local mirror server instead. And when you check for updates on Vista it would also do the same. Somehow I doubt it would be possible to do but I thought I would ask anyway. It would only need to store updates for XP/Vista/7 as I doubt any customers would be using anyting older than that. The other obstacle is that most machines would be running Home versions of Windows.

My main reason for this would be so that I didn't need to change any registry and/or group policy settings on the computer to point it to a normal WSUS server. Another option would be to use some 3rd party software, if it exists, where I could just browse to the URL of my server and it would detect which updates are required and push them out, but I don't know how that would work with Vista/7's built in update client.

Does anyone have any ideas on my options here?

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Maybe, maybe not.

by seanferd In reply to How to make an offline Wi ...

http://dailycupoftech.com/2008/05/16/why-autopatcher-beats-windows-update-and-wsus/
http://www.autopatcher.com/forums/topic/2462-autopatcher-updater-apup-download/
https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=WSUS+alternative
http://4sysops.com/archives/free-wsus-offline-update-update-windows-and-office-without-an-internet-connection/

I'm curious: Why do you want to provide updates rather than having Windows Update do it for your customers? Without a known rock-solid solution, I don't think I'd want the responsibility, or to pay for the bandwidth, etc. What is the up-side for you?

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Thanks for your reply

by fitzy89 In reply to How to make an offline Wi ...

I will look into the links you have posted and see what I can find out, they will be worth a look.

Basically because I would be using a mobile broadband connection, data charges are very expensive so I don't want to be paying a lot of money to download hundreds of megabytes of updates. I would prefer a system that I can connect to my normal broadband when I'm at home, it would download all available updates for certain OS's, then I can take it out in the field with me where I don't have a proper internet connection.

When I repair computers for customers I prefer to send them back with the system fully updated to prevent security risks and to maximise compatibility with any apps they may want to install (which require certain updates to function for example).

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by fitzy89 In reply to How to make an offline Wi ...

After a bit of time reading up on your links, my first thought was to go with AutoPatcher, but then this seems to be reliant on the developers releasing new versions with the updates included rather than something I can update myself. Also some of the posts suggest that the project will not be around for much longer.

I think I will do a trial with WSUS Offline, this seems to offer the features that I would need and do the job well, and it's something I can update myself when I'm on a decent internet connection and take it with me in the field.

Thanks for your help, I will give it a try and let you know how it goes in a few days.

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