Cached mode and updates not downloading to the local update cache directory?

[nmnm89]

I am running BatchPatch in cached mode and i have added the hosts, collected a consolidated report on all windows updates and initiated download and install, which they have then downloaded into the local update cache directory and then downloaded and installed on the hosts….all fine…..

However there seems to be two updates one being a 2018-03 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems (KB4088776) and a Feature update to Windows 10, version 1709, which are not downloading to the the local update cache directory when i attempt to download and install these updates on the hosts i have the message below.

Local Agent Log

::Begin download – 2018-04-06 16:34:31

Feature update to Windows 10, version 1709

1> 80f5d408-146c-4819-b094-424d7bafa43f?P1=1518618864&P2=301&P3=2&P4=XQl9XGC2jopOymNc05rGw5X11vmG1pBIUA6TVBR5N5s%3d :: Attempt 1: Failure: An exception occurred during a WebClient request.. HRESULT: -2146233079. Attempt 2: Failure: An exception occurred during a WebClient request.. HRESULT: -2146233079.

::End download – 2018-04-06 16:34:34

Files downloaded: 0

Files located in cache: 0

Files excluded by filter: 0

Files initiated by another row: 0

Failures: 1

::Begin file copy operation – 2018-04-06 16:34:34

Feature update to Windows 10, version 1709

1> 80f5d408-146c-4819-b094-424d7bafa43f?P1=1518618864&P2=301&P3=2&P4=XQl9XGC2jopOymNc05rGw5X11vmG1pBIUA6TVBR5N5s%3d :: Failed: Illegal characters in path.

::End file copy operation – 2018-04-06 16:34:34

Files copied: 0

Files skipped: 0

Failures: 1

Many thanks.

[doug]

Regarding KB4088776:

It seems that starting with Windows 10 v1709 Microsoft has begun publishing the cumulative updates with different/new update URLs in the update metadata than in all previous versions of Windows.

These new update URLs are formatted like this:
http://tlu.dl.delivery.mp.microsoft.com/filestreamingservice/files/096dd15c-70d9-4d48-b99c-0272f32a1853?P1=1521499885&P2=301&P3=2&P4=DS9%2bc8sTV40DeDsw3Rjf98wBE%2bifv2dl%2fV%2buaU9HtGw%3d

Instead of like this:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/secu/2018/04/windows10.0-kb4093107-x64_b5d9c24dfcf332de6968faeb867a31a2d6a10e8b.cab

The URLs that Microsoft embeds in the metadata for Windows updates is how BatchPatch knows where to download updates from when BatchPatch is running in ‘cached mode’. Unfortunately, updates with the new URL format are not able to be downloaded in a web browser or by BatchPatch. We don’t know why Microsoft changed the format and we don’t know if this change is permanent or temporary, though we suspect it may be permanent.

At this time we are able to provide 3 workarounds.

Workaround 1:
Enable offline mode. At the time of this writing the update metadata in the WsusScn2.cab file contains normal/usable URLs, so if you enable offline mode in BatchPatch, you will be able to install KB4088776. We were able to use this method without issue. In the future we suspect that the URLs in the WsusScn2.cab file will continue to be the same format as in the past, so our expectation is that this workaround will continue to be viable for the foreseeable future.

Workaround 2:
Download the .msu update file directly from the Microsoft Update Catalog here, and then deploy the update using BatchPatch’s deployment feature. You may use this tutorial to guide you.

Workaround 3:
Disable cached mode. When BatchPatch is running in normal/default mode with no caching, this issue does not exist.

Note that for workaround 1 and workaround 3 it is also possible to enable/disable those settings inside of a job queue. This makes it possible for you to run a job queue that performs operations in one mode and then switches to a different mode to perform more operations, if desired.

Regarding ‘Feature update to Windows 10, version 1709’

To install Windows 10 feature updates/upgrades please follow the instructions outlined here.

-Doug

[Blue Sky]

SORRY WRONG POST

“Second, I would note that online cached mode is really not a recommended mode.”

This is one of main the reasons I purchased BatchPatch, without caching I can
schedule the update with a simple batch script on each of the VM’s running in task scheduler!

I added a step in my loop after 3 runs “Disable cached mode(override global setting for this queue only)”

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