Feature Request – Auto Opt-In to Microsoft Update if Unknown Update Source Error

[BobL]

One feature that would be very useful would be the ability to automatically respond to specific errors. While this could be a benefit for several of the errors (kind of an “If this is received, then do this”), the most beneficial for me right now would be the Unknown Update Service error.

I have BatchPatch configured to use Microsoft Update. I have two scheduled tasks. One does a scan/download/install/trigger-sccm-reporting-actions. The other does the same thing, but first does an “Opt-in to Microsoft Update”. Right now, I have to wait for the first one to fail when the “Unknown Update Service” error comes up. I’d rather have it automatically switch to the second task that includes the opt-in. Since I can’t monitor the results 24×7, by the time I manually switch to the 2nd task, the workstation is often offline.

This could be implemented broadly to allow for automatic error response and retry. If there is always some action that could be beneficial on certain errors, it could be automated. One thought is to simply have a scheduled task action that says, “If the previous command resulted in Windows Update result X, run scheduled task Y”.

This would be even more useful if there was an option to automatically re-run the scheduled task that resulted in the error. That way, the “retry” task steps wouldn’t have to be added to the end of the “fix” task steps. It may be necessary to have a counter to limit the retries to one retry (or a customizable number) in case the fix didn’t fix the problem, preventing an endless loop.

Still spit-balling here, but for maximum flexibility, a separate section of “fixes” would be ideal. Each error could have a user-defined corresponding fix sequence that is automatically run one time, and then the calling sequence is reperformed. Fixes could be discussed and shared in the forums, and highly-useful validated ones could be the subject of blog posts.

[doug]

Hi Bob – Thank you for your feedback. We will consider all of this for a future build. In the meantime I would suggest for your situation that you simply always use the “opt-in” action. It sounds like in your environment you cannot guarantee that computers will be opted-in already, which is fine. I would suggest you simply always run the opt-in action before checking for updates. If a computer is already opted-in, then it will continue to be opted-in. If a computer is not yet opted-in, then you will force it to opt-in when you run that action. This way you can guarantee that you won’t ever encounter “unknown update service”, and it removes the need for you to have a contingent operation for that error.

-Doug

[BobL]

Thanks, Doug.

I appreciate the suggestion. Thanks for considering my comments for a future build.

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