News

Microsoft To Instigate On-Prem UUP for Windows 11 22H2 on March 28

• By Kurt Mackie
• 03/20/2023

Organizations using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or Configuration Manager will be getting a 10GB download next week that will kick off Microsoft's Windows 11 version 22H2 Unified Update Platform (UUP) servicing scheme for those premises-based management tools, Microsoft warned on Monday.

After March 28, "all future on-premises updates" for Windows 11 version 22H2 will follow the UUP on-premises servicing approach, the announcement indicated. The update size for cumulative updates also will reduce back to what's typically expected, or it'll be smaller. Organizations managing Windows 11 version 22H2 will get several benefits from this servicing change, Microsoft contended.

For instance, with UUP on premises, monthly quality updates will be 30 percent smaller, and just one reboot will be needed for feature update integrations. Language Packs and Features on Demand will be retained during "feature updates" (operating system upgrades). Moreover, Microsoft is promising that the new UUP on-premises servicing scheme will have "automatic operating system healing" turned on, which means that UUP will attempt repair corruptions in the Combined Cumulative Update using the content that's stored on an organization's distribution points.

UUP has been around for years, and it's mostly been billed as making Windows updates smaller. Microsoft is now touting these other UUP benefits, as described above. On-premises UUP also will facilitate updates for "air-gapped" (not connected to the Internet) Windows systems, Microsoft contends.

The 10GB download coming to organizations' software distribution points will happen on March 28 via a security update that organizations likely already received on March 14 ("update Tuesday"), namely security update KB5023706. The coming March 28 KB5023706 security update will be identical in name and content to the March 14 KB5023706 release (except for its file-size bulkiness) and it will supersede the March 14 version. This March 28 version will kick off the "general availability" commercial release of Microsoft's UUP on-premises update approach for Windows 11 version 22H2.

Even though the March 28 security update will supersede the March 14 security update, organizations nevertheless should still keep the March 14 version around. It's needed to get some UUP benefits, Microsoft explained in an FAQ post:

The March 28th update will supersede your regular security update installed on or after March 14th (KB5023706). Nevertheless, we recommend that you keep the March 14th quality update in your WSUS environment even if that quality update has been superseded. This is required for some of the benefits of UUP-style updates, including automatic OS healing and the ability for end users to acquire features on demand (FODs) or language packs (LPs).

Microsoft's FAQ offered some advice to IT pros facing this March 28 servicing change for Windows 11 22H2 clients, as follows:

• Use a supported version of WSUS ("Windows Server 2012 and later versions of WSUS are able to get UUP-style updates.")
• Have the right MIME support ("Installing the update for KB5022286 [for Windows Server 2019] and KB5022291 [for Windows Server 2022] will automatically add support for .wim and .msu file types, which are required with UUP updates.")
• Configure the firewall to receive WSUS updates.

Organizations will have the ability to set automatic approvals for WSUS updates, if wanted, via the WSUS Administration Console. If organizations want to use Microsoft Connected Cache with these Windows 11 version 22H2 updates, then they should ensure that WSUS is updated with the KB5003217 nonsecurity update.

The coming UUP on-premises servicing also will affect Dynamic Update content. Dynamic Update content will be available from the Microsoft Update Catalog but "you'll no longer be able to import these updates into WSUS for the purpose of Dynamic Update fallback," the FAQ explained.

Also, cumulative updates will just be published to the Microsoft Update Catalog "as an MSU file only," the FAQ stated. Microsoft will stop publishing files in the CAB format for these updates.