Windows Update Manager

@DavidXanatos, I applaud your efforts to make this open source. I know you need to concentrate on getting the basics to work well, including effectively identifying and installing cumulative updates. But I'd like to suggest a future feature that you could be thinking about incorporating for most Windows users who aren't particularly tech savvy: A setting to allow automatic updates that blocks just Feature Updates. Perhaps it could be menu selection filtering categories of updates, something like High - No automatic updates, Medium - Security patches only, Low - All automatic updates except Feature Updates, Off (No Filter) - All automatic updates.

I'm envisioning more mainstream acceptance and use of your program that would require less hands on and educated decision making.

While many of us, and probably most readers of this forum, are able to understand and keep abreast of the dangers being reported about specific Windows update KBs, as well as troubleshoot and correct problems that some of those updates cause to our systems, most Windows users wouldn't know what to pick from the Windows updates that MS offers ("forces"?).

@pf100 may be able to accomplish the above with the Wrapper Script, but it seems to me that it would be a good feature for the core program.

 

Indeed .

 

UI looks good enough as it is, just like wumt is, Keep It Simple.

 

You've got a great vision for your program! I'm glad to know you think that selecting updates by category is doable.

I also assume there could be some difficulty "separating the wheat from the chaff" (for example, is a "security update" really a security update?). One technique might be to screen out the updates that aren't subsequently included in the Windows Catalog, as suggested here:

(Of course, every update in the Catalog won't always be safe, but the Catalog may best reflect the most valid updates.)

While many of us have been burned by bad updates and might shudder to think of applying updates without picking and vetting them, automatic updates filtered by category may be the next best thing for the vast majority of normal users who aren't technically inclined. And there shouldn't be much concern about substituting your judgement for the users' judgement, because (a) the user would still make the final choice of allowing update by category (degree of risk of damaging system?) and (b) categorization in itself is a way of providing experienced advice as to which updates are safest. (MS may disagree .)

Edit: I meant to comment also on (1) the GUI and configuration choices: I agree that to meet future complex goals, the program will probably have lots of options. Therefore, to keep the interface simple and not overwhelming, a configuration tab should link to an advanced configuration page. (2) Presence in the taskbar notification area or tray is important - a complaint I've read about programs that make changes to the operation of the system as they automatically run in the background is that users can forget they exist.

 

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wumgr is working great. Installing a Cumulative Update now. Update history has no empty entries!
A few requests:

1) Update Source defaults to Windows Update instead of Microsoft Update. Would like to be able to select Microsoft Update from command line, or make it default if available. Either one would be great because I'm not sure how that works exactly. I know with WUMT without Office installed it uses Windows Update, but if Office is installed it uses Microsoft Update. I have Office installed and wumgr defaulted to Windows Update, which if I understand this correctly it wouldn't offer Office updates. Correct me if I'm wrong on this.

2) Offline Mode to download wsusscn2.cab is default. Would like to be able to select online or offline mode from command line.

3) Pop up window to notify that reboot is needed.

Code:

This Tool is Open Source under the GNU General Public License, Version 3

Windows Update Agent Version: 8.0 (10.0.14393.2368)
Searching for updates
Found 1 pending updates.
Downloading Updates... This may take several minutes.
Updates downloaded to %windir%\SoftwareDistribution\Download
Installing Updates... This may take several minutes.
Updates (Un)Installed succesfully
Reboot is required for one of more updates.

 

If wuauserv is disabled and wumgr says "Please enable the Windows Update Service and restart the tool", when I press OK I get a "wumgr has stopped working" window. LTSB 2016.

Edit:
In my previous post I should have said,
I know with WUMT without Office installed it uses Windows Update by default, but if Office is installed it uses Microsoft Update by default.
My concern is, If I start wumgr with the -update switch on a computer that wumgr has never been used before I'm just wondering if it'll offer Office updates since it defaults to Windows Update.
This would be in a situation where wumgr is run as part of a script.

 

@DavidXanatos
Great job. Are you going to offer a facility for localization (as does wumt)?

 

I want to clear some facts here.
Is enterprise/education or server group policy regarding update 100% reliable even in feature update or outdated installation?
will group policy settings have same effects if retail pro is converted to enterprise by entering product key/gvlk?

 

I can't think of any instance where registering "Microsoft Update" and using it would cause any unwanted problems. In fact, I've seen one situation where Office was installed but WUMT defaulted to "Windows Update". It wasn't a WUMT problem because "Microsoft Update" somehow wasn't registered and I had to register it manually. But that may have been just a rare "glitch".
But if you think a "smart default service" would be better then that's okay with me.

I like language independent methods best. I think service ID's would be the way to go here.

These service ID's could be added to your documentation and/or for anyone wanting to run wumgr from the command line and it would work in any language. It's just as easy to copy and paste "7971f918-a847-4430-9279-4a52d1efe18d" as it is "Microsoft Update" for someone knowledgeable enough to run wumgr from the command line.

Edit: I see a potential problem where if "Microsoft Update" was selected from the command line, and "Microsoft Update" wasn't registered, wumgr wouldn't work. I guess that could be fixed by registering it if that command line was used. I'll let you handle that however you think is best.