Does automatic updates reboots Windows Server 2008?

Solution 1:

By default, yes! It depends on the specific updates though. Some don't require a reboot, but many do.

Solution 2:

This behavior is entirely configurable. You can change the Windows Updates settings through the control panel. If you're working with a Server Core installation, you'll have to do it from the command line. Server 2008 R2 Core has a sconfig utility that provides a series of menus to make this (and other basic configuration tasks) very easy, but Server 2008 RTM Core has a script that accepts parameters to make it...um...possible.

In NT 6.0, there are five possible values for the registry key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update\AUOptions: 1 = disabled; 2 = notify before download, notify before install; 3 = download updates automatically, notify when they're ready to install (default on a full install of Windows Server 2008); 4 = automatic download, automatic install at 3 AM; 5 = allow local admin to select configuration mode

To use the scregedit script for this or other configuration tasks, you must CD to the directory where it is located:

cd c:\windows\system32

To view the currently configured option:

cscript scregedit.wsf /au /v

To set an option:

cscript scregedit.wsf /au 4

...where "4" could be whichever option-value you choose to set.

Stop and restart the Windows Update service to put this change in effect:

net stop wuauserv
net start wuauserv

At this point, you can just leave the machine to update itself on schedule, or you can force update detection like so:

wuauclt /detectnow

I hope this helps!