Can you change windows update settings via command line?

I sent out some servers(running server 2008R2 x64) without checking their windows update settings...fail. By default they are set to automatically download and install. I need them to download but not install. Can this be done through command-line? RDP is not an option.


Solution 1:

If the computers are in a domain, you can configure this setting via Group Policy.

Otherwise, you can manually configure the relevant Registry value:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update\AUOptions
  1. Don't check
  2. Check but don't download
  3. Download but don't install
  4. Download and install

Solution 2:

Sure. Download, notify for install:

reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU /v AUOptions /t REG_DWORD /d 3

Check out Group Policy Search for reference if you need to modify other parts of the policy directly via the registry - it's a lot more pleasant than digging through ADMX files.