Can I get more information on what Windows Update is doing?

It often happens that I have to watch this screen for minutes:

I have no clue what's happening in the back. And I'm also not interested in watching the WindowsUpdate.log for changes.

I would love to know if there's a way that gives more feedback. Preferably something I can invoke from the command line (like apt-get).

In Windows 10, you can use the PSWindowsUpdate PowerShell module.

> Install-Module PSWindowsUpdate
> Get-WindowsUpdate
> Install-WindowsUpdate

You can invoke Windows Update from command line using wuauclt.exe utility located in %windir%\system32\ folder.

To check for updates,

wuauclt.exe /detectnow

To check and update,

wuauclt.exe /detectnow /updatenow

This will not work if you have set "Never check for updates" in Windows Update settings. Also probably automatic updates must be enabled for '/updatenow' switch to work (install updates).

In versions of Windows prior to Windows 10, you can also start the GUI for Windows Update by entering following command (located in %windir%\system32\ folder):

wuapp.exe

This only opens the update application and checks available updates, it does not install them. Also if you have set "Never check for updates" in Windows Update settings, this does not checks for updates too, you will have to click the "Check for updates" button.