Q. How do I enable Windows Server Core Automatic Updates?

A. You can push patches to your computers by using solutions such as Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007, or you can configure automatic updating through Group Policy. If you want to locally enable Server Core Automatic Updates, use the following command to enable Windows Update's normal checks (you must be in the WindowsSystem32 folder):

WindowsSystem32>cscript scregedit.wsf /au 4

The output would be:

Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.7
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Registry has been updated.

Then you would enter the command:

WindowsSystem32>net stop wuauserv

The output would be:

The Windows Update service is stopping.
The Windows Update service was stopped successfully.

Next, enter:

WindowsSystem32>net start wuauserv

The output would be:

The Windows Update service is starting.
The Windows Update service was started successfully.

You can also force Windows to perform an update check using the

wuauclt /detectnow

command. To check the state of automatic update, use the

cscript scregedit.wsf /au /v

command.