Windows 10 1511 Headed to WSUS in a “Couple Weeks,” KB3095113 Needed

If you’re planning on using WSUS to distribute the November feature update for Windows 10, you’ll need to take time to apply KB3095113 to your server.

Microsoft intends to release Windows 10 1511 feature upgrade to WSUS servers around the globe this month. The company has set no hard date for the availability, just that its coming in a “couple weeks.” I talked about this just a few days ago, but the Windows 10 1511 feature upgrade is one of the pieces for the November update still missing in action. However, if you intend to distribute this big update to your WSUS-managed assets once its available through that mechanism, an update for WSUS was released earlier this month that is required.

To be clear, an unpatched WSUS server can still recognize and deliver security updates for Windows 10, and will even display the November update, it just can’t handle and deploy the feature upgrades. Once the new patch is applied to WSUS servers, a new update content file type and update classification called, “Upgrades,” will be made available in the list and the WSUS server will then be able to distribute the upgrade. However, even unpatched versions of WSUS will "see" the new upgrade type, but only those patched servers will be able to deploy it. Additionally, with some clarification from Microsoft, No harm done on WSUS on Windows Server 2008 R2, as it will never be able to deploy it.  But on Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2, if the metadata for new “Upgrades” is received before the hotfix is applied, you could have issues later on trying to deploy it (without some manual workarounds).

​How will this play out for other apps that take advantage of WSUS for patch deployment? One example is System Center Configuration Manager. Also, from Microsoft:

ConfigMgr will see the “Upgrades” classification, regardless of the version of WSUS or the version of ConfigMgr. However, those feature upgrades are only deployable using ConfigMgr if you are using WSUS on Windows Server 2012 or later with the hotfix applied, and using ConfigMgr 1511 or later.
 

The WSUS hotfix is available here: Update to enable WSUS support for Windows 10 feature upgrades