Windows Server: How to install the Update Services with PowerShell

Summary: This article is designed to address installing the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) role using Windows PowerShell. This guide details adding the WSUS role with PowerShell, covering installation and management cmdlets like Get-WsusUpdate for update control and synchronization settings. ...

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Instructions

  1. Type Start PowerShell in the Command Prompt window to start Windows PowerShell.
  2. To install the WSUS role, run the following command

     

    Install-WindowsFeature UpdateServices

         power shell 

Additional Information:

The following WSUS role services can be installed using Windows PowerShell.

  • Windows Internal Database (WID)
  • WSUS Services
  • Database

The WID Database and WSUS Services role services are installed after running the Install-WindowsFeature UpdateSevices cmdlet.

The following Windows PowerShell cmdlets are available for managing the WSUS role on a server running Windows Server Core.

 

To add a specified client computer to a specified target group.

Add-WsusComputer

 

To approve an update to be applied to clients.

Approve-WsusUpdate 

 

To decline the update for deployment.

Deny-WsusUpdate

 

To Get the list of all WSUS classifications available in the system.

Get-WsusClassification

 

To get the WSUS computer object that represents the client computer.

Get-WsusComputer

 

To get the list of all products available on WSUS by category.

Get-WsusProduct

 

To get the value of the WSUS update server object.

Get-WsusServer

 

To get the WSUS update object with details about the update.

Get-WsusUpdate

 

To perform the process of cleanup on a specified WSUS server.

Invoke-WsusServerCleanup

 

To sets whether the classifications of updates that WSUS synchronizes are enabled or disabled.

Set-WsusClassification

 

To sets whether the product representing the category of updates to synchronize is enabled or disabled.

Set-WsusProduct

 

To sets whether the WSUS) server synchronizes from Microsoft Update, or an upstream server and the upstream server properties.

Set-WsusServerSynchronization

Affected Products

Microsoft Windows 2012 Server, Microsoft Windows 2012 Server R2

Products

C Series, HS Series, Modular Infrastructure, Rack Servers, Tower Servers, XE Servers, XR Servers, OEM Server Solutions, Microsoft Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Windows Server 2019, Microsoft Windows Server 2022, Microsoft Windows Server 2025
Article Properties
Article Number: 000121387
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 05 Sep 2025
Version:  8
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