Do you turn off auto update on your servers?
Last updated by Brady Stroud [SSW] 7 months ago.See history This rule has been archived
Archived Reason: Deprecated
It is not a good idea to have Windows Update automatically updating your servers. There are a few reasons.
- The hotfix could bring down a production environment. (This issue previously happened)
- In fact, even in a development environment this could be hours of lost work as the development team struggles to understand why only some of the developers' servers magically and mysteriously broke overnight.
- Windows Update could restart your server, or put your server in a state where it requires restarting - preventing any urgent MSI installs without bringing down the server.
Windows Update remains the best thing for end-users to protect their systems. But in a server, especially a production server environment - Windows Update patches are just like any new versions of the software that's built internally. It should be tested and then deployed in a controlled manner.
So recommendations:
- Windows Updates may be critical and should be kept relatively up to date.
- Have a plan where your awesome Network Admins schedule time to keep the servers up to date - including testing that the servers still perform its functions.
- Turn off Automatic Windows Update on Windows Servers