{"id":54223,"date":"2009-03-10T21:21:00","date_gmt":"2009-03-10T21:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.technet.microsoft.com\/heyscriptingguy\/2009\/03\/10\/hey-scripting-guy-how-can-i-tell-which-software-updates-are-available-via-windows-update\/"},"modified":"2009-03-10T21:21:00","modified_gmt":"2009-03-10T21:21:00","slug":"hey-scripting-guy-how-can-i-tell-which-software-updates-are-available-via-windows-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/hey-scripting-guy-how-can-i-tell-which-software-updates-are-available-via-windows-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Hey, Scripting Guy! How Can I Tell Which Software Updates Are Available Via Windows Update?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hey, <\/h2>\n

Hey, Scripting Guy! I am curious about the updates that are available from Windows Update. The whole process seems so nebulous. It is like some kind of Impressionist painting that suggests things, but I never really get a feel for the updates that are coming down or the ones that are available. I like having a better handle on things than this. Do you have a script that will tell me which software updates are available via Windows Update? If I could see the list, then I would understand better what is really going on. Does this make sense?<\/p>\n

– TC<\/p>\n

\"Spacer\"\"Hey,<\/p>\n

Hi TC,<\/p>\n

Sure it makes sense. Incidentally, I love the Impressionists<\/a>, who were as it turns out named after a Claude Monet painting “Impression, soleil levant de retour.” <\/a>Like the interplay between the light and the shadows that enthralled the Impressionists, these are the kinds of questions that I hate to get sometimes. Why? Well, I do not want to be like a lot of people who might say, “Why would you want to do that?” I figure, hey, you are an adult (perhaps) and if you want to do something, go ahead and do it if you wish. Anyway, we can certainly create a script that will return all the software updates from the Windows Update Web site. What you decide to do with such a list is up to you. We will call the script, ListSoftwareUpdates.ps1<\/strong>, and I can write that script in three lines. (Actually, I can write the script in a single line. I just prefer the three-line version for readability.)<\/p>\n\n<\/thead>\n\n\n
\n

This week we will be looking at using the Windows Update API to work with Windows Update. The Windows Update API is documented on MSDN<\/a>. There is also a good collection of VBScripts that use the Windows Update API in the Script Center Script Repository<\/a>. For information about manually configuring Windows Update on workstations, refer to this page<\/a>. These scripts use Windows PowerShell. The Windows PowerShell getting started page<\/a> has basic information for learning about Windows PowerShell and about downloading Windows PowerShell.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/div>\n

For a VBScript version of the ListSoftwareUpdates.ps1 script<\/strong>, check the Script Center Script Repository<\/a>. The complete ListSoftwareUpdates.ps1<\/strong> script is seen here.<\/p>\n

$Searcher = New-Object -ComObject Microsoft.Update.Searcher\n$Results = $Searcher.Search(\"Type='Software'\")\n$Results.Updates\n<\/pre>\n
The script begins by creating a COM object. To do this, we use the New-Object<\/strong> cmdlet with the –ComObject<\/strong> parameter. We do not need to surround the program ID of the COM object in quotation marks because the –ComObject<\/strong> parameter already expects a string. We store the returned Searcher<\/strong> object (IUpdateSearcher<\/strong> interface) in the $Searcher<\/strong> variable. The line of the ListSoftwareUpdates.ps1 <\/strong>script that creates the Searcher<\/strong> object is seen here:<\/p>\n
$Searcher = New-Object -ComObject Microsoft.Update.Searcher<\/pre>\n
The Searcher<\/strong> object can do more than just search for updates on the server; it can also query the history, get the history count, and do other things. The members of the Searcher<\/strong> object are seen in Table 1<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Table 1 Members of the Searcher object<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Name<\/td>\nType<\/td>\nDefinition<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
\n
BeginSearch<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Method<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
ISearchJob BeginSearch (strin<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
EndSearch<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Method<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
ISearchResult EndSearch (ISea<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
EscapeString<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Method<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
string EscapeString (string)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
GetTotalHistoryCount<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Method<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
int GetTotalHistoryCount ()<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
QueryHistory<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Method<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
IUpdateHistoryEntryCollection<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Search<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Method<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
ISearchResult Search (string)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
CanAutomaticallyUpgradeService<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Property<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
bool CanAutomaticallyUpgradeS<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
ClientApplicationID<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Property<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
string ClientApplicationID ()<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
IgnoreDownloadPriority<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Property<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
bool IgnoreDownloadPriority (<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
IncludePotentiallySupersededUpdates<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Property<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
bool IncludePotentiallySupers<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Online<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Property<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
bool Online () {get} {set}<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
SearchScope<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Property<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
SearchScope SearchScope () {g<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
ServerSelection<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Property<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
ServerSelection ServerSelecti<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
ServiceID<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Property<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
string ServiceID () {get} {set}<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
Because we are interested in searching for all the software updates, we use the Search<\/strong> method. The custom search language that is used with the Search<\/strong> method is documented on MSDN<\/a>. Basically it consists of a property and an associated value for that property. In the ListSoftwareUpdates.ps1<\/strong> script, we are looking for a search result type that is equal to Software<\/strong>. This line of the script is seen here:<\/p>\n
$Results = $Searcher.Search(\"Type='Software'\")<\/pre>\n
The custom search language that is used with the Search<\/strong> method allows us to use the and<\/strong> operator and the or<\/strong> operator. If we wanted to find software updates that were not installed, we could use this line of code:<\/p>\n
$results = $searcher.search(\"Type='software' AND IsInstalled = 0\")<\/pre>\n
Tthe MSDN documentation for the Search<\/strong> method tells us that the IsInstalled<\/strong> property is an integer (Boolean) value. The search criteria produces an error when I try to use $true<\/strong> or $false<\/strong>. This means we are back to the old-fashioned days of using 0 for false<\/strong> and 1 for true<\/strong> (it will not even accept -1).<\/p>\n
The $results<\/strong> variable contains a Results<\/strong> object (the ISearchResult Interface is documented here<\/a>). This object consists of four properties, which are seen in Table 2<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Table 2 SearchResult object members<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Name<\/td>\nType<\/td>\nDefinition<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
\n
ResultCode<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Property<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
OperationResultCode ResultCode () {get}<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
RootCategories<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Property<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
ICategoryCollection RootCategories () {get}<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Updates<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Property<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
IUpdateCollection Updates () {get}<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Warnings<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Property<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
IUpdateExceptionCollection Warnings () {get}<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
In today’s script we are interested in the collection of software updates that is obtained by querying the Updates<\/strong> property. When we do this, all of the software updates are listed as seen here:<\/p>\n
\"Image<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
The line of code that displays all the software updates is seen here.<\/p>\n
$Results.Updates<\/pre>\n
Here is a bonus script. The DisplayTheSoftwareUpdateSettingsDialogBox.ps1<\/strong> script uses the Microsoft.Update.AutoUpdate<\/strong> COM object to show the settings dialog box. To do this, we use the New-Object<\/strong> cmdlet and specify the –ComObject<\/strong> parameter and supply the Microsoft.Update.AutoUpdate<\/strong> program ID. We put the New-Object<\/strong> command inside a pair of parentheses and call the ShowSettingsDialog<\/strong> method as seen here. The complete DisplayTheSoftwareUpdateSettingsDialogBox.ps1<\/strong> script is seen here (the VBScript version of this script can be seen in the Script Center Script Repository<\/a>):<\/p>\n
(New-Object -ComObject Microsoft.Update.AutoUpdate).ShowSettingsDialog()<\/pre>\n
When the script is run, it produces the dialog box seen here:<\/p>\n
\"Image<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
Well, TC, that is about all there is to searching for specific types of software updates. And you even got a bonus script out of it. I hope this removes some of the mystery from the Windows Update process. Join us tomorrow when we will continue looking at managing Windows Update. Until then, peace.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
Ed Wilson and Craig Liebendorfer, Scripting Guys<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hey, Scripting Guy! I am curious about the updates that are available from Windows Update. The whole process seems so nebulous. It is like some kind of Impressionist painting that suggests things, but I never really get a feel for the updates that are coming down or the ones that are available. I like having […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":595,"featured_media":87096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[36,3,45,380],"class_list":["post-54223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scripting","tag-client-side-management","tag-scripting-guy","tag-windows-powershell","tag-windows-update"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"
Hey, Scripting Guy! I am curious about the updates that are available from Windows Update. The whole process seems so nebulous. It is like some kind of Impressionist painting that suggests things, but I never really get a feel for the updates that are coming down or the ones that are available. I like having […]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/595"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}