Introduction
My existing client relies heavily on WSUS for their patching purposes. The is indeed a mature and tested solution but it does contain its own peculiar issues. One of these is the Reset Server Node error message that appears when using the Updates Services administration console. Oftentimes we want to know if the last synchronization completed successfully - and it is here where I am seeing the issue appear most times. The administrator opens the console and navigates to Update Services\<Server>\Synchronizations. The Loading synchronization history percentage number will increase and stick at a random number. After a couple of minutes an Error:Connection Error message appears with the options of Reset Server Node or Copy Error to Clipboard. Getting beyond this stopper can be tricky and so in this blog I will list the fixes that have worked for me.
Note: I have seen this error in installations of WSUS using the Windows Internal Database (WID). The following fixes have been tested on installations using WID.
Fix 1: Run the clean-up Wizard.
This fix is straightforward. Open the Updates Services Admin console and navigate to Options in the left hand side pane. Select the Server Cleanup Wizard in the right hand side pane. Ensure all options in the Server Cleanup Wizard are selected and click on Next and Finish to complete the wizard.
Fix 2: Increase Memory and CPU
This fix is convenient to implement on virtual machines. If it is a VMWare VM then you can power down the VM and select Edit Settings in vSphere. In our environments we have found that a configuration of 8 CPU and 16 GB of memory can resolve the issue.
Fix 3: Reindex the WSUS database
On your WSUS server create a directory such as d:\WSUSMaintenance. Copy the SQL script into this directory - naming it appropriately. In this example I name it WSUSDBMaintenance.sql. The script can be found at:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/mem/configmgr/update-management/reindex-the-wsus-database
The next step is to install the sqlcmd.exe utility. This can be downloaded from:
Release v1.8.2 · microsoft/go-sqlcmd · GitHub
After downloading and installing the appropriate sqlcmd msi file, open a command prompt as an administrator and run the following command from the sqlcmd.exe location (usually c:\program files\sqlcmd\)
sqlcmd -I -S \\.\pipe\MICROSOFT##WID\tsql\query -i <path to sql file>\wsusdbmaintenance.sql
For example: sqlcmd -I -S \\.\pipe\MICROSOFT##WID\tsql\query -i d:\wsusmaintenance\wsusdbmaintenance.sql
There may be some error messages and these can be ignored.
Fix 4: Modify the WSUSPool Application Pool
In IIS admin navigate to Application Pools. Right click on the WsusPool application pool and select Advanced Settings.
Modify the following values accordingly
Queue Length - 2000
Idle Time Out - 0
Ping Enabled - False
Private Memory Limit - 0
Regular Time Interval - 0
Fix 5: Clean up WSUS using Powershell.
Open a command prompt with administrator permissions and run powershell.exe -executionpolicy unrestricted
Enter in the following command:
Invoke-WsusServerCleanup -CleanupObsoleteComputers -CleanupObsoleteUpdates -CleanupUnneededContentFiles -CompressUpdates -DeclineExpiredUpdates -DeclineSupersededUpdates
Fix 6: Reinstall WSUS after removing the WID database.
CAUTION: The following steps assume you have a procedure/document to install WSUS from scratch. This fix shows you how to remove WSUS and the Windows Internal Database cleanly to address the Reset Server Node issue.
If none of the above is successful you may have to resort to a WSUS reinstall. Keep in mind that simply removing the WSUS role and reinstalling the role may not, by itself, resolve the issue. To be sure you should also remove the Windows Internal Database (WID) as well. This is how I managed this task.
1) Open Server Manager and click on Local Server on the left hand side.
2) In the right hand pane navigate down to Roles and Features.
3) Select Remove Roles and Features from the Tasks option.
4) The Before you Begin window appears. Click on Next.
5) The Server Selection window appears. Click on Next.
6) The Server Roles window appears. Deselect the Windows Server Update Services feature.
7) The Remove features that require Windows Server Updates Services window appears. Click on Remove Features. Continue clicking on Next to complete the wizard.
8) Restart Server if required.
Having removed the WSUS role you can now remove the WSUS WID database.
1) In Explorer navigate to c:\windows\WID\Data.
2) Delete the SUSDB.mdf and the SUSDB_log.ldf files.
3) Open Server Manager and click on Local Server on the left hand side.
4) In the right hand pane navigate down to Roles and Features.
5) Select Remove Roles and Features from the Tasks option.
6) The Before you Begin window appears. Click on Next.
7) The Server Selection window appears. Click on Next.
8) The Server Roles Window appears. Click on Next.
9) The Remove Features window appears. Deselect Windows Internal Database.
10) The Remove features that require Windows Internal Database window appears. Click on remove Features. Continue clicking on Next to complete the wizard.
11) Restart the server if required.
Conclusion
The Reset Server Node error prompt is annoying and quite common as well. I do hope one of the fixes in this blog has resolved your issue. I thank you for reading this little blog and wish you successful patching in your environment.
