You cannot author or publish software updates of the .msu file type by using the Custom Updates Publishing Tool that is available in Systems Management Server 2003 R2

The Custom Updates Publishing Tool is available in Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 R2. However, you cannot use this tool to author or publish software updates that are available in the Microsoft Update Standalone Package file type. The Microsoft Update Standalone Package file type has an .msu extension.

When you run the Create Update Wizard or the Modify Update Wizard, no option is available for the .msu file type in the Installer Type list.

Note Software updates for Windows Vista and for Windows Server 2008 are only available in the .msu file type.

This problem occurs because the current version of the Custom Updates Publishing Tool only supports custom updates that are available in the following file types:

• Command Line Installation (.exe)
• Windows Installer File (.msi)
• Windows Installer Patch (.msp)

Download information

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download the R2MSUSupportEN.exe package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fb5d901a-7cf0-466c-b9c1-25999860f4d2&DisplayLang=en)

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Hotfix information

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix, you must be running Systems Management Server 2003 R2 on the computer.

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other previously released hotfixes.

Hotfix installation instructions

To apply this hotfix, follow these steps:

1. Run the R2MSUSupportEN.exe package that you obtained from Microsoft Download Center.
2. Specify where you want to extract the hotfix files.
   
   Note The package that you downloaded includes two hotfixes. Both hotfixes are extracted to the specified location.
3. Among the files that you extracted, find and then run the following file:
   SMS2003R2--KB953592-X86-ENU.exe
4. Specify where you want to extract the hotfix file.
   
   Note This step extracts the following file from file that is mentioned in step 3:
   sms2003r2-cupt-kb953592-x86-enu.msp
5. Run the sms2003r2-cupt-kb953592-x86-enu.msp file.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Systems Management Server 2003 R2

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

New options that are introduced by this hotfix

The Custom Update Publishing Tool is updated to support the Microsoft Update Standalone Package (.msu) file type. A Microsoft Update Standalone Package (.msu) option is added into the Installer Type drop-down list in the Create Update Wizard and in the Modify Update Wizard.

Additionally, the following rules are added as saved rules and are available when you select the Use existing rule option when an update is created or modified:

• Windows XP SP3 Systems
• Windows Vista Systems
• Windows Vista SP1 Systems
• Windows Server 2008 Systems

How to deploy an update by using the .msu file type

How to deploy an update by using the .msu file type resembles how to deploy an update by using the .exe file type. This is true because both operations can use the basic rules that already exist. You can use basic rules to test for specific file versions of the updated files in the update package. The file versions for each update are documented in the corresponding Knowledge Base article. Or, you can use the Expand command to extract the updated files from the update package. To extract files from an .msu file, first extract a CAB package from the .msu file, and then extract the updated files from the CAB package. For example, you can run the following commands at a command prompt: For more information about how to use the Expand command to extract files form an .msu file, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: We recommend that you target the software update to the appropriate clients by using the new rules that are added for Windows Vista and for Windows Server 2008.

Hotfix 953591 is required to fully support the .msu file type

For the InstallPatch program on SMS clients to support the .msu file type, you must deploy hotfix 953591 on all SMS clients that are running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If hotfix 953591 is not applied to Windows Vista-based or to Windows Server 2008-based clients, updates of the .msu file type cannot be applied, and the update distribution fails. Even if hotfix 953591 is installed, updates of the .msu file type cannot be applied on client computers that are running operating systems other than Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. When the update distribution fails, the software update Web reports display the Distribution State as Failed. Additionally, an error code 193 is logged in the PatchInstall.log file on the client computer.

The situation where hotfix 953592 is not applied

You can import catalog updates that include updates of the .msu file type to the Custom Updates Publishing Tool even if the current hotfix (953592) is not applied. However, you cannot modify the .msu files because the Custom Updates Publishing Tool does not recognize the .msu file type. Although the update cannot be modified, the update catalog that contains the .msu files can still be published, exported, and synchronized with the site server.

Code 3017 in the "Success Pending Reboot Codes" field

By default, the Success Pending Reboot Codes field for .msu file type is 3017. Code 3017 corresponds to the following description:If the installation program returns a code 3017, clients receive a Software Updates Installation notification that requests the computer to restart. The software update Web reports display the Distribution State as Reboot Pending. After the client computer restarts, the system rolls back the changes.

You can choose to remove code 3017 from the Success Pending Reboot Codes field. In this case, clients will not receive the Software Updates Installation notification that requests the computer to restart. The software update Web reports display the Distribution State as Failed instead of Reboot Pending. In either case, the Distribution State shows the appropriate state after the next scan, and the Complaint field is not checked.

For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: