Question

We have a server running a 6 day job that just reset, because Windows Update Agent (WUA) automatically rebooted the machine to install updates.

I would like to alter my C# app to warn the user if this setting is on in the future, so we don’t end up suffering from random reboots, which forces a restart of said 6-day job, wasting 4 days of CPU time.

Does any know if it is possible to check within WUA that “Important Updates” is set to “Install updates automatically (recommended)”, within C#?

Answer 1

There is an API for the Windows Update Agent (WUA), its general use is described at:

Install Windows Update Using C#

Here is the C# code:

// See http://techforum4u.com/entry.php/11-Install-Windows-Update-Using-C
var auc = new WUApiLib.AutomaticUpdatesClass();
if (auc.Settings.NotificationLevel ==
       AutomaticUpdatesNotificationLevel.aunlScheduledInstallation)
{
    Console.Write("{0}Warning W20120307-1107. Windows Update Agent (WUA) is capable of rebooting the PC automatically. Recommend switching this off for the duration of this 6-day batch process.\n", NPrefix());
}

After adding c:\WINDOWS\system32\wuapi.dll, if you get a compile error, see Interop type cannot be embedded.

Note that this approach will only work on Windows 7, add a try/catch around it to prevent a crash on Windows XP. See the forums for how to get it working on XP (you have to reference WUA version 1, WUA for Windows 7 is version 2).