SCCM 2012 on Server 2012 and WSUS 3.0 SP2 on Server 2008

Question

We are installing SCCM 2012 SP1 fresh into our development environment - the primary site server and the database (SQL 2012) are both being installed on Server 2012.
We have an existing WSUS box on a Windows 2008 (not R2) server - the WSUS server version is 3.2.7600.256.  We have set this up as the software update point.
For the purposes of this discussion, these are the server names (obviously obfuscated):
Primary site server:  sccm.domain.local
Database server:  sccmdb.domain.local
WSUS server:  wsus.domain.local
On the primary SCCM server, I've installed the WSUS user interface (Install-WindowsFeature -Name UpdateServices-UI), in order to work with the remote WSUS server.
Updates synchronization appears to be working fine, but when I try to setup client distribution via SUP, I'm getting the following error in the Application event log:
Log Name:      Application
Source:        SMS Server
Date:          8/6/2013 11:03:11 AM
Event ID:      6613
Task Category: SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      sccm.domain.local
Description:
On 8/6/2013 11:03:11 AM, component SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER on computer sccm.domain.local reported:  WSUS Configuration Manager failed to publish client boot-strapper package "9D5353E5-DA80-48C3-97DE-C9C528F73A2D" with version "5.00.7804.1000"
to the Software Updates Point.
As well as this in the WMC.log:
PublishApplication(9D5353E5-DA80-48C3-97DE-C9C528F73A2D) failed with error System.InvalidOperationException: Publishing operation failed because the console and remote server versions do not match.~~   at Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.BaseApi.Publisher.LoadPackageMetadata(String
sdpFile)~~   at Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.BaseApi.UpdateServer.GetPublisher(String sdpFile)~~   at Microsoft.SystemsManagementServer.WSUS.WSUSServer.PublishApplication(String sPackageId, String sSDPFile, String sCabFile)  $$<SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER><08-06-2013
11:03:11.787+240><thread=3704 (0xE78)>
ERROR: Failed to publish sms client to WSUS, error = 0x80131509  $$<SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER><08-06-2013 11:03:11.803+240><thread=3704 (0xE78)>
It would seem obvious that this is because of a mismatch in versions between the WSUS server version on wsus.domain.local, compared to the UpdateServices UI on sccm.domain.local.
Is there a way around this, without having to upgrade the WSUS server to Server 2012?
Thanks for any thoughts you may have!

Answer 1

Not really. As mentioned though, even the separate WSUS server is probably overkill. In ConfigMgr, WSUS is used to handle the update catalog and that's it. Clients do *not* report status to the WSUS instance and do *not* download updates from the WSUS instance.
No management is ever done in WSUS.
So, in reality, once a month, clients connect to WSUS to download the delta update catalog (delta compared to what they currently have) which usually comes out to about a few hundred KB (yes KB, not MB) -- this download is done via BITS. The server also
syncs the catalog from the WSUS instance, via the SUP, in a similar fashion. If you are using SCEP, the frequency will be greater, but the deltas will be much smaller.
EULAs, as needed, are also stored in WSUS and accessed by clients -- these are also quite small only a select few updates requires them.
That's it. Standing up a dedicated WSUS instance means having a server sitting there doing almost nothing else.
If you are concerned about load on the site server, then you should create a separate site system that contains the MP, SUP (and WSUS instance), and DP. Then, for HA purposes, you can simply build a second site system with these three roles also and HA will
essentially be automatic (from a client functionality perspective).
Jason | http://blog.configmgrftw.com