An update installed using DISM in install.wim seen as "Not Applicable" by WSUS report instead of "Installed"

Question

Hi all,
To make server's installation faster, I intend to make an updated "install.wim" every 6 months using DISM.
Then, after installation, the Win2012R2 server connect to a WSUS server to get the latests update not included in the install.wim.
As a test, I used DISM to install an update in the install.wim file of Windows 2012R2 sources.
In a new installed Windows server 2012R2, I can see that the KB is installed.
But on the WSUS report of this server, the status of the KB included in the install.wim by DISM displayed as "Not applicable".
Is it because WSUS did not installed it itself ?
Is there a way to display it as "installed" in the report, even if the patch had not been installed by the WSUS server ?
Thanks
ML

Answer 1

But on the WSUS report of this server, the status of the KB included in the install.wim by DISM displayed as "Not applicable".
Very possible, and likely.
It depends on how the detection logic of the update has been written. In some cases, detection logic is based on what an installer does during installation, e.g. create and/or set a registry key or value. This may not happen when injecting an update into
an image using DISM. As a result, the detection logic will not see the necessary flags it's looking for to determine that an update is "Installed" vs "Not Applicable".
You also have to think of this in terms of the baseline image installed on the system. To be true, a baseline image that already has the necessary content is, in fact, "Not Applicable", and has, in fact, not actually been installed to that machine.
Most often you see this in the realm of installing images with slipstreamed service packs.
Consider a scenario with a slipstreamed Win7SP1 baseline. Functionally speaking, all previous updates are contained within that SP1 baseline, but if you inspect the state of the actual updates in WSUS, they will all be listed as Not Applicable. They're not
actually "installed", and they cannot be installed, thus the only viable remaining state is "Not Applicable", which is true -- because they cannot be installed on an SP1-based machine. (Functionally they are superseded, which is also a
contributing factor to the state of "Not Applicable".)
There is no way to display it as "Installed". It's not. This is something that should be documented in the declaration of the baseline image you're using (by patching up the image with DISM once every six months).
Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCSA, MCITP:EA, MCDBA
SolarWinds Head Geek
Microsoft MVP - Software Packaging, Deployment & Servicing (2005-2014)
My MVP Profile: http://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/mvp/Lawrence%20R%20Garvin-32101
http://www.solarwinds.com/gotmicrosoft
The views expressed on this post are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of SolarWinds.