Page Last Updated: 07/02/2010
Running the Scripts Across the Network

If you have problems with the automatic updates system, or want to force machines to update or call back to a WSUS server, you can run the scripts from our Scripts Page remotely. This process uses one of the PS Tools, and allows you to either run the scripts remotely on an individual machine, or across numerous machines.

This procedure uses the command prompt. If you need a getting started to the command prompt then we have one here: http://dosprompt.info/ (new window)

The first thing you will need to do is download PS Tools, which at the time of writing can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897553.aspx (new window).

The tool you want from that is psexec. When running the batch file with psexec nothing is seen on the screen of the client, so effectively runs silently. 

Setup to run the script

You need to use a server, or other system where you are logged in as a domain admin.

From the tools, put psexec and the batch file that you want to run in the same directory.

If you want to run the script against a series of machines, then you will need to put a text file in the same directory, which contains a list of machines in the format of \\machine name. To create the list based on what machines are live, see below.

Running the Script on the Target Machine

For a single machine, use a command prompt to change to the directory where you have placed psexec and the batch file. The first time the process is run you will get a prompt for the licence agreement, however that will only happen once on the machine that you are running it from (so if you run it elsewhere, the prompt will return).

Psexec \\workstation -c -f "wsus-reset.bat"

Where "workstation is the name of the machine that you want to run the script.

Running the Script on Multiple Machines

psexec allows you to feed it a list of machines. The tool will then step through each machine and run the batch file against each one in turn.

For bulk changes where the list of machines is in the format of "\\machinename" :

for /f %i in (list.txt) do psexec %i -c -f "wsus-reset.bat"

Or if a list of machines without the \\

for /f \\%i in (list.txt) do psexec %i -c -f "wsus-reset.bat"

Getting a List of Machines to use with PSEXEC

To get list of machines that are currently live run the following from a command prompt.

net view >list.txt

This will give you something like this:

Remove the content that isn't related to the machine name, so the remarks and the command at the end, so that you end up with a list like this:

\\SERVER1 \\SERVER2 \\SERVER3 \\PC-001 \\PC-002 \\PC-003

Then save the file as list.txt and put it in the directory with the batch file and psexec file.

Alternative for the "detectnow" command only

For the single command wuauclt /detectnow you can use a single line command:

for /f %a in (list.txt) do psexec \\%a wuauclt /detectnow

About this site

This information originally started life as a page on amset.info, our community assistance site. However that site is targeted at Microsoft Exchange server, as Sembee Ltd. is a Microsoft Exchange consultancy. Therefore it was moved to its own domain in early 2010. Traffic from amset.info is directed here.

Other sites that are owned and operated by Sembee Ltd include kbsearch.info, certificatesforexchange.com, dosprompt.info, loginscripts.info, office-recovery.info, blog.sembee.co.uk, exbpa.com and amset.info.