I have a Windows Server 2012R2 which is set to have the Windows Updates Scheduled at a certain time.
However, this week, I received a 15 minute countdown from the moment I signed in instead of straight after the Windows Update. This therefore happened during office hours which is not ideal.
I can't see any Group Policies configured in Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Windows Update
: They all show at Not Configured.
The registry setting AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTime
in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
is set to 1 and AUOptions
is set to 4.
There were some disconnected administrator sessions at the time of the update:
- Could this be the cause?
- Does
AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTime
only work if no administrator sessions are active?
Best Answer
Off-topic: To check the group policies, you should use
rsop.msc
. I think what you're showing is the output ofgpedit.msc
.Firstly, let's dive into the 2 points mentioned in the question:
This setting is complicated to explain in few words and so I'd suggest you to better go through the shared link. A sample comparison taken from MSDN is shared below:
Now, Coming to the main questions:
In the settings of AU shared by you, the AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTime is enabled (set to 1). When this registry value is set to 1, you (any user) are still notified of the upcoming automatic restart on the sign-in screen. However, at the end of the two-day period, the 15-minute counter begins even if the computer is locked. The restart also occurs even if the computer is locked.
Here, NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers is disabled OR not configured in your server. So, please go through the shared cases of this setting not enabled as per the image shared above in the answer.
But, when you'll check the always auto reboot setting to be enabled, and then the NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers setting disabled (or not configured), both settings imply that anyway, at the maximum, after 2 days notification expiry, the system could have been expected to restart automatically even when the administrator session was disconnected (locked or signed out).
I suspect this is what might have happened*. After the administrator session disconnected (and / or other users not logged on), the system restarted automatically. At max, the setting would have restarted the server at the 2nd day of disconnect of session.
* NOTE: For exact event schedule, you need to confirm it with the event viewer logs. I hope this answers your question and solves the query.