If you are managing updates using WSUS, you can enable Windows 11 in WSUS console. I will show you how to enable Windows 11 product in WSUS and get updates in WSUS console.
If you are using SCCM to deploy software updates, I have published an article to enable Windows 11 patching using SCCM. You can refer the article to get Windows 11 product updates in SCCM console.
Not all organizations use Configuration Manager to deploy updates. I have seen many organizations still use WSUS to manage and deploy updates which is fine.
If you are new to WSUS, you can refer my article that covers how to install and configure WSUS on Windows Server. This guide should help you set up WSUS from scratch.
However with WSUS, you must first enable Windows 11 product in WSUS console to get the latest Windows 11 updates.
Microsoft is going to release Windows 11 on October 5th 2021. If you enable Windows 11 product in WSUS console now, you can get the new Windows 11 updates as soon as they are released.
This is basically preparing for Windows 11 updates in WSUS. A similar approach should be used if you want to enable Windows Server 2022 updates in WSUS.
Enable Windows 11 in WSUS Console (Windows 11 Updates)
Let’s enable Windows 11 product in WSUS console. Log in to the WSUS server and launch the WSUS console.
If you have installed WSUS console on a different server, you can still enable Windows 11 product from the console. It actually doesn’t matter because even it’s a remote WSUS server, you still use WSUS console to enable Windows 11.
In the WSUS console, click Options and select Products and Classifications. Here you can specify the Microsoft products for which you want updates and the types of updates that you want.
On the Products and Classifications window, under Windows product, enable Windows 11 product. Click Apply and OK.
This completes the steps to enable Windows 11 product in WSUS console.
Run WSUS Synchronization
When you enable any new product or classification in WSUS console, you must always initiate synchronization.
If you have scheduled the synchronization to run every day, you can wait and avoid manual synchronization.
Since I have enabled new product, i.e. Windows 11 in WSUS, I will manually initiate the WSUS synchronization. In the WSUS console, right-click Synchronizations and click Synchronize Now.
This will begin the synchronization to find new updates for all the selected products along with Windows 11 operating system. It should take a while to complete the WSUS Synchronization.
You can see the synchronization status in WSUS console. Proceed to next step when you see the result of synchronization shows as succeeded.
Get Windows 11 Updates in WSUS Console
Once the synchronization is complete, you should see Windows 11 updates appearing in WSUS console.
Based on the products you have selected, WSUS console may show a long list of updates for every product. To filter Windows 11 updates, right-click updates and use the search option.
In the Search box, try searching for Windows 11 and that should list all the Windows 11 updates in WSUS.
One more thing, along with Windows 11, I have also enabled Windows insider pre-release updates to test the Windows 11 updates in advance.
You can enable insider pre-release updates in your lab, but you shouldn’t do that in production without business approval.
Microsoft will gradually release updates for Windows 11 after they release Windows 11 operating system. Until then, you can prepare your WSUS server to include Windows 11 updates.
