WSUS Installation Fails with No Specified Error and ‘Tools’ Folder is Missing after WSUS Installation

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Symptoms

  • When installing WSUS through the Add Roles and Features Wizard (ARW), the Post-Installation task fails and the generated log folder (*.tmp) is empty, AND
  • The Tools folder is missing after WSUS was installed. Note: By default, the Tools folder is installed to the following location: %SystemDrive%\Program Files\Update Services\Tools

 

This behavior has been seen when:

  • Uninstalling WSUS
  • Manually deleting WSUS folder: %SystemDrive%\Program Files\Update Services
  • Manually deleting WSUS registry keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Update Services
  • Re-installing WSUS

 

Root Cause

When uninstalling WSUS Role via ARW the “API and PowerShell cmdlets” feature is not uninstalled by default (unless explicitly selected by the user). Deleting the remaining WSUS folders and registry keys leaves the server in a bad state and the re-installation fails because it is expecting this feature to be already installed.

 

Workaround

Uninstall all the WSUS roles and features and re-install WSUS.

 

Workaround 1: To uninstall WSUS roles and features using Windows PowerShell

  1. In PowerShell, review features installed by calling: Get-WindowsFeature UpdateServices*
  2. To remove features, call: Uninstall-WindowsFeature <featureName>

 

Workaround 2: To uninstall WSUS roles and features using the Server Manager Console

In Server Manager, launch Remove Roles and Features Wizard (RRW), unselect items to be uninstalled, and complete the Wizard:

  1. In Server Roles tab unselect ‘Windows Server Update Services’ option
  2. In Features tab unselect ‘Remote Server Administration Tools -> Role Administration Tools -> Windows Server Update Services Tools’ option

 

We recommend restarting the server to ensure that all WSUS components are removed. After uninstalling WSUS roles and features, you may reinstall the WSUS roles and features.

 

To reinstall WSUS, launch the Add Roles and Features Wizard and then select the “Windows Server Update Services” option. You may optionally reinstall the Windows Server Update Services Tools. After the ARW completes successfully, you may run the WSUS post-installation tasks.