WSUS (Microsoft’s Windows Server Update Services) allows you to manage and release updates to your servers and workstations on YOUR schedule. This is an important step in managing your customers’ systems. I prefer to test new Microsoft updates on my own test & in-house servers and workstations before introducing them into customer’s production systems. Over time, however, you may find that your WSUS database and files are taking up more and more disk space.
WSUS provides an easy to use management tool in SBS 2008 and SBS 2011 that reduces this disk space by deleting outdated or superseeded updates that WSUS has collected. The tool is called the WSUS Server Cleanup Wizard. It’s recommended to run this tool at least monthly. Many MVP’s run it weekly via a scheduled script task.
To access and run the wizard, go to Start > Administrative Tools > Windows Server Update Services, then click on Option, then the Server Cleanup Wizard. You will then be presented a list of 5 choices of items to be cleaned up.
Fair warning: if you are running the WSUS Cleanup Wizard for the first time on a server that has been in production for months or years, the wizard may run for a VERY LONG TIME!
If so, my advice is to run each cleanup option separately, starting with the last choice first (superseeded updates), and finishing up with unused updates/revisions last, Why? Because the unused updates/revision item takes the longest to run, and you may in fact thing that the cleanup wizard is broken, and try to abort it.