Any issues switching from server side to client side targeting?

Hi,

We are still getting to grips with WSUS and have decided server side
targeting is too unwieldy to administer. If we switch to client side
targeting are there any issues with this? What happens to the computers that
are already assigned to groups - will they revert back to being unassigned
or stay where they were?

I would just try it but there are too many machines involved.

Regards,

Neil B

 

I'm not sure how to answer... "are there any issues with this?"

There have been several discussion threads over the past several months that
could be classified as "related to client-side targeting", although I'll
note that almost every one of them ultimately tied back to an operator
misconfiguration of the policy or server.

But I will answer your specific question:
The computers already assigned to groups will automatically reassign to new
groups when they receive a policy update that assigns them to a group --
provided that the targetgroupname exists on the WSUS server when they
receive the policy update. Otherwise, they'll move to "Unassigned
Computers".

Just "trying it" is something you'd want to do with a SMALL TEST GROUP, or
with a single system, not with the whole enterprise, anyway.

 

Thanks for that Lawrence. Exactly the info I needed.

I was hoping that the computers would remain in their manually allocated
group unless a policy explicitly moved them (as this initially seems more
logical). I'd better be careful then.

Cheers,

Neil

 

If you do not enable Client-Side Targeting for the GPO assigned to that
specific OU or domain, then the systems will stay in the group assigned at
the server.

Also, Allen McGuire is operating his environment in the unusual mix of
client-side targeting enabled at the client (which has the client report
it's preferred group), but the server configured for server-side targeting
(which gives the server ultimate authority over group membership).

In light of that, I'm inclined to speculate that if you leave the server
configured for server-side targeting, that the clients will report their
'preferred group' based on the client-side targeting configuration
information in the GPO, but that the clients will not actually change groups
at the server, because the server is configured to 'ignore' the provided
information (as a result of the server-side targeting configured on the
server).

Chat with Allen for more detail on how the specifics of this works, and what
he finds to be his particular advantages, but this might be a solution for
your immediate needs.