WSUS clients appear and disappear from the WSUS Update Services console

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS): WSUS previously known as Software Update Services (SUS), is a computer program and network service developed by Microsoft Corporation that enables administrators to manage the distribution of updates and hotfixes released for Microsoft products to computers in a corporate environment.

For more articles I have written, see the following hyperlinks below
– Configuring WSUS Email Notification to Work With Office365
– How to setup and configure Windows server update services (WSUS)
– Important Areas to Master on WSUS (Installed and not applicable, Install 1/4, and Installed / Not applicable 100)
– Targeting WSUS Client with the Registry keys: How to configure WSUS Clients to get Updates from the WSUS server using Registry settings
– How to apply Windows Updates from WSUS to the server using AWS RunCommand
– How to Configure SSL between WSUS servers (Upstream and Downstream Servers)
– Handy WSUS Commands – Windows Server Update Services Commands, WAUACLT, PowerShell and USOClient
– How to Start, Stop and Restart Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) via PowerShell and CMD
– Windows Server Update Services: Windows 2016 Servers does not show up on WSUS console,

Note: When I login to each workstation and type in CLI (CMD)

wuauclt.exe /detectnow /reportnow

I am able to see these machines from the WSUS console but the other would disappear.

– Reason for unexpected behaviour
This happens sometimes to cloned servers because they are having the same SUSClientID.  Each time the server contacts WSUS, the entry in the WSUS console would get overwritten with the new server information and the existing machine would disappear.

Solution: Navigate to this registry path below and delete the “**SusClientID**” and “**SusClientIDValidation**” registry values in the key

HKLMSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionWindowsUpdate

Restart the windows update service

And perform or run the following from the CLI below

wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow
wuauclt.exe /detectnow /reportnow

Since the WUACLT is deprecated and not available in newer operating system, take a look on this article on how to scan or force updates from WSUS using “usoclient.exe” https://techdirectarchive.com/2020/02/05/handy-windows-server-update-services-commands-wauaclt-powershell-and-usoclient/