Patch Status shows Patches Installed with Errors

Last Modified

Tue Jun 18 17:33 GMT 2019

Description

  • The Patch Status service may in some cases show that patches have installed with errors, or this may be seen under Asset -> Patches.
  • This article will explain how to clear these errors from your Patch Status service and therefore patch reporting.
  • This can also come up if the patch isn't showing in N-able N-central asset data but is present on the device.

Environment

  • N-able N-central

Solution

  • The majority of the time when you see a patch or patches installed with errors in N-able N-central, it's a patch that was not installed by N-able N-central, so we pulled the status of it from WMI and the Windows Update API.
  • If there is a piece missing from how this patch was recorded on the device itself, say state, we might get a -1 from Windows.
    • Since we can't completely determine the result of that patch installation, we show installed with errors.
    • As long as it's listed as installed on the device, and is shown in WMI QFE or PowerShell's Get-Hotfix then it should be fine.
  • The best way to clear this error from the Patch Status service is to decline that patch for the specific device in Patch Management.
    • Declining the patch won't uninstall it, but will tell N-able N-central you don't want to report on it or allow it to affect the patch status service.
    • You cannot, at this time, always find the actual KB numbers of these patches in the N-able N-central UI.
    • If they installed in the last 3 months, the Patch Status Detailed report will show them.
    • If they are older than that the report may not be able to display them.
  • In addition to WMI, the patch should have an entry in the registry, generally in one of these locations (not limited to):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\PackagesHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserDataHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\UpdatesHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UninstallHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\UpdatesHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\