What do I do if Windows updates cannot be installed on an instance? - Elastic Compute Service

This topic describes the issue that Windows updates cannot be installed on a Windows instance. This topic also describes the cause of the issue and how to resolve the issue.

Problem description

By default, group policies are configured for Windows instances to install patches from an intranet Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server. For information about how to configure group policies to automatically install system patches, see Parameters for automatic update for Windows instances.

When Windows updates fail to be installed, various error codes may be reported. Error code 80244022 is typically reported when Windows updates fail to be installed. 80244022 is an internal error code of Microsoft and indicates the error cause "HTTP status 503 - the service is temporarily."

Cause

Windows updates may fail to be installed on an instance because of the following reasons:

Third-party anti-virus software is installed on the instance.
The instance is infected by trojans or viruses.
The instance has insufficient physical or virtual memory.
A permission issue occurs on file systems on disks.
The instance has insufficient disk space.
One or more system components or dependency services of the instance are corrupted.
By default, the Alibaba Cloud internal WSUS server is configured for the instance. If the internal WSUS server is busy or stops responding, Windows updates may fail to be installed.
A network path issue or a DNS resolution issue occurs.

Solution

Important

This topic applies to Windows instances and is provided only for reference. The copyright of the official Microsoft links that are referenced in this topic belongs to Microsoft. Take note of the operating systems that this topic applies to. Microsoft products are subject to iterations and the Microsoft links that are referenced in this topic may not be updated in a timely manner. Alibaba Cloud is not liable for the referenced Microsoft links.

Perform the following steps to troubleshoot the issue:

Check whether the virtual memory of the instance is configured. If the virtual memory of the instance is not configured, configure the virtual memory. Then, restart the instance and try again.
For information about how to configure the virtual memory of a Windows instance, see How to configure the virtual memory of a Windows instance.
Run one of the following commands based on the network type of the instance to check whether port 80 on the internal WSUS server can be reached:
- If the instance resides in the classic network, run the following command:
```
telnet windowsupdate.aliyun-inc.com 80
```
- If the instance resides in a virtual private cloud (VPC), run the following command:
```
telnet update.cloud.aliyuncs.com 80
```
If port 80 on the WSUS server cannot be reached, use the Microsoft Internet WSUS server instead of the Alibaba Cloud internal WSUS server and try again.
For information about how to switch to the Microsoft Internet WSUS server, see Parameters for automatic update for Windows instances.
Search for a solution based on the reported error code. You can use Windows Update Troubleshooter. Windows Update Troubleshooter is a tool provided by Microsoft and can help resolve some issues that occur when Windows updates are downloaded and installed.
For more information., see Windows Update: FAQ.
Reset Windows Update components. For more information, see Windows Update - additional resources.
If Windows updates still cannot be installed after Windows Update components are reset, perform the operations that are described in the "Reset Windows Update components manually" section of Windows Update - additional resources to reset Windows Update components again. Then, check whether Windows updates can be installed.
Important
This step is a high-risk step. Before you perform this step, create snapshots for the system disk and data disks of the instance to back up data. For more information, see Create a snapshot for a disk.