Administer WID instance with SQL Server Management Studio

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) can use a Windows Internal Database (WID). This database is manged through WSUS, but occasionally you want to administer this with SQL Server Management Studio.

Install SQL Server Management Studion (Express) on the server where WSUS has been installed. Then connect to the WID database by using the following server name:

2008R2:
\\.\pipe\MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE\sql\query
2012R2: 
\\.\pipe\MICROSOFT##WID\tsql\query 

Now you can administer the instance.

If you prefer to administer the database from CLI, you can install the SQL Server Command Line Query Utility – SQLCMD.

To connec to to the database instance, run the sqlcmd utility by passing the instance name. If the database is set in single user mode you can change this by running the following commands:

Windows Server 2012R2:
Open Command Prompt with Administrator Rights
sqlcmd -S np:\\.\pipe\MICROSOFT##WID\tsql\query
alter database susdb
set multi_user
go 

or

Windows Server 2008R2:
sqlcmd -S np:\\.\pipe\MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE\sql\query
alter database susdb
set multi_user
go 

Please Note. It is possible to administer WID instances this way, but it is not recommended. Changes to the WID instance can break the product or changes can be overwritten by updates of the products.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *