Ressetting SCCM agent if package failed to install

Resetting SCCM Agent if patch installation fails

October 26, 2013 Mike Erps Sysadmin, Windows

From time to time, a ticket will be created in regards to System Patches failing in an SCCM environment. To fix this, there are really only two major steps:

1. Rename the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder to SoftwareDistribution.old (stop Windows Update service before renaming, then restart the service).
2. Rename C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 to catroot2.old (stop the Cryptography service before renaming, then restart the service).

After this is done, run these actions from the configuration manager:

1. Discovery Data Collection Cycle
2. Software Updates Deployment Evaluation Cycle
3. Software Updates Scan Cycle

The procedure above has taken care of the issue pretty reliably. If the updates still don’t install properly, you may have to download the specific updates and install them manually.