Microsoft reminds admins to prepare for WSUS driver sync deprecation

Microsoft once again reminded IT administrators that driver synchronization in Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) will be deprecated on April 18, just 60 days from now.

After its deprecation, the company encourages enterprises to adopt cloud-based solutions for client and server updates, like Windows Autopatch, Azure Update Manager, and Microsoft Intune.

"For on-premises contexts, drivers will be available on the Microsoft Update catalog, but you won't be able to import them into WSUS," the company said in a Windows message center update on Tuesday. "You'll need to use any of the available alternative solutions, such as Device Driver Packages, or transition to cloud-based driver services for your organization, such as Microsoft Intune and Windows Autopatch."

This reminder follows two other warnings issued since June 2024, announcing the deprecation of WSUS driver synchronization and encouraging customers to adopt Redmond's newer cloud-based driver services.

The company also revealed in September 2024 that WSUS had been deprecated, but Microsoft added that it plans to keep publishing updates through the channel and maintain all existing capabilities. This announcement came after WSUS was listed on August 13 as one of the "features removed or no longer developed starting with Windows Server 2025."

"Specifically, this means that we are no longer investing in new capabilities, nor are we accepting new feature requests for WSUS," Microsoft's Nir Froimovici said at the time. "However, we are preserving current functionality and will continue to publish updates through the WSUS channel. We will also support any content already published through the WSUS channel."

Introduced as Software Update Services (SUS) in 2005, almost two decades ago, WSUS enables IT admins to manage and distribute updates for Microsoft products across enterprise networks with large numbers of Windows devices from a single server instead of having each endpoint download them from Microsoft's servers.

In June, Redmond also announced that it had officially deprecated the Windows NTLM authentication protocol, advising developers to transition to Kerberos or Negotiation authentication to prevent future problems.