Infinite reboots reported with Server 2012 (not R2) installing the Servicing Stack Update KB 4523208

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We just had a report from @windowswarrior: this issue presented to all affected Servers with the Servicing Stack Update (KB4523208)… this issue pres
[See the full post at: Infinite reboots reported with Server 2012 (not R2) installing the Servicing Stack Update KB 4523208]

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GreatAndPowerfulTech

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Check this.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/fa2ea07c-0cfb-49b7-9f97-bc7c09ec3b29/windows-server-2012-stuck-in-update-loopcycle?forum=winserveressentials

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GreatAndPowerfulTech, woody

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[windowswarrior]

I realize I completely neglected in my report to mention the fix we found for this issue, which is congruent with the few other reports I’ve found so far.

You can interrupt the reboot cycle by selecting Safe Mode boot and then it proceeds to complete the update sequence normally.

The only other reference articles I’ve found to this point have already been mentioned above. (Thanks!)

I’ve reviewed the Affected Servers in more depth, and I still cannot discern any noticeable difference between those impacted and those not. At least in our Update progression, the only other update(s) installed on the same date in all 46 instances (got some more asset data, which added a few Servers) of KB4523208 being installed were:

• 5 Servers – Installed only the SSU prior to the Monthly Scheduled Reboot
• 38 Servers – Installed KB4515845 (.NET 4.8 September Preview) and the SSU – All 6 Affected Servers fell into this category
• 3 Servers – Installed KB4514360 (.NET 4.8 September Cumulative) in addition to the Preview and SSU mentioned above

Of the 6 Affected Servers, 5 were Virtual and 1 was Physical. At this point, I may take just a few days to see if anything else shakes out from this.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by windowswarrior.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by windowswarrior. Reason: Articles posted by another user

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[windowswarrior]

You can interrupt the reboot cycle by selecting Safe Mode boot and then it proceeds to complete the update sequence normally.

Just realized Anon’s solution was actually different from the one I mentioned. Here is the reference article containing the above solution, which also worked for the 6 Servers mentioned:

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/d1a9bf15-99e9-458f-b942-e387308ad1a6/windows-server-2012-stuck-in-reboot-loop-8220configuring-updates-stage-2-of-4quot?forum=winserver8gen

Another thing to note is that after returning to a Normal Boot, KB4523208 does show as successfully installed.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by windowswarrior.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by windowswarrior.

1 user thanked author for this post.

GreatAndPowerfulTech

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Glad I haven’t patched our fleet yet, only just now testing October’s patches.

We’re almost exclusively non-R2 2012, and we would have been seriously s****ed.

No matter where you go, there you are.

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Glad to hear this information was helpful to you in making/maintaining a decision!

I thought it was worth mentioning for sure, since Servicing Stack Updates are typically benign in terms of introducing bugs or causing any sort of downtime for users.

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[Freeco]

No problems on our end, on 143 Win2012s that have been patched in 3 waves so far.
We patch on a monthly basis, so our changes for this month are:
KB4523208 SSU
KB4525246 Quality rollup
KB4525106 IE11
KB890830 MSRT
(and Office 2010/13/16 patches, if present)

• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by Freeco. Reason: html formatting slipped in

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[philrandal]

We saw it too on a bunch of 2012 (not R2) servers.  The Safe Mode boot worked for us.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by philrandal.

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Glad this worked for you!

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Good feedback, keeping fingers crossed that things go well for you! I would really like November to be a decent patching month…

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We’ve had this issue on a number of servers, but so far the only pattern has been they were all cluster nodes. No other servers appear to have been effected, yet.

Cheers,

G.

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Might your issue be related to this?

It’s been a lingering Known Issue for any version of Windows Server newer than 2008 R2 for the entire year of 2019…

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