Windows Update pending count powershell

Reports how many updates are currently pending install. Use to find machines drifting behind on patches.

Placeholders only. Before running, replace YOUR_URL with your capture endpoint's POST URL . (Open this page from your capture object to have these auto-filled.)

# windows-update-pending.ps1 — count of pending Windows updates.

$Url      = "YOUR_URL/wsus"
$Session  = New-Object -ComObject "Microsoft.Update.Session"
$Searcher = $Session.CreateUpdateSearcher()
try {
  $Pending = ($Searcher.Search("IsInstalled=0 and Type='Software'")).Updates.Count
  $Reboot  = ((New-Object -ComObject "Microsoft.Update.SystemInfo").RebootRequired) -as [bool]
} catch {
  $Pending = -1
  $Reboot  = $false
}

$Body = (@{
  hostname         = $env:COMPUTERNAME
  pending_count    = $Pending
  reboot_required  = $Reboot
}) | ConvertTo-Json -Compress

Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $Url -Method Post -Body $Body `
  -ContentType "application/json" -TimeoutSec 15 | Out-Null

Recommended pairing

Add a capture.value check to this capture object.
json_path = pending_count, op = >, threshold = 5 (tune for your patching cadence).

What is the filename?

windows-update-pending.ps1 — this is the suggested name for the downloaded file. Rename freely if you prefer.