Microsoft Windows update ETL Logs are continuously getting generated on Microsoft Windows Server 2016 and Microsoft Windows 10, V1607.
Symptoms:
The Servers will be writing new ETL logs under C:\Windows\Logs\Windows Update folder until the server runs out of disk space and eventually system goes to hung state. This will continue to happen even after setting windows update Service to manual. Restarting Windows update service will temporarily cleanup all ETL logs.
Cause:
Microsoft has released a cumulative update KB5000803 which has fix for this issue. Size of the package is around 1.7 GB, OS drive should have minimum 7 GB free space before attempting the installation.
Workaround:
Block access to Windows Update Servers by policy “Turn off access to all Windows Update features”.
Steps are below;
1. Run
gpedit.msc
2. Expand
“Computer Configuration”
3. Expand
“Administrative Templates”
4. Expand
“System”
5. Expand
“Internet Communication Management”
6. Click
on “Internet Communication settings”
7. On
the right hand side locate the setting “Turn off access to all Windows Update features” and double click to open the settings
8. Change
the setting to “Enabled” and click apply.
9. Restart Windows update Service. Perform a clean reboot if possible.
Blocking https://fe3.delivery.mp.microsoft.com URL
on the proxy server will also prevent the issue, as the proxy will return HTTP
403 instead of HTTP 407 which causes the issue.
Disabling authentication on the proxy server is another option to
mitigate this issue.
