How to remove items from the “download queue” in the Software Update service (OS X Server)

Question

This is the first time I've used an OS X Server (Snow Leopard) and I'm having trouble with the Software Update service.

When I first set up the Software Update service in the Server Admin I made the mistake of enabling the "Copy all new updates from Apple" setting. What I thought it meant was "copy any updates released after today", but what I got was "copy everything under the sun".

Now almost every update in the list has a little gray dot in the "Copied" column. They also have an exclamation mark in a blue circle. The column for the exclamation mark is helpfully titled "·". I assume the gray dot means it's scheduled for download because the completed downloads have a blue dot in the "Copied" column.

My problem is that I have no idea how to cancel/remove these gray dots. The only options are to "Copy Now" or "Choose Version...".

Here's a sample of what happens multiple times a day in the log:

Tue Jul 13 12:42:40 mini.local swupd_syncd[74] <Info>: ========== Sync Started ==========
Tue Jul 13 12:44:36 mini.local swupd_syncd[74] <Info>: Auto-copy (ONLY NEW) option selected. Applying setting to products.
Tue Jul 13 12:45:28 mini.local swupd_syncd[74] <Info>: Auto-copy (ONLY NEW) option selected. Applying setting to products.
Tue Jul 13 12:46:55 mini.local swupd_syncd[74] <Info>: Auto-copy (ONLY NEW) option selected. Applying setting to products.
Tue Jul 13 12:46:56 mini.local swupd_syncd[74] <Info>: Product aa061-7963 - resuming interrupted download
Tue Jul 13 13:54:34 mini.local swupd_syncd[74] <Info>: Finished downloading product: aa061-7963

This is annoying because I unticked that "Copy all new" setting days ago.

Answer 1

The configuration files for Software Update Server are stored under /etc/swupd. Try resetting them:

1. In Server Admin, make sure the 'Copy [all|all new] updates from Apple' is unticked, making it possible to hereafter manually pick the updates that are downloaded
2. Stop the Software Update Server
3. Rename the /etc/swupd directory to swupd-old and restart SUS

I must admit I don't know how wise this procedure is, but I got it working this way. I had to restart the software update service a couple of times and recheck for new updates at Apple, but then it started working. And it's lightning fast!