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I have been diving into Powershell for methods to deal with my WSUS better. I have noticed that an update gives the option of Approve or ApproveForOptionalInstall.

Whilte I can find many articles how to perform this I really don't know why I would pick one over the other.

When I approve through the WSUS GUI there is just the Approve option and you can optionally install it on the client or hide it. I suspect the group policy rules such as forced reboots if idle were active it might do something different than what I am observing in my environment, but I am guessing at this point.

Also, which option does the Approve in WSUS correspond to?

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According to New in Windows Server Update Services 3.0, Microsoft extended the API to allow for 'creating approvals for “optional installation”'

These API extensions for "advanced options" aren't exposed through the GUI so that is why you only see this optional option through PowerShell:

"New APIs have been created for use by advanced management tools (such as System Center Essentials). These features are not exposed in the WSUS administration console."

These optional installations differ from regular approvals in that you don't install them via Windows Update, but instead through Add or Remove Programs. I think from Add or Remove Programs you then click "Install a program from the network" but I have not done this personally.

The approve option in the GUI is the same as the regular approve option through PowerShell.

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