Several weeks ago, I described how to ensure that some version of the .NET Framework 4.x would be installed on any version of Windows from 7 through 10. This was accomplished by installing the latest version on Windows 7 (.NET 4.6.1) and just ensuring that the built-in .NET version was turned on in all other versions of Windows. I used this method for performance and stability. If a program can use any 4.x version of .NET, then using whatever is already there is faster than installing a newer version; avoiding unnecessary upgrades makes it less likely that the process will break some other program. (Admittedly, the chance of breakage is small with .NET 4.x, but I think this is a good general principle.) I published that blog post on Monday, February 1; unfortunately, I was unaware that Microsoft had announced, months previous, that support for all 4.x versions of .NET prior to version 4.5.2 would end on January 12, 2016.

When I discovered that announcement, I rethought my strategy for providing this prerequisite package. I decided that instead of using the application package I described previously, I would rather use an application package that ensures that some supported version of the .NET Framework 4.x would be installed. That application package is the subject of this post.

Acquiring the Installation Files

If you’ve been following along with my Deploying Office 2016 series, you’ll find that we already have everything we need. We’ll test for the minimum supported .NET version of 4.5.2, which was not included as an OS component in any version of Windows. For computers without this version or higher, we’ll reuse our .NET 4.6.1 application package from a few weeks ago to bring them up to the latest version. Windows 10 v1507 includes .NET 4.6, and Windows 10 v1511 includes .NET 4.6.1. The NetFx4 feature cannot be disabled in those OSes, so we’ll have a special deployment type for Windows 10 that basically just detects those OS versions.

On your application staging file share (wherever you put application source files for Configuration Manager to find), create a folder for .NET 4.x. Mine will be \\fileserver\software$\Microsoft\.NET Framework 4.x. We’ll use this folder for Windows 10, so we don’t actually need any source files. As we did with .NET 3.5 on Windows 7 and .NET 4.6.1 on Windows 10 v1511, we will just provide Configuration Manager with a single file in that folder. I used Notepad to create a text file named readme.txt in the folder containing the following text:

The following Microsoft .NET Framework 4.x versions are included as operating system components in the corresponding Windows versions, and so no content is required or available to install them on those versions.
-Windows 8/Windows Server 2012          .NET Framework 4.5
-Windows 8.1/Windows Server 2012 R2     .NET Framework 4.5.1
-Windows 10 v1507 (Release)             .NET Framework 4.6
-Windows 10 v1511 (November Update)     .NET Framework 4.6.1

As of 2016-01-12, .NET 4.5.2 is the oldest supported version of the .NET Framework, so all platforms listed above except for Windows 10 must have an upgrade.

Configuration Manager applications require a content folder, so this folder serves that role for the "Microsoft .NET Framework 4.x [Deploy as prerequisite only]" application's deployment types for Windows 10 v1511 (Release) and higher.

That explains the presence of the otherwise empty folder to anyone reviewing this folder structure.

Building the Configuration Manager Application

Windows 7, 8, 8.1 (64-bit), Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, 2012, 2012 R2 (64-bit, full installations)

In the Configuration Manager Console, create a new Application. We are going to reuse the source folder and settings from our .NET 4.6.1 application package for our first deployment type. Here are the values I provided in mine:

The detection logic for this deployment type is complex.

This deployment type’s properties are basically the same as those in our .NET 4.6.1 Application except for the detection logic. Remember that the .NET 4.6.1 setup program doesn’t work for Server Core installations, so those are excluded here under Requirements. This application package has a user-friendly name because it is displayed during task sequence deployment, but because it does not represent an exact version of an application, and because it cannot be uninstalled, it doesn’t make sense to deploy this application directly to devices or users. Don’t deploy this Application on its own; just set it as a prerequisite for other Applications that need it, or include it as a step in a task sequence.

Now let’s look at the complicated detection method. What’s happening here? First, we don’t actually test for version 4.6.1; instead we test that a minimum of .NET 4.5.2 is installed; that’s build 379893 stored in the Release registry value. (See How to: Determine Which .NET Framework Versions Are Installed on MSDN for build numbers.) Then we verify that the OS version is less than that of Windows 10, since this deployment type doesn’t apply to Windows 10. The CurrentVersion registry value works for Windows 7 (6.1) and 8 (6.2), but it does not work for Windows 8.1 (6.3). In its latest attempt to mitigate version-check bugs in other vendors’ applications, Microsoft no longer updates this registry value. Both versions of Windows 10 released so far, as well as Windows 8.1, have a CurrentVersion registry value of 6.3. To verify that the OS is really Windows 8.1, we must also check that the build number is 9600.

To build this detection logic, add each clause in the order shown. Then adjust the Connectors as needed by clicking on the word to give it focus; it changes to a drop-down menu from which you can choose which verb you want. Group the Windows 8.1 detection by selecting the “6.3” and “9600” lines and then clicking the Group button. Finally, group all of the operating system detection logic by selecting everything except the top and bottom lines and clicking the Group button.

Windows 7, 8, 8.1 (32-bit)

Due to the inability of the .NET 4.6.1 executable installer to function when run by a ConfigMgr task sequence, it is necessary to extract the files for 32-bit versions. This works, but it has the unfortunately effect of creating a huge installation source due to Microsoft’s needless bloating of the installation packages.

On your application staging file share (wherever you put application source files for Configuration Manager to find), create a new folder for the extracted 32-bit .NET 4.6.1 files. Mine will be \\fileserver\software$\Microsoft\.NET Framework 4.6.1\PreWin10v1511x86. Use 7-Zip to extract the contents of NDP461-KB3102436-x86-x64-AllOS-ENU.exe into the folder you just created. Then delete the huge, hundreds-of-megabyte files than end in “x64”. Since this folder is only for 32-bit content, we can save quite a bit of space by getting rid of what we don’t need.

Then create a new deployment type for 32-bit client operating systems.

When NDP461-KB3102436-x86-x64-AllOS-ENU.exe is passed the parameters /q /norestart,  it extracts the contents and runs Setup.exe /x86 /x64 /redist /q /norestart. Since we extracted the content already to get around the bug in the self-extracting executable that prevents it from running in a task sequence, we use that command line as the installation command.

The detection method rules are the same as with the 64-bit deployment type except that the last line is adjusted to detect the x86 platform. The operating system requirements are similarly adjusted to only allow installation on 32-bit operating systems.

Windows 10 (64-bit and 32-bit)

All releases of Windows 10 can be handled by a single deployment type. The NetFx4 feature cannot be disabled in Windows 10, so this deployment type has nothing to do except detect the operating system version. We’ll verify the .NET 4.x version as well for good measure, but that test should never fail in a healthy system.

For the installation program, we just display the contents of a text file. This should never actually run, and even if it did, no one would see it because the deployment type is hidden. The detection logic uses a new registry value in Windows 10, CurrentMajorVersionNumber, to ensure that the OS is Windows 10, and it checks that the .NET 4.x version is 4.6 at minimum.

Coming Up

Next time, we’ll take care of one more prerequisite application before we put everything together to build a set of Configuration Manager Applications for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office, Project, and Visio.

<update date=”2016-03-20″>Added new deployment type for 32-bit Windows versions and explanatory text describing the reason for the change.</update>

<update date=”2016-04-17″>Revised the “Coming Up” section for accuracy.</update>

Previously, we examined how Microsoft ships an old version of the .NET Framework for newer versions of its operating systems. This time, we will examine how Microsoft ships a new version of the .NET Framework for older versions of its operating systems.

You may find it helpful to review the history of .NET Framework releases and the servicing methods they employed. I refer you to MSDN blogger Aaron Stebner for a pretty comprehensive description of how the various versions of .NET were bundled with Windows: Mailbag: What version of the .NET Framework is included in what version of the OS? Peter Marcu also has a graphic that shows OS .NET bundling information for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and their server counterparts.

Beginning in .NET 4, the servicing model changed. Versions 3.x were additional features added on top of version 2.0. In contrast, any version above 4.0 with a major version number of ‘4’—4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, and 4.6.1—were complete, in-place replacements for all previous 4.x versions (but could exist alongside a 3.x version). These were installable on all supported operating systems at the time of their releases, and they shipped with the following OS releases:

• Version 4.5 shipped as an operating system component in Windows 8.
• Version 4.5.1 shipped as an operating system component in Windows 8.1.
• Version 4.5.2 was released separately.
• Version 4.6 was shipped as an operating system component in Windows 10.
• Version 4.6.1 was shipped as an operating system component in Windows 10 November Update (v1511).

Because some version of .NET 4.x shipped as an operating system component in each version of Windows since Windows 8/Server 2012, all subsequent versions are delivered as OS feature updates packaged as CAB files. These are then wrapped by an executable installer, which, in the 4.5.x versions, can extract the CAB files with the /createlayout switch. Unfortunately, it seems that Microsoft now really wants us to use the EXE installer: It has disabled the /createlayout switch in the installers for .NET 4.6 and higher.

It is still possible to retrieve the CAB files in 4.6.1, but it is difficult, and you aren’t going to like the results. Here are two methods:

1. Run the offline installer on each platform for which you need to obtain the feature update CAB. The installer will extract the CAB file for only that platform into a temporary folder.
2. Use a third-party tool like 7-Zip to extract the entire contents of the offline installer executable.

Reason you won’t like the results: In what I can only speculate is a move to discourage the very methods I have described, Microsoft has padded the CAB files to be gigantic. While the offline installer is less than 50 MB, each extracted CAB file is hundreds of megabytes in size.

When I found this out, I surrendered: “OK, Microsoft! I’ll do it your way!” I built a Configuration Manager Application using the executable installer, and I rearranged my operating system image build process in Microsoft Deployment Toolkit to use the executable installer as well. Then I made a very annoying discovery: The executable installer does not work on Server Core installations. The embedded setup program fails and displays a list of “problem signatures”, including None_UI_Interactive_Crash and 0xc000008c. I am still investigating the cause and possible solutions to this problem, but I will not be finished in time for this blog post’s publication date. My goal here is to always provide complete solutions, but for now, I must limit the scope to what actually works, and that means that our .NET Framework 4.6.1 application package will only work on client OSes and full installations of server OSes.

Acquiring the Tools and Installation Files

To build a Configuration Manager Application for Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1, you will need:

• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 (Offline Installer) for Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2

Because Windows 10 November Update (v1511) includes .NET 4.6.1 as an OS component, it will have its own, nearly-sourceless deployment type just as Windows 7 did in our .NET 3.5 application package. You might think that all remaining OS versions could share a deployment type that just runs the executable installer, but take a look at this text under the Additional Information heading on the offline installer’s download page:

When you install this package you will see following packages/updates installed as per operating system:

• On Windows 7 SP1 / Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, you will see the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 as an installed product under Programs and Features in Control Panel.
• On Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 you can find this as Update for Microsoft Windows (KB3102439) under Installed Updates in Control Panel.
• On Windows 8.1 / Windows Server 2012 R2 you can find this as Update for Microsoft Windows (KB3102467) under Installed Updates in Control Panel.
• On Windows 10 you can find this as Update for Microsoft Windows (KB3102495) under Installed Updates in Control Panel.

Indeed, simply using the /uninstall switch on the offline installer fails on all platforms except for Windows 7/Server 2008 R2, so each platform must have its own deployment type that utilizes the Windows Update Standalone Installer (wusa.exe) to uninstall the corresponding update. These separate deployment types can share the same installation source folder, though.

On your application staging file share (wherever you put application source files for Configuration Manager to find), create a folder structure for .NET 4.6.1. Mine will be \\fileserver\software$\Microsoft\.NET Framework 4.6.1. Under this folder, create the following subfolders.

Ignore the *Core folders for now; they are just placeholders, and we’ll return to them in a future post. Download NDP461-KB3102436-x86-x64-AllOS-ENU.exe (the offline installer linked above) into the PreWin10v1511 folder.

As with .NET 3.5 on Windows 7, we must provide Configuration Manager with a source file location, and so I created a text file with Notepad containing the following text and saved it into the Win10v1511 folder as readme.txt:

That explains the presence of the otherwise empty folder to anyone reviewing this folder structure.

Building the Configuration Manager Application

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit and 32-bit)

In the Configuration Manager Console, create a new Application. Here are the values I provided in mine:

Take a look at the installation program:

"NDP461-KB3102436-x86-x64-AllOS-ENU.exe" /q /norestart /ChainingPackage ADMINDEPLOYMENT

You can display all available command line parameters for this program by running it with the /? switch or consulting the .NET Framework Deployment Guide for Developers. This is a typical installation command that suppresses all user interaction (/q for “quiet”) and prohibits the program from attempting to restart the computer. The ChainingPackage switch inserts whatever string is specified into the installation log, so that if something goes wrong, you can track down where the installation came from. The first detection rule and the return codes are also taken from the .NET Framework Deployment Guide for Developers.

There are two details to note here. First, Windows Server 2008 R2 Sp1 Core (64-bit) is omitted in the operating system requirements. As described above, the offline installer does not work on Server Core. Second, there is a second detection rule that tests the operating system version. You may remember that we did not need a similar rule for the .NET 3.5 package, and it is unclear to me why we need it now. I just know that without it, the Configuration Manager client was unable to select which application package to use for uninstallation, and so the Uninstall button would be disabled in Software Center. Adding this check fixed the problem.

Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

The deployment type for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 is similar to that for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Duplicate everything in the Windows 7/Server 2008 R2 deployment type except for the properties in the table below.

Note that the second detection rule has the kernel version for Windows 8 and Server 2012 (6.2), and also note that we made use of the OS InstallationType custom Global Condition we built last time to make sure we don’t try to install on Server Core. (Unlike with Windows Server 2008 R2, the there are no built-in requirement options to select or omit Server Core installations.)

Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2

As with Windows 8 and Server 2012, the deployment type for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 is similar to that for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Once again, duplicate everything except for the properties in the table below.

Once again, we’ve adjusted the second detection rule to test for the proper Windows kernel version (6.3), and we again made use of our custom Global Condition to prevent installation attempts on Server Core.

Hopefully you noticed that I added a third rule to the requirements that tests the build number. With every release of Windows, Microsoft has to deal with compatibility issues caused by outside software vendors checking for exact versions of Windows rather than checking for a certain version or higher. In what I believe is the latest example of combating this problem by tricking such errant programs, Microsoft has stopped incrementing the CurrentVersion registry value. Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 10 Release, and Windows 10 November Update all have a CurrentVersion value of 6.3. Since our uninstallers are specific to OS version, that means that we need some other value to let us differentiate between these systems. I chose the CurrentBuild value because I verified that it is different between Windows 8.1/Server 2012 R2, Windows 10 Release, and Windows 10 November Update and therefore fits our needs perfectly here. Microsoft may abandon this registry value in the future, too, or actually release an OS with the same build number, but at least for today, it works. (I did not use the new CurrentMajorVersionNumber and CurrentMinorVersionNumber values because they don’t differentiate between feature releases of Windows 10; both the Release and November Update have 10 and 0 for these registry values, respectively.)

Windows 10 Release

Copy the deployment type for Windows 8.1/Server 2012 R2, and make the changes shown in the table below.

The only thing new here is that we are using a different Global Condition in the requirements to ensure that this deployment type only works on the initial release of Windows 10 (build 10240). The OS InstallationType Global Condition is not needed because no server release accompanied the Windows 10 Release, so there will never be a Windows Server with the same build number as Windows 10 Release. The same is true for Windows 10 November Update.

Windows 10 November Update

We end with the easy one this time. Version 4.6.1 of the .NET Framework is a built-in operating system component in Windows 10 November Update, and it cannot be disabled. All deployment types must have an installation command, so we will just include a command to display the readme.txt file and exit. (This won’t actually display anything to the user because we specified Installation program visibility: Hidden.) No uninstallation command is required, so we’ll leave that box blank.

Copy the deployment type for Windows 10 Release, and make the changes shown in the table below.

Although the Name property begins with “Feature Installation”, again, we cannot actually install anything because the feature is included in the OS and cannot be removed. We need a deployment type so that we can use this application as a prerequisite for another application and have it succeed on Windows 10 November Update; if we didn’t have this deployment type, installation of another application with this one as a prerequisite would fail on the only OS that has the needed feature built in!

Note that we are testing for a different .NET 4.6.1 release number as described by the MSDN article referenced above, and we differentiate this deployment type from the one for Windows 10 Release by adjusting the OS BuildNumber value under Requirements.

Coming Up

Next time, we’ll build a Configuration Manager Application that ensures that some version of .NET starting with ‘4’ is installed on the computer, and we’ll reuse part of our work on .NET 4.6.1 to do so.