.NET Framework 3.5 Deployment Guide for Administrators

Administrators can deploy the .NET Framework version 3.5 to field clients in two ways:

• Administrator mode setup. This option enables IT administrators to deploy the .NET Framework through Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) or other software distribution tools. The IT administrator runs the .NET Framework setup in silent mode. If errors occur, setup quits silently and logs an error code.

• Active Directory deployment. In this option, the administrator adds individual .msi files from the .NET Framework 3.5 installation package to Group Policy in the order in which the .msi files should be deployed. After Group Policy is enabled, clients that are part of Group Policy automatically install the components when they boot and reconnect to the network. If errors occur, setup quits silently and logs an error code.

The following sections discuss these two setup options and provide toubleshooting information:

• Deploying the .NET Framework 3.5 with Administrator Mode Setup

• Deploying the .NET Framework 3.5 Using Active Directory

• Known Installation Issues

• Troubleshooting

• Appendix: Script for Creating Installation Points for All Components

Deploying the .NET Framework 3.5 with Administrator Mode Setup

The following deployment steps apply to Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008.

Prerequisites

Before you run administrator mode setup, make sure that the target computer meets the software requirements listed in this section. Unattended setup will fail if these prerequisites are not met.

The following are required on all operating systems:

• Windows Installer 3.1.

• Internet Explorer 6.0 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

In addition:

• On Windows Server 2003, Service Pack 1 (SP1) is required.

• On Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 2 (SP2) is required.

Running Administrator Mode Setup

Creating a Network Image

1. Create a shared folder on the server; for example, NetFX35.

2. Download the .NET Framework 3.5 stand-alone redistributable package from the Microsoft Download Center. Do not use the Download button. Instead, follow these steps:

   1. In the On This Page section, click Instructions.

   2. In the Instructions section, click the link for downloading the full redistributable package.

   3. Save the full redistributable (dotnet35.exe) into the folder you created in step 1.

   This stand-alone redistributable package contains all the components that are required to deploy the .NET Framework 3.5 on x86, x64, and IA-64 platforms on all supporting operating systems. Language packs are not included in this package.

Running Setup

1. Verify that the .NET Framework 3.5 redistributable package is available on the network server.

2. Click Start, and then click Run.

3. Type the following command:

   \\server\share**\dotnetfx35.exe /q /norestart**

   For example:

   \\server1\NetFX35\dotnetfx35.exe /q /norestart

Installation Maintenance

You can run setup again on a computer that already has an existing installation to access setup maintenance features. Both users and administrators should run setup from Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel. To run setup in maintenance mode, users must have administrative permissions on the target computer.

Deploying the .NET Framework 3.5 Using Active Directory

The following deployment steps apply to Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008.

Prerequisites

Network administrators must verify that all client computers have the system components required for installing the .NET Framework 3.5. Installation will fail if the prerequisites are not met.

Important Note:

You must deploy the required components in the order in which they are listed. Otherwise, component installation setup will fail. For example, the .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 requires that you install Windows Installer 3.1 first; therefore, Windows Installer is listed before the .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1. The components that are followed by an asterisk (*) in the following lists are available from the Microsoft Download Center. Components that are not followed by an asterisk are included in the NET Framework 3.5 setup package. To install these, follow the instructions in the Creating the Administrator Installation Points section.

The following are the prerequisites for deploying the .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows XP:

• Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)*.

• Internet Explorer 6.0 Service Pack 1 (SP1)*.

• Windows Installer 3.1*.

• .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

• .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

• Windows Imaging Component*.

• XML Paper Specification (XPS) Shared Components Pack 1.0*.

• Software Rasterizer for the Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Software Development Kit (SDK).

The following are the prerequisites for deploying the .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows Server 2003:

• Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1)*.

• .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

• .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

• Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0.

• Windows Imaging Component*.

• XML Paper Specification (XPS) Shared Components Pack 1.0*.

• Software Rasterizer for the Microsoft DirectX 9.0 SDK.

The following are the prerequisites for deploying the .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows Vista. Obtain these updates through Windows Update before you deploy the .NET Framework 3.5.

• Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Cumulative Update 1.

• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Cumulative Update 1.

There are no prerequisites for Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista SP1; they both include the .NET Framework 2.0 Cumulative Update 1 and the .NET Framework 3.0 Cumulative Update 1.

The components listed in this section are subject to their own license agreements.

Deploying Components Using Active Directory

This section describes how to use Active Directory to deploy the Windows Installer setup package for a specific component across a network. To deploy components that require file extraction, you must have administrator privileges on the target computers.

Before you deploy the .NET Framework, make sure that target computers meet the minimum configuration requirements. For details, see the System Requirements section of the .NET Framework 3.5 download page.

Creating the Administrator Installation Points

1. Create a folder to hold the redistributable package; for example, C:\deploy.

2. Download the .NET Framework 3.5 stand-alone redistributable package from the Microsoft Download Center. Do not use the Download button. Instead, follow these steps:

   1. In the On This Page section, click Instructions.

   2. In the Instructions section, click the link for downloading the full redistributable package.

   3. Save the full redistributable (dotnet35.exe) into the folder you created in step 1.

   This stand-alone redistributable package contains all the components that are required to deploy the .NET Framework 3.5 on x86, x64, and IA-64 platforms, on all supporting operating systems. Language packs are not included in this package.

3. Create the installation points for all the components of the .NET Framework.

   1. Create a .bat file that contains the script provided in the Appendix, and place the .bat file in the deployment folder you used in step 2(c); for example, C:\deploy. (If you used a different folder, change the first line of the script accordingly.)

   2. Open the Command Prompt window.

   3. In the Command Prompt window, execute the .bat file to create the installation points.

      The script creates the installation points for all the components in the AIP subfolder, and places each installation point in its own subfolder.

   4. Close the Command Prompt window.

4. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the extraction destination folder (AIP) to verify that the files were extracted.

5. Move the folder and all its contents to the network share that you intend to use for deployment.

Deploying the Components

You can selectively install the components in the .NET Framework installation package from the installation points created in the previous section. For example, if the computers in the domain are up-to-date with the latest version of the .NET Framework, you need only install the .NET Framework version 3.5 component. See Knowledge Base article 816102: How to use Group Policy to remotely install software in Windows Server 2003 for the rest of the steps for deploying the .NET Framework to client computers. The deployment steps may vary for other versions of Windows Server.

Known Installation Issues

For information about known installation issues, see the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Readme file.

Troubleshooting

Log File Locations

The following log files are generated during the .NET Framework 3.5 setup process:

• dd_dotnetfx35error.txt

• dd_dotnetfx35install.txt

For non-English installations, the following log files are also generated:

• dd_dotnetfx35error_lp.txt

• dd_dotnetfx35install_lp.txt

Each component in the .NET Framework also creates its own log, including the following:

• Software Rasterizer for the Microsoft DirectX 9.0 SDK: dd_RGB9Rast_*.txt

• Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0: dd_msxml6_*.txt

• Windows Imaging Component:: dd_wic*.txt

• .NET Framework 2.0 SP1: dd_net_framework20*.txt

• .NET Framework 3.0 SP1: dd_net_framework30*.txt

• .NET Framework 3.5 MSI: dd_net_framework35*.txt

During the .NET Framework 3.5 setup process, the log files are located in the %temp% directory.

Windows Installer Error Codes

For a list of error codes, see Windows Installer Error Codes in the MSDN Library.

Appendix: Script for Creating Installation Points for All Components

You can use the following script to create the administrator installation points for all components. Save the script as a .bat file in the work folder directory. Open a Command Prompt window and execute the .bat file to create the installation points.

set WORKFOLDER=C:\deploy
set dotNetFX35build=%WORKFOLDER%\dotnetfx35.exe
echo Creating installation points for NETFX3 %PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%
 
REM Create folders where work will be done.
md %WORKFOLDER%\ext
md %WORKFOLDER%\AIP
md %WORKFOLDER%\logs
pushd %WORKFOLDER%
 
REM Extract the files from the .NET Framework 3.5 redistributable.
call dotnetfx35.exe /q /x:%WORKFOLDER%\ext
REM ------------------------------------------------------------
REM Create the MSXML6 x86 installation point.
md %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\MSXML6_x86
call msiexec /a %WORKFOLDER%\ext\wcu\dotNetFramework\dotNetFX30\x86\msxml6.msi /qb /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\MSXML6_x86.log Targetdir=%WORKFOLDER%\AIP\MSXML6_x86
REM Create the MSXML6 x64 installation point.
md %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\MSXML6_x64
call msiexec /a %WORKFOLDER%\ext\wcu\dotNetFramework\dotNetFX30\x64\msxml6.msi /qb /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\MSXML6_x64.log Targetdir=%WORKFOLDER%\AIP\MSXML6_x64
REM ------------------------------------------------------------
REM Create the RGBRAST x86 installation point.
md %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\RGBRAST_x86
call msiexec /a %WORKFOLDER%\ext\wcu\dotNetFramework\dotNetFX30\RGB9RAST_x86.msi /qb /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\RGBRAST_x86.log REBOOT=ReallySuppress Targetdir=%WORKFOLDER%\AIP\RGBRAST_x86
REM Create the RGBRAST x64 installation point.
md %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\RGBRAST_x64
call msiexec /a %WORKFOLDER%\ext\wcu\dotNetFramework\dotNetFX30\RGB9RAST_x64.msi /qb /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\RGBRAST_x64.log REBOOT=ReallySuppress Targetdir=%WORKFOLDER%\AIP\RGBRAST_x64
 
REM ------------------------------------------------------------
REM Extract the .NET Framework 3.5 x86 components. 
md %WORKFOLDER%\ext\netfx35_x86
call %WORKFOLDER%\ext\wcu\dotNetFramework\dotNetFX35\x86\netfx35_x86.exe /q /x: %WORKFOLDER%\ext\netfx35_x86
REM Extract the .NET Framework 3.5 x64 components. 
md %WORKFOLDER%\ext\netfx35_x64
call %WORKFOLDER%\ext\wcu\dotNetFramework\dotNetFX35\x64\netfx35_x64.exe /q /x: %WORKFOLDER%\ext\netfx35_x64
REM ------------------------------------------------------------
REM Create the .NET Framework 3.5 x86 installation point.
md %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\netfx35_x86
call msiexec /qb /a %WORKFOLDER%\ext\netfx35_x86\vs_setup.msi VSEXTUI=1 REBOOT=ReallySuppress /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\netfx35_x86.log TARGETDIR=%WORKFOLDER%\AIP\netfx35_x86
 
REM Create the .NET Framework 3.5 x64 installation point.
md %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\netfx35_x64
call msiexec /qb /a %WORKFOLDER%\ext\netfx35_x64\vs_setup.msi VSEXTUI=1 REBOOT=ReallySuppress /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\netfx35_x64.log TARGETDIR=%WORKFOLDER%\AIP\netfx35_x64
REM ------------------------------------------------------------
REM Create the .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 installation point for x86.
REM Set location of files. 
Set fx20=%WORKFOLDER%\ext\wcu\dotNetFramework\dotNetFX20\
md %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\NETFX20_x86
call msiexec /a %fx20%netfx20a_x86.msi VSEXTUI=1 REBOOT=ReallySuppress /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\netfx20_x86.log TARGETDIR=%WORKFOLDER%\AIP\NETFX20_x86
call msiexec /p %fx20%ASPNET.msp;%fx20%CLR.msp;%fx20%CRT.msp;%fx20%NetFX_CA.msp;%fx20%NetFX_Core.msp;%fx20%NetFX_Other.msp;%fx20%PreXP.msp;%fx20%WinForms.msp;%fx20%DW.msp /a %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\NETFX20_x86\netfx20a_X86.msi /qb /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\netfx20_x86_patch.log
REM Create the .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 installation point for x64.
md %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\NETFX20_x64
call msiexec /a %fx20%Netfx20a_x64.msi VSEXTUI=1 REBOOT=ReallySuppress /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\netfx20_x64.log TARGETDIR=%WORKFOLDER%\AIP\NETFX20_x64
call msiexec /p %fx20%ASPNET_64.msp;%fx20%CLR_64.msp;%fx20%CRT_64.msp;%fx20%DW_64.msp;%fx20%NetFX_Core_64.msp;%fx20%NetFX_Other_64.msp;%fx20%WinForms_64.msp;%fx20%ASPNET.msp;%fx20%CLR.msp;%fx20%CRT.msp;%fx20%NetFX_CA.msp;%fx20%NetFX_Core.msp;%fx20%NetFX_Other.msp;%fx20%PreXP.msp;%fx20%WinForms.msp;%fx20%DW.msp /a %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\NETFX20_x64\Netfx20a_X64.msi /qb /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\netfx20_x64_patch.log
REM ------------------------------------------------------------
REM Create the .NET Framework 3.0 SP1 installation point for x86.
REM Set location of files. 
Set fx30=%WORKFOLDER%\ext\wcu\dotNetFramework\dotNetFX30\
md %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\NETFX30_x86
call msiexec /a %fx30%netfx30a_x86.msi VSEXTUI=1 REBOOT=ReallySuppress /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\netfx30_x86.log TARGETDIR=%WORKFOLDER%\AIP\NETFX30_x86
call msiexec /p %fx30%WCF.msp;%fx30%WCS.msp;%fx30%WF.msp;%fx30%WPF1.msp;%fx30%WPF2.msp;%fx30%WPF_Other.msp;%fx30%XPS.msp;%fx30%WF_32.msp;%fx30%WPF2_32.msp;%fx30%WPF_Other_32.msp /a %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\NETFX30_x86\netfx30a_X86.msi /qb /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\netfx30_x86_patch.log
REM Create the .NET Framework 3.0 SP1 installation point for x64.
md %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\NETFX30_x64
call msiexec /a %fx30%netfx30a_x64.msi VSEXTUI=1 REBOOT=ReallySuppress /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\netfx30_x64.log TARGETDIR=%WORKFOLDER%\AIP\NETFX30_x64
call msiexec /p %fx30%WCF.msp;%fx30%WCS.msp;%fx30%WF.msp;%fx30%WPF1.msp;%fx30%WPF2.msp;%fx30%WPF_Other.msp;%fx30%XPS.msp;%fx30%WCF_64.msp;%fx30%WCS_64.msp;%fx30%WF_64.msp;%fx30%WPF1_64.msp;%fx30%WPF2_64.msp;%fx30%WPF_Other_64.msp /a %WORKFOLDER%\AIP\NETFX30_x64\netfx30a_X64.msi /qb /l*v %WORKFOLDER%\logs\netfx30_x64_patch.log

See Also

Concepts

.NET Framework 3.5 Deployment Guide for Application Developers

Change History