.NET Framework 3.5 deployment guides have been published on MSDN

The official deployment guides for system administrators and application developers have been posted on MSDN, and I wanted to provide links here to help raise visibility for them.  Here they are along with some additional information about what is contained in each of them:

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Deployment Guide for Application Developers

You can find the deployment guide for application developers at the following location:

https://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/cc160716.aspx

The deployment guide for application developers is targeted at developers creating applications that depend on the .NET Framework 3.5 and that will need to incorporate the .NET Framework 3.5 into their installation process.  It contains the following information:

• System requirements
• Where to download the redistributable package from
• How to chain the redistributable package into an application setup
• How to detect whether or not the .NET Framework 3.5 is installed on a system
• Command line switches for .NET Framework 3.5 setup
• Error codes that can be returned by .NET Framework 3.5 setup
• Payload included with .NET Framework 3.5 setup
• How to minimize payload in specific installation scenarios

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Administrator Deployment Guide

You can find the administrator deployment guide at the following location:

https://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/cc160717.aspx

The administrator deployment guide is targeted at system administrators that manage software installation on corporate networks and who want to plan a deployment of the .NET Framework 3.5 to networks that they manage.  It contains the following information:

• How to deploy the .NET Framework 3.5 in silent mode using the setup EXE
• How to create an administrative install point (AIP) for the components of the .NET Framework 3.5
• How to create Group Policy objects to deploy the components of the .NET Framework 3.5 using Active Directory
• Names and locations of .NET Framework 3.5 setup log files
• A sample script that can be used to create an administrator installation point for the .NET Framework 3.5

Links with additional information

I have previously posted a few items on my blog that are not covered (or are touched on but not covered in much detail) in the above deployment guides.  Here are links to those posts in case you need additional information about deploying the .NET Framework 3.5 or its prerequisites (such as the .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 and/or 3.0 SP1):

• Sample code to detect the .NET Framework 3.5 install state
• How to create an administrative install point for the .NET Framework 2.0 SP1
• How to create an administrative install point for the .NET Framework 3.0 SP1
• How to create an installable layout for the .NET Framework 3.5 and 3.5 language packs
• .NET Framework 3.5 log file locations and a tool to automatically gather them

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 25, 2008
  Sorry, I have to ask.  I noticed the Deployment Guide for Application Developers makes no reference to redist/eula restrictions while repeatedly mentioning to use /Q for the deployment. Does this mean we can finally put to rest the whole point of are ISV's allowed to deploy the framework silently or is this still not authorative and we are going to keep hearing that ISV's are violating Microsofts rights from certain people?

• Anonymous
  January 25, 2008
  Hi Christopher - I'm sorry, but I don't know the answer to this question.  This deployment documentation is consistent in format and content to the ones previously published for the .NET Framework 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 and 3.0.  The documentation in the deployment guides linked here is technical documentation, not legal/policy documentation.  That means it lists what is technically possible, not what is legally permissable. My understanding is that the terms of the license agreement displayed during full UI mode of .NET Framework 3.5 setup are applicable in any installation scenario, regardless of whether you suppress the license agreement with the /q switch.  I haven't read through the full text of the license agreement though, so I don't know if/how silent install is treated by those terms. I'm not sure who you are hearing from that silently installing the .NET Framework is violating any of the license terms (since I see many non-Microsoft products that depend on a version of the .NET Framework and run it in silent mode as a part of their setup if it is not yet installed on the user's system).  Can you let me know if this information is coming from folks within Microsoft so I can try to follow up with them directly to figure out what the story is here?

• Anonymous
  January 26, 2008
  I see many installs also, but there has been a lot of buzz in the blogosphere mostly pointing to this link.( See Distribution Principals section http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa480235.aspx Note the part that says even if you obtain a redistribution license you are not granted the right to suppress the EULA by enabling silent install. Yet all of the how to documents reccomend the silent mode.

• Anonymous
  January 26, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  January 26, 2008
  I don't know if you follow my blog but I completely agree with you: http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2007/12/to-redist-or-not-to-redist-that-is.html I also tried to raise the issue last March: http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2007/03/silently-installing-net-framwork-legal.html

• Anonymous
  January 28, 2008
  Saw this first on Aaron Stebner's blog : .NET Framework 3.5 deployment guides have been published

• Anonymous
  January 29, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  February 19, 2008
  Since the .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 and 3.0 SP1 shipped (as prerequisites for the .NET Framework 3.5 and

• Anonymous
  February 19, 2008
  Since the .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 and 3.0 SP1 shipped (as prerequisites for the .NET Framework 3.5 and

• Anonymous
  February 19, 2008
  PingBack from http://msdnrss.thecoderblogs.com/2008/02/19/how-to-perform-a-silent-repair-and-uninstall-of-the-net-framework-20-sp1-and-30-sp1/

• Anonymous
  July 13, 2008
  The .NET Framework 3.5 setup package is a chainer that installs multiple packages behind the scenes. 

• Anonymous
  February 11, 2009
  A while back, I wrote a blog post about how to perform silent repairs and uninstalls for the .NET Framework

• Anonymous
  March 30, 2009
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  January 18, 2017
  I don't know the correct place for me to post this question. Using InstallShield, I am trying to upgrade the .NET framework from 4.0 to 4.5.2 in our installation project as a feature prerequisite. It errors out because 4.5.2 installation launches another msiexec.exe. We would ideally like to keep the framework install as a feature prerequisite so it installs after user accepts the EULA. Setup prerequisites get installed before the EULA displays. What are my options? I would appreciate any guidance on this. Thanks.

  • Anonymous
    January 19, 2017
    The comment has been removed