.NET updates: UUP distribution; preview updates finally optional, installation error fixed for KB5022729

[German]Today another article summarizing issues around the topic "Installation of .NET Framework Updates", in which I also revisit some older points. For example, Microsoft already fixed the annoying automatic installation of .NET Preview updates in January 2023, so they are now really optional. Robert informed me that the .NET Framework installation issue with .NET update KB5022729 was fixed. And Microsoft is distributing .NET updates for Windows 11 22H2 via UUP.

.Net update KB5022729 install bug fixes

Update KB5022729 is the cumulative update for .NET Framework 3.5, 4.8 and 4.8.1 for Windows 10 version 22H2 from February 14, 2023, but there were people for whom this update could not be installed – in this Microsoft Answers forum post, for example, there is an issue report saying.

Unable to update windows (KB5022729)

I have to try to update windows but after some percentage with will throw an error Like "There was some problem installing updates but we'll try again later. If you keep seeing this and want to search the web or contact support for information this may help(0x80092004)."

German blog reader Robert was probably also affected by this update installation problem, and has now successfully installed the patch. Robert wrote me about this on March 30, 2023 in a mail:

Good morning,

I had installed .Net 4.8.1 on a test system 22H2 Windows 10 and then got an update error. Research showed [that the update was faulty …].

Tonight an updated KB5022729 came in WSUS and that could be installed without errors. But a reboot was necessary afterwards

Robert had provided me with the following screenshot of the result of his research, but without a link. The post also goes back to the Microsoft Answers forum post above and comes from Ramesh Srinivasan, a Windows Insider and community moderator, who wrote the following on March 13, 2023:

KB5022729 is a buggy update. The 4.8 installer works fine (on systems that don't have .NET Framework 4.8.1), though.

.net framework – MS23-FEB13 – Microsoft Community

windows10.0-kb5022498-x64-ndp481_e463ac2254174a29bd0636a781a0cdfd21fc6dc2.msu (.NET Framework 4.8.1. This has a bug.)

windows10.0-kb5022502-x64-ndp48_1c8db95b6897031eb6bbd7ab33e9a217bcf07012.msu (.NET Framework 4.8)

So if someone has an installation error with KB5022729, look for a revised version and have it installed. Thanks to Robert for the tip.

.NET Preview updates finally optional

I'll bring up another topic that has been quite unedifying in the past. Preview updates are classified by Microsoft as optional, which are only installed manually after an update search. With the .NET Framework preview updates there was the classification that they were optional. But the updates were still installed automatically without being asked. I had addressed this unsightly issue in 2020 in the blog post .NET Framework preview updates and the unsolicited installation. Also in September 2022 there was still this German comment from Robert:

the cumulative updates Win10/Server2019 now appear as optional when you search at Microsoft update. but the .Net previews are also found after the search there and installed without being asked, but usually do not need a restart.

Originally there were .Net updates with higher KB numbers, but they have completely disappeared.

As of January 27, 2023, a user has anonymously posted this German comment with a note about a change in the .NET Framework Preview updates.

Offtopic: Finally the .NET Previews are no longer installed automatically:

January 26, 2023—KB5022360 (OS Build 22621.1194) Preview

"New! This update changes the experience for preview .NET Framework updates. After you install this update, all future preview (optional) .NET Framework updates will display on the Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Optional updates page. On that page, you can control which optional updates you want to install."

Susan Bradley had also pointed out this change in her February 2022 newsletter. Quite an accomplishment to take a bug that was known about in 2020, fix it in January 2023 with a .Net Preview update, and list that as "New" under "Improvements" in the support post.

Windows 11 22H2: .Net framework updates via UUP

Starting in April 2023, Microsoft plans to deliver updates for Windows 11 22H2 in managed environments via its Unified Update Platform (UUP). The platform is intended to enable smaller and easier updates, as Microsoft explained on February 9, 2023 in the article Get ready for the first UUP on premises updates coming in March.

UUP distribution, source: Microsoft

UUP works on-premises with Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and Microsoft Configuration Manager. But to enable update distribution, administrators must prepare these management solutions. That's because UUP is becoming the default and only way to download quality updates. I had pointed this out in the blog post Windows: Unified Update Platform will get active end of March 2023, prepare WSUS.

In the aftermath, I remembered the article Microsoft improving .NET Framework updates on Windows 11 22H2 with UUP from neowin.net from February 2023. There, the move of .NET Framework update distribution to UUP for Windows 11 22H2 is also addressed. The article refers to a blog post Improving .NET Framework updates for Windows 11, version 22H2 by Anton Fontanov, program manager at Microsoft, in the Microsoft Tech Community (there is also above tweet about it). There it is promised that with the UUP updates a reboot is less necessary and that users have a better control over the .NET Framework updates. There it is discussed (as described above) that the upcoming optional .NET Framework updates for Windows 11, version 22H2 can be found on the Settings > Windows Update > Advanced Options page under Optional Updates.

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