What is the best way to install .net Runtime v8.0 via Intune?

Question

What is the current best way to install .net Runtime v8.0 via Intune to a large number of users? The .net website offers an .exe file but it doesn't contain an .msi I can turn into an Intune app. There are also winget instructions listed but winget doesn't work in a system context so any scripts I package as a Win32 app fail.

I've googled the subject and found some scripts people have found to work around the problem but the one's I've tried have failed (they sit in "installing" status for hours). Is there an option somewhere I've missed?

Answer 1

@Woodson Baldwin, Thanks for posting in Q&A. Based on my researching, I find the sdk file has silent install command. But it will install three different .NET runtimes which mentioned in the following link:

dotnet-sdk-8.0.100-win-x64.exe /install /quiet /norestart

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/install/windows?tabs=net80

We can warp the sdk to .intunewin and deploy via Win32 app.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/intune/apps/apps-win32-add

And for the .NET runtimes simple app, after testing, I find the silent install command as below.

dotnet-runtime-8.0.5-win-x64.exe /install /quiet

We can wrap this app to. intunewin and deploy it via Win32 as well. The detection rule can detect C:\Program Files\dotnet\dotnet.exe or if it has registry key set, you can also choose registry key to detect.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/install/windows?tabs=net80

Hope the above information can help.

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Answer 2

@Woodson Baldwin It is possible to use winget for installations within a SYSTEM context, I have successfully done that.

It does require a specific approach as winget is not recognized as a command. You can get around that by telling the script where the winget executable is and then run the program from that folder.

Specifically, you need the following script to install scripts from the SYSTEM account:

$App = "YourAppToInstall.WingetID"

$ResolveWingetPath = Resolve-Path "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_*_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\winget.exe"
    if ($ResolveWingetPath){
           $WingetPath = $ResolveWingetPath[-1].Path
    }

$Wingetpath = Split-Path -Path $WingetPath -Parent
cd $wingetpath
.\winget.exe install --exact --id $App --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements --scope machine

Thanks to Rudy Ooms for the instructions about this! (source: https://call4cloud.nl/2021/05/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-winget/#Installing_Applications)

You can test this via PSExec: start a session as SYSTEM and try it out!

See this source for further information: https://powershelltoolbox.tech/testing-powershell-scripts-as-the-system-account/

Answer 3

What is the recommendation regarding the detection rules? I usually use the uninstall-path from the registry, but this will trigger a reinstallation of the older version of the runtime through Intune once a newer version was automatically deployed through Windows update (which will remove the older version installed via Intune). Is there a specific file where we could use the file-version comparison detection method using "greater than or equal" for the version to accomodate this situation?