Issues installing TeamsBootStrapper.exe on Windows Server 2019 Datacenter

Question

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide. I am trying to get the new work teams version to install on 4 virtual servers in a RD farm but have had no luck.

I sent the below email to the Microsoft 365 tenant supplier we have as that is where MS support page sent me but don't think they are going to be able to help and likely will send me off to Microsoft for server or teams developer team. Am hoping someone can shed some light and hopefully help me out with this:

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We have a customer that has a Virtual Desktop server farm setup on a cluster host. It has 4 server that have 2 live for user connections at any one time. User profiles are stored in VXD file format and loaded/mounted on the login server they get assigned to when logging into the virtual desktop.

They have had classic teams installed on these 4 servers for a while with some issues, however now that the new work/school version of teams is out and classic is ending support, they asked to have these servers updated to the new teams client.

I found the MS article “Upgrade to new Teams for Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure” and am following that document.

New Microsoft Teams for Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

In that document it indicates server 2019 (10.0.11763) is a supported version of OS for the new teams. The 4 virtual server are running Server 2019 data center (10.0.17763)

I have also verified app side loading is on for the server:

I verified the WebView2 runtime is up to date mostly. There is one newer version released yesterday 6/13 but should be ok since the version installed is only from 6/8 and is one release version behind.

In that article for installation it has links to the teamsbootstrapper.exe program and indicates it must be the latest version. I verified it is current with version 1.36.48605

I also downloaded the MSTeams-x64.msix file from the link.

I have put these two files into a folder on the server c:\teamsinstall

I opened an admin powershell on one of the servers that is not currently in production to test installing to.

I changed the current path in the powershell window so that it is in c:\teamsinstall

I issued the command:

.\teamsbootstrapper.exe -p -o “C:\teamsinstall\msteams-x64.msix”

The result was:

“success”: false,

“error code”: “0x80070057”,

“errorMessage”: “MSIX installer is not supported on your windows operating system version. Please visit https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/new-teams-bulk-install-client for supported versions”

I also tried to run the command with just the -p parameter to have it download the installer but got the same error message.

Going to the link it lists takes you to what I think is an older web page as it only lists windows 10 as a supported operating system.

I have done much searching to try and resolve this issue but have been unable. I went to put in a ticket with Microsoft since I think this is more of a server/teams development team issue, however it redirected me to the 365 console since it involves teams. On the tenant of course it sends us back to you guys for support.

Any assistance that we can get to allow for the new teams to be installed on the servers is greatly appreciated specially since there are differing end of life dates floating around. In the document the client found the EOL on teams classic is 6/30 and on the install document is indicates 10/1.

Announcing general availability of the new Microsoft Teams app for virtual desktop infrastructure - Microsoft Community Hub

As compared to the deployment document:

New Microsoft Teams for Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

Thanks in advance for your assistance,
Brandon

Answer 1

Very frustrating for RDS users as well. There are a few ways to get this done, but here has been my most successful.

Installing Teams on RDS Enable these GPs **It is important to have both group policy settings enabled as listed above."Allow all trusted apps to install" & "Allow deployment operations in special profiles" MUST be enabled on your RDS servers. If you don't, you'll get an error in powershell that says "To install this application you need either a Windows developer license or a sideloading-enabled system" when you try to run the Dism command below.

** You also need the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime. Get itHERE. If the link ever breaks, just search online for it. It's usually the first search result.

A few notes:

- Using the command Add-AppxPackage works, but only for installing Teams on a single user account. Teams won't be available to any other users if you use Add-AppxPackage to install teams. You must use DISM along with the Add-ProvisionedAppxPackage command for it to show up for all user accounts. If you've previously used the Add-AppxPackage command to install teams, you'll need to remove it before you can use the Add-ProvisionedAppxPackage method to install Teams. (see below)

- Make sure you remove all versions of existing teams installs first. You may get an error if you don't when running this command.

- If you get error 1168: Element not found, it means teams is already installed. Run Get-AppxPackage, and look for MSTeams. If it exists you need to use the powershell command Remove-AppxPackage to remove it.

- Example: Remove-AppxPackage -Package MSTeams_24074.2323.2827.4973_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

(the name of your installed teams instance may be different. Use command Get-AppxPackage to find the name of your teams install.)

- Uninstall the Teams machine wide installer before continuing if you see it in Programs and Features.

*** Instructions: ***

1. Install all available updates for your Windows Server 2019 server and reboot.
2. Place a copy of the MSTeams-x64.msix installer file on your server. For this example, I placed a copy of the file in C:\admin\teams. Get the file HERE. You want the one for WORK or SCHOOL. 64 bit.
3. Open an elevated powershell prompt.
4. In the elevated Powershell prompt, run: Dism /Online /Add-ProvisionedAppxPackage /PackagePath:c:\teams\MSTeams-x64.msix /skipLicense

 If that does work, go to this command and step 5.

Add-AppxPackage -Path c:\teams\msteams-x64.msix /skiplicense

5. Take ownership of C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\MSTeams_<version> folder and give all users read

Give it a couple of minutes to install. It should take no more than 3 or so minutes. It will say Operation Completed Successfully once it's done. If it seems frozen, hit the enter button on your keyboard. Mine didn't say anything, but after hitting enter, it showed the successful results of the install.

You will see "Microsoft Teams (work or school)" appear in the start menu. The icon will have a little blue oval in it that says NEW.

You'll no longer see teams appear in programs and features. To check if it's installed, and to see the version number, in an elevated powershell window, run **Get-AppxPackage .**You'll see it show up as MSTeams.

Using this method to install teams on Windows Server 2019 will ensure all users that use the server through RDS can use teams.

Answer 2

It is mentioned just below the broken image ""Allow all trusted apps to install" & "Allow deployment operations in special profiles"" You just had to search where in the GPO these two where hiding. ;-)

A picture upload is useless because those usually will break again anyway.

Set these two, to Enabled, on the (RDS) servers you wish to update Teams on.

The full reference path is:

[GPO] Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> App Package Deployment

Reference links:

• GPO settings in a visual tree: https://admx.help/?Category=Windows_10_2016&Policy=Microsoft.Policies.Appx::AppxDeploymentAllowAllTrustedApps
• Post on Microsoft's tech community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams/new-teams-on-terminal-servers/m-p/4017214 (the anwser is in there, in the comments)

Answer 3

Hello JonPanz,

Can you please share images again with these GPO policies that need to be enabled and make them available as text for future reference?

Thank you,

Answer 4

What a WONDERFUL writeup!

Thanks for this!! It actually works. In my case I needed the GPO entries the most, other sites didn't (readably) mention those.

If someone is interested in uninstalling all appdata\local instanced installs within an (VDI) desktop, I found this, which also worked as advertised. (the regkey was the only thing I needed)
https://virtualwarlock.net/microsoft-teams-in-citrix/#Uninstall_Teams_per-user

The only thing I will try to figure out is how to automagically start the new Teams... My test user has to start it manually now...

PS - extra

If you need a XML entry for your start menu, you can use this line:

<start:Tile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="6" AppUserModelID="MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MSTeams" />

Note the "start:Tile" that is somewhat different that my usual "start:DesktopApplicationTile". This is required or else the whole XML will break your start menu.

Also, the size, column and row are placeholders ofc.

Answer 5

I got to step 4. The Dism command installed successfully. I got a little fuzzy on the next part where if it succeeds to issue the:

Add-AppxPackage -Path c:\teams\msteams-x64.msix /skiplicense

The skip license part throws an error. Leaving out the skip license throws a different error 
indicating there is a higher verion already installed. I am guessing it is the same one installed using the 
DISM command?

I was able to take ownership of the hidden windowsapps\teams folder. I added authenticated users instead of everyone thoug.

I do see the work version in the start menu for the admin account I installed with, however when I log
into the RD host using a normal user account with a preexisting VXD profile image I don't see the 
application in the start menu for that account. 

I am wondering if the Add-AppxPackage needs a different parameter and does it have to be run for each user?

Thanks in advance,

Brandon

Very frustrating for RDS users as well. There are a few ways to get this done, but here has been my most successful.

Installing Teams on RDS Enable these GPs **It is important to have both group policy settings enabled as listed above."Allow all trusted apps to install" & "Allow deployment operations in special profiles" MUST be enabled on your RDS servers. If you don't, you'll get an error in powershell that says "To install this application you need either a Windows developer license or a sideloading-enabled system" when you try to run the Dism command below.

** You also need the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime. Get itHERE. If the link ever breaks, just search online for it. It's usually the first search result.

A few notes:

- Using the command Add-AppxPackage works, but only for installing Teams on a single user account. Teams won't be available to any other users if you use Add-AppxPackage to install teams. You must use DISM along with the Add-ProvisionedAppxPackage command for it to show up for all user accounts. If you've previously used the Add-AppxPackage command to install teams, you'll need to remove it before you can use the Add-ProvisionedAppxPackage method to install Teams. (see below)

- Make sure you remove all versions of existing teams installs first. You may get an error if you don't when running this command.

- If you get error 1168: Element not found, it means teams is already installed. Run Get-AppxPackage, and look for MSTeams. If it exists you need to use the powershell command Remove-AppxPackage to remove it.

- Example: Remove-AppxPackage -Package MSTeams_24074.2323.2827.4973_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

(the name of your installed teams instance may be different. Use command Get-AppxPackage to find the name of your teams install.)

- Uninstall the Teams machine wide installer before continuing if you see it in Programs and Features.

*** Instructions: ***

1. Install all available updates for your Windows Server 2019 server and reboot.
2. Place a copy of the MSTeams-x64.msix installer file on your server. For this example, I placed a copy of the file in C:\admin\teams. Get the file HERE. You want the one for WORK or SCHOOL. 64 bit.
3. Open an elevated powershell prompt.
4. In the elevated Powershell prompt, run: Dism /Online /Add-ProvisionedAppxPackage /PackagePath:c:\teams\MSTeams-x64.msix /skipLicense

 If that does work, go to this command and step 5.

Add-AppxPackage -Path c:\teams\msteams-x64.msix /skiplicense

5. Take ownership of C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\MSTeams_<version> folder and give all users read

Give it a couple of minutes to install. It should take no more than 3 or so minutes. It will say Operation Completed Successfully once it's done. If it seems frozen, hit the enter button on your keyboard. Mine didn't say anything, but after hitting enter, it showed the successful results of the install.

You will see "Microsoft Teams (work or school)" appear in the start menu. The icon will have a little blue oval in it that says NEW.

You'll no longer see teams appear in programs and features. To check if it's installed, and to see the version number, in an elevated powershell window, run **Get-AppxPackage .**You'll see it show up as MSTeams.

Using this method to install teams on Windows Server 2019 will ensure all users that use the server through RDS can use teams.