Microsoft generally does a good job warning customers about pending, forced updates. But, unless I missed something, the announcement that the .NET Framework 4.5.1 will be pushed down from the Microsoft servers on Tuesday caught me by surprise. And, it may be catching you by surprise, too – right before the Thanksgiving holiday.
On Friday, Microsoft took to the WSUS Product Team Blog to announce the WSUS servers would start filling up with the new .NET Framework bits on November 26, 2013. As most of you know, a new .NET Framework can most times cause issues with applications, if the update is not tested prior to company-wide implementation. I have the .NET Framework 4.5.1 installed on all my PCs (because they all run Windows 8.1) and have no problems whatsoever, however, I'm not running applications built around earlier versions of the .NET Framework. So, you'll definitely want to test to ensure that any business functionality will not break with this new release.
Here's some important details about this release:
- Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 already have the .NET Framework 4.5.1 installed. So, if you're running any of these OS versions, there's no need to worry. You're already using it.
- The release of .NET Framework 4.5.1 coming to WSUS is targeted toward Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2008 SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows Server 2012 (not R2).
- If you're running Windows 8 or Windows RT (non-8.1 versions), the only way to get the .NET Framework 4.5.1 is to upgrade the PC or device to 8.1.
Of course, if you are using WSUS or System Center Configuration Manager, you have the ability to block the automatic installation of the release. However, for those companies only using Automatic Updates, you might consider blocking the automatic installation. If you don't want to deploy the .NET Framework 4.5.1 right away, you'll need to work through the procedure to block the installation. Microsoft has provided a KB Article that includes the steps required to successfully block the installation. The steps require a registry edit.
The article is here: How to temporarily block the installation of the .NET Framework 4.5.1 and its corresponding language packs
If you want to manually download .NET Framework 4.5.1 for testing in your environment, the links are here:
