How to install framework 3.5 in Windows Server 2016

Many applications require .Net Framework 3.5 installed to run on Windows Server 2016, despite having .NET Framework 4.6 installed by default. For example, you cannot install and run SQL Management Studio without .Net 3.5. Next, let's see how to install Net Framework 3.5 in Windows Server 2016.

How to install Net Framework 3.5 on Windows Server 2016.

When trying to install .Net 3.5 through the Server Manager console (Add Roles and Features -> Features -> Net Framework 3.5 Features, the installation ends with error 0x800f081f(The source files could not be found). This is because the Net Framework 3.5 binary files are not present in the Windows component repository.

To install, you will need the Windows Server 2016 distribution as an iso file or unzipped on a network balloon. Mount the iso image with the distribution to a separate virtual disk (for example, the D: drive). You can install the component from the GUI or using PowerShell.

Installing .Net Framework 3.5 using the Server Manager GUI console

The .Net Framework 3.5 component can be installed from the Server Manager graphical console. To do this, select the component as before, but before clicking the Install button, click the small link at the bottom of the wizard (Specify an alternative source path).

Next, specify the drive, it can be the path D:sourcessxs. It can also be a network folder where you previously copied the distribution (for example, server1distrws2016sourcessxs). Click OK.

Run the installation.

Installing .Net Framework 3.5 using PowerShell

It is even easier to install the Net Framework 3.5 Features component from the PowerShell console running with administrator privileges. To do this, just run the command:

Dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /All /Source:D:sourcessxs /LimitAccess

Where D: is the disk containing the Windows Server 2016 distribution.

You can also perform the installation using the command:

Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework-Core -Source d:sourcessxs

After the component installation is complete, you do not need to reboot the server.