📥 .NET Remote Installer & Server Patching

PowerShell automation for remote .NET Framework deployment and Windows Server patching — no external modules required.

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💡 What It Does

This repository contains two PowerShell scripts for enterprise server management. Both are designed to run from a central management server against multiple remote targets — no agents, no external modules, no internet required.

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📋 Table of Contents

• Script 1: .NET Framework 4.8 Installer
• Script 2: Windows Server Patching
• Prerequisites
• Tech Stack
• Changelog
• License

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⚡ Script 1: .NET Framework 4.8 Installer

install-dotnet48.ps1 — Automates .NET Framework 4.8 installation on remote Windows Servers using an existing offline installer.

Features

• ✈️ Pre-flight Check — Skips installation if .NET Framework 4.8 (Release Key ≥ 528040) is already present.

• 🔐 Admin Validation — Verifies the PowerShell session runs with administrator privileges.

• 🤫 Quiet Mode — Runs the installer with /q /norestart flags.

• ✅ Post-install Verification — Validates the installed .NET version after completion.

• 📊 Smart Exit Codes — Treats both 0 (success) and 3010 (reboot required) as successful, logs the reboot requirement but does not auto-restart.

Usage

# Basic usage — point to your offline installer on a network share
.\install-dotnet48.ps1 -InstallerPath "\\fileserver\share\ndp48-x86-x64-allos-enu.exe"

# Custom log path
.\install-dotnet48.ps1 -InstallerPath "\\fileserver\share\ndp48-x86-x64-allos-enu.exe" `
                       -LogPath "D:\Logs\dotnet48.log"

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Default	Description
-InstallerPath	✅	—	Path to the .NET 4.8 offline installer EXE (e.g. UNC path)
-LogPath	❌	%TEMP%\dotnet48-install.log	Custom log file location

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⚡ Script 2: Windows Server Patching

Patch-WindowsServers.ps1 — Remotely patches multiple Windows Servers from a central system using the built-in Windows Update Agent API.

Features

• 🔌 No External Modules — Uses the Windows Update Agent COM API via a temporary scheduled task running as SYSTEM. No PSWindowsUpdate, no third-party dependencies.

• 🖥️ Multi-server Support — Patches a list of servers in sequence from one management machine.

• 📋 Before/After Comparison — Reports OS version and build number before and after patching.

• 🔄 Smart Reboot Handling — Reboots servers when required and waits for them to come back online.

• 📺 Live Terminal Output — Real-time progress reporting during execution.

• 📄 CSV Export — Generates a report file in the current directory after completion.

Usage

# Define target servers
$servers = "APP01", "DB01", "WEB03"

# Run with admin privileges
.\Patch-WindowsServers.ps1 -Servers $servers

How It Works

1. Connects to each server via PowerShell Remoting (WinRM)
2. Creates a temporary scheduled task under C:\ProgramData\Remote-Patching
3. The task runs as SYSTEM and calls the Windows Update Agent API to search and install updates
4. Equivalent to clicking "Check for updates" → "Install now" in Windows Settings
5. Reports results and cleans up the temporary task

Supported Targets

• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022

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📋 Prerequisites

• PowerShell 5.1 or newer on the management server
• PowerShell Remoting (WinRM) enabled on all target servers
• Domain or local admin credentials for the target servers
• No internet access required — updates can be pre-staged via WSUS or manual deployment
• Task Scheduler must be available on target servers

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🛠️ Tech Stack

.net-Remote-Installer/
├── install-dotnet48.ps1         # .NET Framework 4.8 installer
├── Patch-WindowsServers.ps1     # Remote patching automation
└── README.md

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📝 Changelog

v1.0 (current)

• 🚀 Initial release
• ✨ .NET Framework 4.8 remote installer with pre-flight checks
• ✨ Windows Server patching via Windows Update Agent API
• ✨ CSV report export

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📄 License

Unlicensed — provided as-is for enterprise use.

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Made with 🖤 by cheswick.dev