I have seen a discussion about controlling Microsoft Teams’ automatic updates (Disable Microsoft Teams Automatic Update) from the internet when most of the workforce is working from home. The idea is not to update Microsoft Teams automatically when the user is connected from home. There could be two potential options to stop Microsoft Teams Automatic Update to new versions.
Introduction
As per Microsoft, Teams desktop client updates are released every two weeks. I think this update is not on the same channel as of Office 365 pro plus updates. MSTeams update usually takes place on a Tuesday.
I don’t think Microsoft provides any direct way to control Teams automatic update via Group policy or some other method. The desktop client updates itself automatically. Teams desktop application checks for updates every few hours, downloads it (if there is any), and then wait for the Windows 10 to be idle before silently installing the update.
I have a couple of posts to help IT Pros to install Microsoft Teams using Configuration Manager (a.k.a SCCM). More details about the MSTeams installation are explained in the following post. If you are looking for step by step MSTeams installation guide using SCCM|ConfigMgr, then refer to the following guide.
- Using Office Tools – How to Deploy MS Teams Using ConfigMgr Step by Step Guide
- Using Teams MSI – Best Option to Deploy MS Teams MSI Using SCCM | ConfigMgr
In this post, you could help you to find out some potential solutions to block Microsoft Teams automatic update. I don’t think this method is optimal or recommended by Microsoft for the Teams installation on Windows 10 devices.
Create MS Teams Application with Disable Automatic Update for VDI & WVD
As I mentioned in the above section, you need to go through the step by step guide of MSI installation and deployment of Microsoft Teams using SCCM. The following method only works for Windows Virtual Devices(WVD) and VDI environments.
⏬⏬You can download Microsoft Teams from Microsoft:🔰🔰🔰
Application name: Teams Machine-Wide Installer
Publisher:Microsoft
Software version:
Deployment type name: Teams Machine-Wide Installer - Windows Installer (*.msi file)
Product Code: {731F6BAA-A986-45A4-8936-7C3AAAAA760B}
Installation behavior: Install for Machine
Content location: \cmmemcm\Sources\Package Sources\MSTeams for VDI\
Number of files: 1
Content files:Teams_windows_x64.msi- Make sure that you use the following command line to Diable Microsoft Teams Automatic Update
msiexec /i "Teams_windows_x64.msi" /l*v TeamsInstall.log ALLUSER=1 ALLUSERS=1
- The ALLUSER=1 parameter is used only to specify a per-machine installation.
- The ALLUSERS=1 parameter is used only if you want to have options – “all users can uninstall Teams if they have admin credentials.”
- Install Behaviour – Make sure you selected -> Install for System
The following metadata of Microsoft Teams application is the one that you should use for blocking the Microsoft Teams auto-updates behavior. As you can see in the below section, this is applicable only for VDI environments.
General Information:
• Application name: Teams Machine-Wide Installer
• Administrator comments:
• Publisher: Microsoft
• Software version:
• Optional reference:
Categories:
Deployment type name: Teams Machine-Wide Installer - Windows Installer (*.msi file)
Requirement rules:
Content:
• Content location: \cmmemcm\Sources\Package Sources\MSTeams for VDI\
• Installation program: msiexec /i "Teams_windows_x64.msi" /l*v TeamsInstall.log ALLUSER=1 ALLUSERS=1
Detection Method:
• Product code: {731F6BAA-A986-45A4-8936-7C3AAAAA760B}
User Experience:
• Installation behavior: Install for systemThe secret to Disable Microsoft Teams Automatic Update?
So what is the secret here to Block Microsoft Teams Automatic Updates while installing an application using ConfigMgr?
As per Microsoft documentation, PER-Machine based installation helps to DISABLE automatic updates for Microsoft Teams.
Verification
The installation Microsoft Teams failed with an error “Installation has Failed – Cannot install for all users when a VDI environment is not detected.” The following are some of the snippets of Microsoft Teams installation log file.
As you can see in the above error, this is applicable only for VDI environments. I feel this is because of custom action checked included in the Teams MSI installation file. So what is the option to Disable Microsoft Teams automatic update? Let’s check the last section to get details.
CustomAction RunInstalledExecutable returned actual error code -2147467259 (note this may not be 100% accurate if translation happened inside sandbox) MSI (s) (EC:58) [22:28:49:375]: Note: 1: 1722 2: RunInstalledExecutable 3: C:\Program Files (x86)\Teams Installer\Teams.exe 4: --allUsers MSI (s) (EC:58) [22:28:49:375]: Note: 1: 2205 2: 3: Error MSI (c) (40:2C) [22:28:49:391]: Font created. Charset: Req=0, Ret=0, Font: Req=MS Shell Dlg, Ret=MS Shell Dlg Error 1722. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor. Action RunInstalledExecutable, location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Teams Installer\Teams.exe, command: --allUsers
Solution
I think Microsoft Teams update might be part of Office 365 pro plus update channel in near future. The only workaround which I came to know while writing this post is given below.
1. It seems you can disable the Microsoft Teams Automatic Update by blocking the traffic to update URLs via corporate proxy solutions.
2. Many other Options (changing settings.json & permissions to DownloadedUpdate folder) are available in the Tech Community forum – https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams/how-to-disable-check-for-updates-in-microsoft-teams/m-p/54644 (Test, Test, and Test before you implement these in production).
The following mst file will install the Teams application in a “per machine mode”, without automatic updates:
https://www.masterpackager.com/blog/mst-to-install-microsoft-teams-msi-vdi-to-regular-windows-10