How do I enable .NET 3.5 offline?

Skip to main content

This browser is no longer supported.

Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.

Deploy .NET Framework 3.5 by using Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM)

• Article
• 12/15/2021
• 2 minutes to read

In this article

You can use the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) command-line tool to create a modified image to deploy .NET Framework 3.5.

Important

For images that will support more than one language, you must add .NET Framework 3.5 binaries before adding any language packs. This order ensures that .NET Framework 3.5 language resources are installed correctly in the reference image and available to users and applications.

Using DISM with Internet connectivity

Requirements

• Internet connection
• Access to Windows Update. If the PC or server is behind a firewall or uses a proxy server, see KB900935 - How the Windows Update client determines which proxy server to use to connect to the Windows Update Web site.
• Installation media
• Administrator user rights. The current user must be a member of the local Administrators group to add or remove Windows features.

For an online reference image that can access Windows Update

1. Open a command prompt with administrator user rights (Run as Administrator) in Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012.

2. To Install .NET Framework 3.5 feature files from Windows Update, use the following command:

   DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:NetFx3 /All

   Use /All to enable all parent features of the specified feature. For more information on DISM arguments, see Enable or Disable Windows Features Using DISM.

3. Check to see if the feature was enabled:

   • On Windows desktop edition PCs, after installation .NET Framework 3.5 is displayed as enabled in Turn Windows features on or off in Control Panel.
   • For Windows systems, feature installation state can be viewed in Server Manager.

For an offline reference image

1. Run the following DISM command (image mounted to the c:\test\offline folder and the installation media in the D:\ drive) to install .NET 3.5:

   DISM /Image:C:\test\offline /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:NetFx3 /All /LimitAccess /Source:D:\sources\sxs

• Use /All to enable all parent features of the specified feature.
• Use /LimitAccess to prevent DISM from contacting Windows Update/WSUS.
• Use /Source to specify the location of the files that are needed to restore the feature.

1. Run the following command to look up the status of .NET Framework 3.5 (offline image mounted to c:\test\offline):

   DISM /Image:c:\test\offline /Get-Features /Format:Table

   A status of Enable Pending indicates that the image must be brought online to complete the installation.

Using DISM with no Internet connectivity

You can use DISM to add .NET Framework 3.5 and provide access to the \sources\SxS folder on the installation media to an installation of Windows that is not connected to the Internet.

Warning

If you're not relying on Windows Update as the source for installing the .NET Framework 3.5, make sure to use sources from the same corresponding Windows operating system version. Using a source path that doesn't correspond to the same version of Windows won't prevent a mismatched version of .NET Framework 3.5 from being installed. This can cause the system to be in an unsupported and unserviceable state.

Requirements

• Installation media
• Administrator user rights. The current user must be a member of the local Administrators group to add or remove Windows features.

Steps

1. Open a command prompt with administrator user rights (Run as Administrator).

2. To install .NET Framework 3.5 from installation media located on the D: drive, use the following command:

   DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:NetFx3 /All /LimitAccess /Source:d:\sources\sxs
   • Use /All to enable all parent features of the specified feature.
   • Use /LimitAccess to prevent DISM from contacting Windows Update/WSUS.
   • Use /Source to specify the location of the files that are needed to restore the feature.

   For more information on DISM arguments, see Enable or Disable Windows Features Using DISM.

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Deployment Considerations

Additional resources

Additional resources

In this article

How to install .NET Framework 3.5 without Internet connection?

How to install NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 10 offline mode using CMD?

How to install net3 5 on Windows 10 offline?

Why can't I install .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 10?