Resolution for new Teams add-in issues

There is a known issue with the MicrosoftTeamsMeetingAddinInstaller.msi that is baked into the new Teams client. Microsoft have full details of this issue here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/new-teams-vdi-requirements-deploy#teams-meeting-add-in.

 

Symptoms

You can confirm you’re experiencing this issue by checking the installation logs that are stored at:

%localappdata%\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams\Logs\tma_addin_msi.txt.

The error will read something like:

Info 1625. This installation is forbidden by system policy. Contact your system administrator.

 

Cause

As per the Microsoft article:

“This error is caused by GPOs affecting Windows Installer. This includes DisableUserInstalls, DisableMSI, or AppLocker policies based on Publisher rule conditions, or a RuleCollection for MSI installs.”

 

Resolution

There are two ways to resolve this issue. You can either exclude the installer path from the relevant GPOs as covered in the Microsoft article linked above, or you can script the installation as an account that will not be blocked. I’m going to cover the second solution in this post, as this won't involve making any potentially security-implicating changes to the environment.

Using Nerdio Manager for MSP (NMM), we can configure a scripted action that will install the add-in for us, however, you can manually install it by running the script locally using an account with administrator privileges or by running the .MSI from the GUI. In this post, I’ll demonstrate using NMM to automate this for us.

Create a new scripted action within NMM using the ‘SCRIPT EXECUTION MODE’ of ‘Combined’ and use the following script:

# Confirming that the account that is running this script is an administrator
If (-not ([Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal][Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole] 'Administrator') ){
    Write-Error "Need to run as administrator. Exiting.."
    exit 1
}

# Get Version of currently installed new Teams Package
if (-not ($NewTeamsPackageVersion = (Get-AppxPackage -Name MSTeams -AllUsers).Version)) {
    Write-Host "New Teams Package not found. Please install new Teams from https://aka.ms/GetTeams ."
    exit 1
}
Write-Host "Found new Teams Version: $NewTeamsPackageVersion"

# Get Teams Meeting Addin Version
$TMAPath = "{0}\WINDOWSAPPS\MSTEAMS_{1}_X64__8WEKYB3D8BBWE\MICROSOFTTEAMSMEETINGADDININSTALLER.MSI" -f $env:programfiles,$NewTeamsPackageVersion
if (-not ($TMAVersion = (Get-AppLockerFileInformation -Path $TMAPath | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Publisher).BinaryVersion))
{
    Write-Host "Teams Meeting Addin not found in $TMAPath."
    exit 1
}
Write-Host "Found Teams Meeting Addin Version: $TMAVersion"

# Install parameters
$TargetDir = "{0}\Microsoft\TeamsMeetingAddin\{1}\" -f ${env:ProgramFiles(x86)},$TMAVersion
$params = '/i "{0}" TARGETDIR="{1}" /qn ALLUSERS=1' -f $TMAPath, $TargetDir

# Start the install process
write-host "executing msiexec.exe $params"
Start-Process msiexec.exe -ArgumentList $params
write-host "Please confirm install result in Windows Eventlog"

The script isn’t too complex, and the comments generally cover what’s happening, but let’s quickly break down exactly what this script is doing:

The first block, running lines 3 – 7:

  • This is confirming that the account the script is running as has administrator rights. If running this as a scripted action, it will be running as system and will have administrator rights.

The second block, running lines 9 – 14:

  • This is verifying that new Teams is installed and saving the Teams version to the variable $NewTeamsPackageVersion.

The third block, running lines 16 – 23:

  • This is determining what path the .MSI should be stored at by injecting the value of the $NewTeamsPackageVersion into the standard path that the Teams app is saved at.
  • It also retrieves and saves the version of the Teams Meeting add-in .MSI to the variable $TMAVersion.

The fourth block, running lines 25 – 27:

  • This brings everything together and initialises the $TargetDir variable, which is where the add-in will be installed.
  • It also configures the relevant parameters for the .MSI installation.

The final block, running lines 29 – 32:

  • Begins the .MSI installation.

Quick note: if you’re using scripted actions to both install new Teams and to fix the add-in, make sure you run the install Teams action first. If new Teams isn’t installed on the device, the above script will fail.

 

Troubleshooting

Here are some further steps that can be taken if the issue persists through the above steps.

Verify that the meeting add-in is installed:

  • Check installed programs via either control panel or the settings app.
  • Confirm that ‘Microsoft Teams Meeting Add-in for Microsoft Office’ is installed.

Assuming the add-in is installed, force Teams to re-register with the add-in:

  • Restart the Teams desktop client.
  • Sign out and then sign in to the Teams desktop client.
  • Restart the Outlook desktop client.

Further troubleshooting advice available from Microsoft here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/troubleshoot/meetings/resolve-teams-meeting-add-in-issues.

2

Comments (5 comments)

Avatar
Peter Yasuda

Thank you for the detailed explanation of the script!

2
Avatar
Damian Lynch

Hi Thanks for posting this, I have tried it for a test user and it works but seems to be hit and miss and not loading for every user, after getting them to sign out and sign in to Teams. Anyone seen this issue

0
Avatar
Dave Stephenson

I know we've seen a number of partners have issues with inconsistent results with Teams showing-up for users.
Microsoft has a "Known Issues" list and some hot fixes that may help.
New Microsoft Teams for Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

Do you know if you've tried those KBs or a different version of Windows?

0
Avatar
Damian Lynch

Ok got to the bottom of it there is advisory from Microsoft tm889514, the latest version of Teams has introduced the bug.

deleting the registry keys in the link has fixed the issue for me. Run from commandline as user or deploy with GPO.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams/teams-2-0-on-vdi-teams-meeting-addin-tm889514/m-p/4247795

 Users can't access the Teams meeting add-in (TMA) using Microsoft Teams for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

ID: TM889514

Issue type: Advisory

Status

Investigating

Impacted services

Microsoft Teams

Details

Title: Users can't access the Teams meeting add-in (TMA) using Microsoft Teams for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

User impact: Users can't access the TMA using the Microsoft Teams for VDI desktop client.

More info: Some affected users have reported that when they attempt to access the TMA using the Microsoft Teams for VDI desktop client, the client crashes in addition to the VDI failing to open.

Current status: Our service monitoring has alerted us to an issue affecting the Microsoft Teams service in which users can't access the TMA using the Microsoft Teams for VDI desktop client. Our subsequent investigation has determined that a recent update to the code base responsible for facilitating access to the TMA using the Microsoft Teams for VDI desktop client, intended to resolve an unrelated issue, introduced an error that's leading to impact. We've developed and validated a fix to resolve this error, and we're initiating deployment to the impacted service environment. We anticipate that this deployment will be complete by our next scheduled update, at which time we'll monitor our service health telemetry to confirm that impact is remediated.

Scope of impact: Your organization is affected by this event, and any user accessing the TMA using the Microsoft Teams for VDI desktop client.

Start time: Friday, September 6, 2024, at 6:53 PM UTC

Estimated time to resolve: We anticipate that the deployment of our fix will be complete, remediating the issue by Monday, September 16, 2024, at 10:00 PM UTC.

Root cause: A recent update to the code base responsible for facilitating access to the TMA using the Microsoft Teams for VDI desktop client, intended to resolve an unrelated issue, introduced an error that's leading to impact.

Next update by: Monday, September 16, 2024, at 10:00 PM UTC 

 

2
Avatar
Dave Stephenson

Excellent find, Damian Lynch!

Hopefully this helps another partner going through the same problem too. 🙂🤞

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