UPDATED  - January 7th 2009

This Blog Post is not completely Up to date since a Redistributable is now available which can enable you to have a "single" .NET 2.0 SP2 Package.

.NET Framework 2.0 SP2 is now available here :  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vs2008/bb898654.aspx

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With the advent of .NET Release pace, I often encounter customers lost with .NET Framework version issues and Services Pack Mix.

I always point them to this blog post (in French…) http://blogs.msdn.com/aurelien/archive/2008/09/23/le-multi-targeting-de-visual-studio-et-les-services-packs.aspx

 

The one question I especially this one :" Where can I Download Microsoft .NET 2.0 SP2 ?"

 

Currently (December 2008), the installation package of .NET 2.0 SP2 is not available as a "standalone" package.

.NET Framework 2.0 SP2, actually ships with .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. The only way to get the former is to get the latter.

So the Answer is (to date) : install .NET Framework 3.5 SP1.

 

This however raises a question for customer running .NET 2.0 applications in a "Closed" (meaning not connected to either Windows Update, or to the Internet).

These customer uses to be able to install their application without needing to have an Internet Connection. It is still possible, but there is some guidance to be aware of in the Process.

 

From .NET 3.5 to .NET 3.5 SP1

http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/0/e/20e90413-712f-438c-988e-fdaa79a8ac3d/dotnetfx35.exe

 

From Anywhere to .NET 3.5

  • Either use the Boostraper which will download missing requirements : dotnetfx35setup.exe here :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=333325FD-AE52-4E35-B531-508D977D32A6&displaylang=en

  • Or Use the Full Installation Package dotnetfx35.exe here :

http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/0/f/60fc5854-3cb8-4892-b6db-bd4f42510f28/dotnetfx35.exe

If you plan to use the Full Installation Package, be aware that there is a bunch of Pre-Requisite that .NET 2.0 customer may not even know about.

Such as :

  • Software Rasterizer for the Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Software Development Kit (SDK).
  • Or XML Paper Specification (XPS) Shared Components Pack 1.0

 

The good thing is that a very useful Deployment Guide is available and will definitely help in this task:

.NET Framework 3.5 Deployment Guide for Administrators

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc160717.aspx

 

That said, if you plan to deploy .NET 2.0 SP2 on you master, using Windows Update (or your internal WSUS) would ease the process.