Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Windows 10 / 11 Optional Features installation problem error 0x800f0954


OpenSSH Client and OpenSSH Client are Windows 10 optional features (OFs). Some OFs can’t be installed from powershell or the GUI (Apps & Features_Optional Features) because they are not included in the original image or accessible from WSUS or Windows Update.

Attempts to install via the GUI or powershell fail. The latter returning an error code 0x800f0954:






The GUI attempt helpfully responds:

Installation failed
Contact your administrator to get this feature

In order to install some optional features they must first be obtained from a separate media set known as Features On Demand (FOD). This is downloadable from Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC)

FODs do not appear to be Windows 10 version specific. Using the latest available seems to have backward compatibility. e.g. The 2004 FOD media has been used to apply the OpenSSH features to a Windows 10 20H2 verison. There is no 20H2 FOD media available on VLSC.

These can be mounted and the required CAB files copied out to the required location.

The recommended installation method is to copy the cabs to a folder on the target machine e.g. C:\temp\OpenSSHFODs then run the following elevated powershell command:

add-windowscapability -online -name OpenSSH.Client~~~~0.0.1.0 -source C:\temp\OpenSSHFODs -LimitAccess

Verify status of features

get-windowscapability -online | where name -like 'OpenSSH*'

Note that in this case with OpenSSH, related windows services may need to set from manual to automatic if required at system startup.

references:

Add-WindowsCapability (DISM)

Available features on demand

Use DISM in Windows PowerShell

Enable or Disable Windows Features Using DISM

Get started with OpenSSH for Windows