Hello,
I am using this command:
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName “Windows-Defender-Features” -all
But the results is only for the main item "Windows Defender Features" which is enabled not the dependency "Windows Defender" ...
Thanks,
Dom
Reference:
-NoRestart
Suppresses reboot. If a reboot is not required, this command does nothing. This option will keep the application from prompting for a restart or keep it from restarting automatically.
-All
Enables all parent features of the specified feature. If a parent feature is required for the specified feature to be enabled in the image, All will enable the parent and all of its default dependencies.
To supress the reboot prompt add the -norestart switch.
As to why the GUI gets installed... I do not have a VM with the same OS as your server, so I can't test for you.
Based on your replies you apparently have a parent feature; Windows-Defender-Features, and a sub feature; Windows-Defender.
If you installed Windows-Defender, and it didn't work, then that would indicate to me that it's parent feature might also be required. But since you don't want the GUI, then you don't want to use the -All switch because the GUI might be tagged as a default.
If you are testing on the same machine, make sure that all defender features are uninstalled and you reboot before trying again.
Try this:
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender-Features" -NoRestart
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender" -NoRestart
add shutdown to reboot if desired/required
Update: What is the issue with installing the GUI feature? If I have a server that I suspect is compromised, then I would RDP to it, verify that the definitions are up to date, and then initiate a full system scan, most likely using the GUI interface. I don't know what specific functionality that feature enables, but it seems to me that at worst, it shouldn't hurt anything, and at best, I would need it to manage Defender.
The -All switch is for parent features and dependencies.
The easiest solution appears to be using Get-WindowsOptionalFeature and filtering on FeatureName to identify every feature that you wish to install and then piping that to Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature.
To test, I used this command to list the printing features. This is on Win10.
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "printing-foundation*" | Sort-Object | Format-Table
Then installed with this command.
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "printing-foundation*" | Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online
Hello,
I tried
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender-Features*,Windows-Defender*" | Sort-Object | Format-Table
This does not show anything!!!
This is the one which works....
PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Sort-Object | Format-Table
FeatureName State DisplayName Description RestartRequired CustomProperties
Windows-Defender Disabled Windows Defender Windows Defender helps protect your machine from malware. Possible {Description, DisplayName, Id, InstallWi...
Windows-Defender-Features Enabled Windows Defender Features Windows Defender helps protect your machine from malware. Possible {Description, DisplayName, Id, Type...}
Windows-Defender-Gui Disabled GUI for Windows Defender GUI for Windows Defender. Possible {Description, DisplayName, Id, Parent...}
This one is showing 3 items but I just need 2 so continuing with the enabling.... but I don't want the GUI enabled !!!
Thanks,
Dom
don't want the GUI enabled
You can exclude that with a where-object.
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Where-Object -Property FeatureName -NotLike '*GUI*' | Format-Table
To install:
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Where-Object -Property FeatureName -NotLike '*GUI*' | Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online
Hello,
PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Where-Object -Property FeatureName -NotLike 'GUI' | Format-Table
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Where-Object -Property FeatureName -NotLike 'GUI' | Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Where-Object -Property FeatureName -NotLike 'GUI' | Format-Table
FeatureName State DisplayName Description RestartRequired CustomProperties
Windows-Defender-Features Enabled Windows Defender Features Windows Defender helps protect your machine from malware. Possible {Description, DisplayName, Id, Type...}
Windows-Defender Disabled Windows Defender Windows Defender helps protect your machine from malware. Possible {Description, DisplayName, Id, InstallWi...
Path :
Online : True
RestartNeeded : False
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature : The referenced assembly could not be found.
At line:2 char:126
+ ... FeatureName -NotLike 'GUI' | Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature], COMException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.Dism.Commands.EnableWindowsOptionalFeatureCommand
FeatureName State DisplayName Description RestartRequired CustomProperties
Windows-Defender-Features Enabled Windows Defender Features Windows Defender helps protect your machine from malware. Possible {Description, DisplayName, Id, Type...}
Windows-Defender Disabled Windows Defender Windows Defender helps protect your machine from malware. Possible {Description, DisplayName, Id, InstallWi...
But on the second it works ... but not as expected
it needs a reboot so how to do it automatically?
![201995-2022-05-14-14-21-10-vipsccmdp02-install-windows-de.png][1]
and also the exclusion of the GUI does not work...
![202011-2022-05-14-14-26-27-vipsccmdp02-install-windows-de.png][2]
Checking again...
Thanks,
Dom
[1]: /answers/storage/attachments/201995-2022-05-14-14-21-10-vipsccmdp02-install-windows-de.png
[2]: /answers/storage/attachments/202011-2022-05-14-14-26-27-vipsccmdp02-install-windows-de.png
Hello,
Apparently the exclusion works on the
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Where-Object -Property FeatureName -NotLike 'GUI' | Format-Table
but not on the
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Where-Object -Property FeatureName -NotLike 'GUI' | Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online
PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Format-Table
FeatureName State DisplayName Description RestartRequired CustomProperties
Windows-Defender-Gui Enabled GUI for Windows Defender GUI for Windows Defender. Possible {Description, DisplayName, Id, P...
Windows-Defender-Features Enabled Windows Defender Features Windows Defender helps protect your machine from malware. Possible {Description, DisplayName, Id, T...
Windows-Defender Enabled Windows Defender Windows Defender helps protect your machine from malware. Possible {Description, DisplayName, Id, I...
Any idea?
Thanks,
Dom
If you can't exclude the GUI, then that tells me that it's a dependent (required) component. What OS are you running this on? I have a Win11 laptop and a Win10 VM that I test with and neither have a GUI component. They typically match server versions.
PS C:\> Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Format-Table
FeatureName State DisplayName Description
----------- ----- ----------- -----------
Windows-Defender-Default-Definitions Disabled
Windows-Defender-ApplicationGuard Disabled Microsoft Defender Application Guard Offers a secure container for int...
As to the referenced assembly problem, I have no idea what state your machine is in. Are you running this install as part of a build script? Has all of the available Windows Update features been installed?
To reboot, just run
shutdown.exe /r /c "Installing defender"
Hello,
"If you can't exclude the GUI, then that tells me that it's a dependent (required) component. What OS are you running this on? I have a Win11 laptop and a Win10 VM that I test with and neither have a GUI component. They typically match server versions."
I have Windows Server 2016... And if I install manually the "Windows Defender Features" I could select the "Windows Defender" without installing the "GUI for Windows Defender"
Also the exclusion works on the display but not on the enabling!!!... strange...
Let me try on a brand new server not touched by the previous testing....
All servers (20) were installed in July 2017 and patched Tuesday last week and are Windows Server 2016 only the first one was giving me the error, they all are at the same state.
Thanks,
Dom
Then don't use Get-WindowsOptionalFeature, just use Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature and spell out the feature(s) that you want installed. It should just be 2 lines of PS code instead of one.
Hello,
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Where-Object -Property FeatureName -NotLike 'GUI' | Format-Table
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender"
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Where-Object -Property FeatureName -NotLike 'GUI' | Format-Table
shutdown.exe /r /c "Installing defender - installation Windows Defender"
Thanks ,
Dom
Hello,
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Where-Object -Property FeatureName -NotLike 'GUI' | Format-Table
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender"
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender*" | Where-Object -Property FeatureName -NotLike 'GUI' | Format-Table
But there are two stops...
Waiting for reboot on line 2!!!
Then the line 4 reboot but there is a stop at line 2... "Do you want to reboot" ? How to bypass these questions not needed during a Configuration Manager Push!!
and also the two features "Windows-Defender" & "GUI For Windows Defender" got enabled even the GUI!!!
Thanks,
Dom
Hello,
I tried manually
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender"
I did not enabled anything...
Thanks,
Dom
Hello,
Yes "Windows-Defender-Features" & "Windows-Defender" are dependent...
I tried:
then:
Results:
Thanks you for your help as the -NoRestart works so that a progress...
The GUI I will live with it in for now and might ask Microsoft if they have idea why this is not working per Powershell as I think you proposed all options so not sure what's next...
I will try another test on another machine maybe 2012 or 2019 to see how it reacts ...
I tried the command line alone:
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "Windows-Defender" -NoRestart
and both the "Windows-Defender" and "Windows-Defender-GUI" got enabled but not the parent "Windows-Defender-Features"
Thanks,
Dom
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