I manage a few servers that do not have internet access for security reasons. So, I had documented some time ago how to use Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) in an offline mode. Recently, I ran into two problems during a security scan.
I had installed .NET 3.0 framework on an isolated server, so when I ran the MBSA security scan recently, it told me I needed .NET 3.0 SP1. No problem I thought. After moving the security scan files back to an internet-connected PC, I clicked on the download link for that file. Well, it directed me to a MSXML6 download instead. That's the 1st time that ever happened! So, I went to the download page for .NET 3.0 SP1. But, there's only a stub executable there. Very nice for minimizing the size of the download to only those components needed by the target machine. Very diasterous for an offline PC!! I needed the full redistributable package, but there was no link to it on that page. The only reference I found on the MS support site was for .NET Framework 3.5, whiich contains the 3.0 SP1. I didn't need that, so I kept looking.
Finally I ran into this article on MSDN blogs. SUCCESS! I downloaded the 3.0 SP1 x86 redistributable.
So, then I went to install it, and got a big disappointment. The installer failed and told me that I needed XPSEPSC installed 1st. So what the heck is that? I found this helpful post which described exactly the same problem. And therein is a link to XPSEPSC.
Installed the XPSEPSC package, followed by SP1 without any further incident.
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