How to Deploy Microsoft Classic Teams Using SCCM

A guide to deploying Microsoft Classic Teams application to Windows devices using Configuration Manager.

Prajwal Desai
Posted by Prajwal Desai
Deploy Microsoft Classic Teams Using SCCM

This article details the steps to deploy Microsoft Classic Teams using SCCM. Configuration Manager makes it easy to perform Classic Teams deployment on Windows devices in your organization.

If you have Microsoft 365 deployed for your organization, Microsoft Teams should be available for you. The Classic Teams app is built on Microsoft 365 groups, Microsoft Graph, and the same enterprise-level security, compliance, and manageability as the rest of Microsoft 365.

Classic Teams can also be distributed to your organization as part of Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise. For more information, see Deploy Microsoft Teams with Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise.

After March 31, 2024, users who are still on classic Teams will be automatically upgraded to the new Teams experience. If you are going to install Microsoft Teams in your organization, then it has to be the new Teams app. Here is the guide to deploy new Microsoft Teams using SCCM.

Download Installers for Classic Teams

Microsoft provides 32-bit, 64-bit, and ARM64 MSI files that you can use to bulk deploy Microsoft Teams to select users and computers.

MSI files can be used with Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, Group Policy, or third-party distribution software for Classic Teams deployment in your organization.

Microsoft recommends that you deploy the Teams package to computers rather than a specific user. By targeting computers, all new users of those computers will benefit from this deployment.

If you want to download Microsoft Teams MSI installers, you can visit the bulk install teams using MSI installers page and get the installers.

How to Deploy Microsoft Classic Teams Using SCCM

We will now create a new application for Microsoft Classic Teams in SCCM and deploy it to Windows devices.

Launch the Configuration Manager console. Go to Software Library > Overview > Application Management. Right-click Applications and select Create Application. Select the option Manually specify the application information. Click Next.

Deploy Microsoft Classic Teams Using SCCM
Deploy Microsoft Classic Teams Using SCCM

On the General Information page, specify information about the Classic Teams application and click Next.

Deploy Microsoft Classic Teams Using SCCM
Deploy Microsoft Classic Teams Using SCCM

Add a new deployment type and select Manually specify the deployment type information. Click Next.

Deploy Microsoft Classic Teams Using SCCM
Deploy Microsoft Classic Teams Using SCCM

Specify the content location of the classic teams app and enter the following as install and uninstall commands.

Classic Teams Installation program - "Teams_windows.exe" -s
Classic Teams Uninstall Program - "%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Teams\Update.exe" --uninstall -s

After you specify the above commands, click Next to continue.

Deploy Microsoft Classic Teams Using SCCM
Deploy Microsoft Classic Teams Using SCCM

We will now look at the detection method for Classic Teams deployment. If you notice the uninstall command for Teams, it is supplied by Microsoft and is stored in the registry. So, we will use the same to detect the presence of Teams Classic applications.

Microsoft Teams Classic Detection Method
Microsoft Teams Classic Detection Method

Detection method for MS Classic Teams

To detect the presence of Microsoft classic Teams app, let’s add a new detection rule. In the detection rule choose the setting type as Registry. Specify the following as mentioned below.

  • Hive – HKEY_CURRENT_USER
  • Key – SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Teams
  • Value – DisplayVersion
  • Data Type – String

Select the option “This registry settings must satisfy the following rule to indicate the presence of this application“. Choose Operator to Equals and specify value as 1.0.00.6903.

Click OK and close the detection rule window. Click Next.

Detection method for Classic Teams
Detection method for Classic Teams

On the User Experience window, set the Installation behavior to Install for a user. Set the installation program visibility to Hidden. Click Next.

Deploy Microsoft Teams Using SCCM

Complete the remaining steps of the creation application wizard and on the completion page click Close.

Deploy Microsoft Teams Using SCCM

Distribute the Classic Teams app to distribution points. In the next step, right-click on the Microsoft Teams Classic application and use the option deploy. In the deployment software wizard, choose the device collection and assign the application. Complete the remaining steps in the wizard and complete the deployment.

Testing the Classic Teams Deployment

On the client computer, launch the software center. Click on the Applications tab and select the Microsoft Classic Teams application. On the application details page, click Install. The application is now downloaded from the local distribution point server for installation.

In the screenshot below, we see that Microsoft Teams (work or school) has been installed successfully on the computer.

Testing the Classic Teams Deployment
Testing the Classic Teams Deployment

Using the CMTrace tool open the AppEnforce.log file on the client computer to monitor the Microsoft Teams install and uninstall process.

Check out the complete list of SCCM Log Files useful for troubleshooting Configuration Manager issues.

In my lab, both the installation and uninstallation of Microsoft Classic Teams went smoothly. The installation and uninstallation were tested on the Windows 10 and 11 operating systems.

Testing the Classic Teams Deployment
Testing the Classic Teams Deployment
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Prajwal Desai
Posted by Prajwal Desai
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Prajwal Desai is a Microsoft MVP in Intune and SCCM. He writes articles on SCCM, Intune, Windows 365, Windows Server, Windows 11, WordPress and other topics, with the goal of providing people with useful information.
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