Description

Web Deploy is one of the prerequisites for installing Sitecore using Sitecore Installation Framework. By default, Sitecore relies on Web Deploy 3.6. Microsoft no longer supports Web Deploy 3.6 and there are no public links to download it. Use the following solution to bypass the problem by means of Web Deploy 4.0.

Note that Web Deploy 4.0 is compatible with DacFx (14.0.4079.2) but it might not be compatible with the latest version of DacFx. In this case, the following message can be shown when deploying databases via msdeploy:

[1] ERROR (msdeploy.exe : Error Code: ERROR_DACFX_NEEDED_FOR_SQL_PROVIDER; More Information: The SQL provider cannot run with dacpac option because of a missing dependency. Please make sure that DacFx is installed. Learn more at:
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=221672#ERROR_DACFX_NEEDED_FOR_SQL_PROVIDER.)

Solution

For on-premises deployments, use Web Deploy 4.0, available from the Microsoft Web Deploy page.

Download Web Deploy 4.0 from the bottom of the page, or use the direct download page for Web Deploy 4.0.

Also, you can update your Prerequisites.json file and install directly Web Deploy 4.0 for x64 or x86. For this purpose, update parameter WebDeployx64Download or WebDeployx86Download and specify DefaultValue accordingly:

• For x64:
  Update DefaultValue value with the link for downloading:

  "WebDeployx64Download": { 
              "Type": "String", 
              "Description": "Download location of Web Deploy 4.0 x64", 
              "DefaultValue": "https://download.microsoft.com/download/webdeploy_amd64_en-US.msi" 
          } 

• For x86:
  Update DefaultValue value with the link for downloading:

  "WebDeployx86Download": { 
              "Type": "String", 
              "Description": "Download location of Web Deploy 4.0 x86", 
              "DefaultValue": "https://download.microsoft.com/download/WebDeploy_x86_en-US.msi" 
          } 

Note: if your deployment fails due to not being able to download and install Web Deploy from the Prerequisites.json links, use the links from the top of this solution.