Update 28/02-22
Microsoft has released Microsoft Teams version 1.5.00.4689 – this seems to resolve the issue for several users experiencing this issue.
Discussion can be followed on techcommunity here.
Microsoft – Urgent fix needed!
Users are currently experiencing outage to expected functions inside Microsoft Teams. Vital functions inside the apps like the ability to do calls, video, meetings etc, are broken for a random group of users across a multitude of user groups.
Around where I am based the discussion started to show itself at the end of january. Troubleshoothing has been ongoing since then, with limited results to an acualt fix.
The temporary fix have been around rolling back to version 1.4 for users that have experienced the issues. But, as Teams gets updated automatically, this is very temporary.
There has also not been very clear as to why only some users have been affected.
During the last week or so, this has become more clear.
There now seems to be a solid connection between the users naming in regards to how they are named in Azure AD and how ths in turn affects the naming when it comes down to how Windows handles profiles when Azure is involved.
From the old days, user profiles ( the folder name in c:\users\%username%) got their name via the good’ol’ samaccountname attribute from AD.
But, when we get into Azure AD, and stuff like Intune and the good stuff. It seems Microsoft has done a rather wierd, and how I would see it, a mistake, and decided that the Display Name attibute in Azure AD is what should be used to decided the foldername for the users profile.
There are better attributes in Azure AD for this, that are so much more logical and better suited out of the box, like, identity, alias, userprincipalname etc.
This brings all kinds of monkey business into play.
For starters, non-english characters and IT systems, like scandinavian æ-ø-å – they always create havoc someway down the line – always – just give them time – they never dissapoint.
Then we have naming policies in companies.
Many like to use display name to show stuff, like “John Smith (Sales)” or similar.
The last one, is what seems to cause the Teams issues we are now seeing.
Not all users are seeing the issue, but a common denominator seems to be users with a long name, combined with such a naming convention.
This combination results in the name of the userprofile folder for the user gets shortened, and will not include an enclosing parenthesis, like so: “Johns Smith(“.
Teams, does not seem to like this. This is something we have also seen with other applications, autodesk, github desktop etc.
So, Microsoft – Please – a fix is needed – or a rollback. ASAP – users are suffering.
There is now gotten more noise about the subject around the web, this is good. More voices to be heard.
Some sources discussing it can be found here:
https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/15/microsoft_teams_outage/
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams/teams-version-1-5-00-2164-bug/m-p/3150143
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/730769/teams-version-15002164-bug.html
Workaround – until permanent fix
Since Teams gets autoupdated via the normal installer, there is not “normal” way to work around the issues.
You will then need to uninstall the newest release. and reinstall a older release. Then repeat every time it gets updated. This is pretty much daily procedure.
But, there is one way.
Teams is also available for install on VDI environments. For those familiar with this, this normally means we demand control over the updating procedures, this means no auto-updating stuff. In this case, this is good news.
So, this means we can use the VDI installer to work around this issue, for now.
But, the VDI installer cannot be installed in a non-vdi environment….they say.
Of course it can, you just do something first to tell it that your machine is a VDI machine 🙂
So, with that said, we script that, and that is golden.
But we also need to take care of that “other” installed version of teams on your machine, as they cannot co-exist.
The end result, to cut it short, is the following script that will:
- Stop running Teams
- Uninstall existing versions (machin installer and user installer)
- Clear the Teams Cache from user profiles
- Clear web browser caches – Teams caches stuff there as well… You will be warned before this step with a confirmation
- Set the needed registry key to be able to install the VDI installer to NON-VDI machines
- Download the MSI based VDI installer from Microsoft version 1.4.00.2781 for x64.
- Install it onto the machine
- Start Teams when installed
Auto updates is then disabled until permanent fix from Microsoft is available in the normal installer.
Resources – Workaround/Bugfix + Reversion fix
The script in its raw form, can be found on my GitHub page, HERE
Direct link for PowerShell Script HERE
Direct link for EXE version of script HERE – PS: Require admin – will ask for elevation.
Update:
When there is an official fix available, there will be a need to jump back to a “normal” installation of teams.
The GitHub page is now updated with a seperate script and EXE file for a “Reversion” package.
This package will remove the “Bugfix” installation, and install the latest release from Microsoft in a normal fashion.
Direct links as follows:
Direct link for “Reversion” PowerShell Script HERE
Direct link for “Reversion” EXE version of script HERE – PS: Require admin – will ask for elevation.
Hope this helps anyone facing the same issues, and hope it actually gets attention at Microsoft and gets resolved in the long run.
Consultant manager & SME @ iteam, localized in Kristiansund, Norway.
Focused on EUC, security, mobility, virtualization, management and a modern workplace. Highly specialized around RDS/Citrix/EUC/Mobility.
