A few weeks ago, we released an update to Microsoft Teams Rooms, version 4.4.41, that left a small number of devices in a state where the application did not automatically relaunch, and required a set of manual recovery steps. While we always have quality and reliability of our devices and services at the very center of our work, in this case a combination of factors hindered our ability to detect, diagnose, and mitigate the issue quickly. We understand how disruptive this can be to your business, and sincerely apologize. We have worked with several customers who graciously provided device logs and information which allowed us to identify the root cause, thank you.
The issue: as the Teams Rooms application was being updated, the Windows Appx update process was running a part of our scripts before the app was fully upgraded, which resulted in a condition in which the app could not re-launch. Working closely with Windows, we’ve identified and addressed the cause, and we have added checks in our startup process to detect and manage this condition. While systems in this state will require a manual step to recover, we have created a script which can be run to recover a system, and put it back into a healthy state, and most importantly put in safeguards to prevent this issue from recurring. The script is available here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4565998/teams-rooms-application-does-not-start-after-update
Once identified, handling specific issues like this is a matter of identifying the root cause, and putting the right fix in place. What’s more challenging, but far more important is preventing this type of issue from happening again. We’ve made changes, in both Windows and in the Teams Room update scripts and application to prevent this type of issue from recurring, and the telemetry signals necessary to make sure devices are updating correctly. These changes are available in the 4.4.63 release which is now available to 100% of Store updating systems. We are also modifying our release process
to better protect all of our customers from issues like this going forward.
Thank you for your patience, and for working with us to resolve this issue.
Greg Baribault
Group Program Manager, Teams Shared Devices