Windows Server Appfabric: download error in SharePoint

If you’ve ever tried installing SharePoint on Windows Server and run into the “Windows Server AppFabric: download error” message, you’re not alone. This is one of the most common roadblocks people hit during SharePoint prerequisite installation, and the good news is — it’s totally fixable. I’ve been through this myself, and in this tutorial, I’ll walk you through exactly how to get past the error: “Window Server App Fabric: download error“.

The error looks like in the screenshot below:

What Is This Windows Server Appfabric Error About?

When you run prerequisitesinstaller.exe during a SharePoint installation (typically SharePoint 2013, 2016, or 2019), the tool tries to download and install a bunch of dependencies automatically. One of those dependencies is Windows Server AppFabric 1.1 — a caching and hosting framework that SharePoint relies on.

The problem? That automatic download often fails. Either your server doesn’t have internet access, the download link times out, or the installer just can’t detect AppFabric even when it’s already installed. The result is an error that looks something like this:

“Windows Server AppFabric: download error”
or
“The tool was unable to install Windows Server AppFabric”
or
“Windows Server AppFabric is not correctly configured”

All three essentially point to the same root cause — the prerequisite installer can’t handle AppFabric the way it needs to. So we take matters into our own hands and install it manually.

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Why Does This Happen?

Let me first help you to understand why this error shows up:

• No internet connection — The server can’t download AppFabric from Microsoft’s servers.
• Firewall or proxy blocking downloads — Common in enterprise environments.
• AppFabric already installed manually — If you double-clicked the setup file yourself, SharePoint’s prerequisite installer won’t recognize it as “correctly configured.”
• Wrong version installed — AppFabric 1.0 is not the same as 1.1. SharePoint needs 1.1.
• Missing Cumulative Update — AppFabric 1.1 alone isn’t enough. You also need the KB2671763 cumulative update installed after it.

Now let’s fix it.

To overcome this, we have to follow some steps.

Method 1: Manually Install AppFabric Offline (Recommended)

This is the most reliable method I’ve used. Instead of letting the prerequisite installer try to download AppFabric, you install it yourself — the right way — and then re-run the prerequisites. This method works for me.

Follow the below steps:

Step 1: Download AppFabric 1.1

First, download APPFABRIC 1.1 from this MSDN link. or if this link did not work, check out here.

The file required is:

WindowsServerAppFabricSetup_x64.exe

Step 2: Run the Installer with the Right Parameters

Here’s the key part that most people miss. Do not just double-click the setup file. Instead, open Command Prompt as Administrator and run the following command:

WindowsServerAppFabricSetup_x64.exe /i CacheClient,CachingService,CacheAdmin /gac

This installs the specific AppFabric features that SharePoint actually needs — CacheClient, CachingService, and CacheAdmin — and registers them in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC).

Step 3: Walk Through the Installation Wizard

If the command opens the graphical installer, proceed like this:

• On the License Terms page: Accept the agreement and click Next

• On the Customer Experience page: Leave the default selection (opt-out) and click Next
• On the Microsoft Update page: Leave default and click Next
• On the Features page: Make sure Runtime and Administration Tools are both checked

• On the Confirmation page: Click Install

• Wait for the installation to complete. Here in progress, we have to wait for some time till installing App fabric 1.1 for the window server is installed.

Step 4: Install the Cumulative Update (KB2671763)

This step is mandatory and is the one most people skip. After AppFabric installs, you need to install the cumulative update. The file is:

AppFabric-KB2671763-x64-ENU.exe

Download it from Microsoft (search “KB2671763 AppFabric”) and run it on your server. Once it installs, restart the server.

Step 5: Run the Configuration Wizard

After the restart, the AppFabric Server Configuration Wizard may launch automatically like in the screenshot below:

If it does:

• Click Next on the first screen
• On the Configure Hosting Services page, leave everything as default and click Next

• On the Configure Application page, check the “Start Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager” checkbox
• Click Finish

Once it is finished, we can start the prerequisitesinstaller.exe again.

Step 6: Re-run the SharePoint Prerequisite Installer

Now go back and run prerequisitesinstaller.exe again. This time, it should detect that AppFabric is already installed and skip right past it without any errors.

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Method 2: Pass AppFabric Directly to the Prerequisite Installer

If you’re doing a completely offline installation and want to point the prerequisite installer directly to your downloaded AppFabric file, you can do that with a command-line parameter. Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:

prerequisiteinstaller.exe /AppFabric:"C:\AppFabricInstall\WindowsServerAppFabricSetup_x64.exe"

Replace C:\AppFabricInstall\ with the actual folder path where you saved the file.

This tells the installer exactly where to find AppFabric instead of trying to download it. It’s a handy approach when you’re setting up SharePoint in a closed network environment where servers have no outbound internet access.

Method 3: Uninstall and Reinstall (When AppFabric Is Already Installed Incorrectly)

Sometimes, the error happens because AppFabric was already installed — but done manually by double-clicking the setup file, without the proper parameters. In that case, SharePoint still throws the “not correctly configured” error.

Here’s what to do:

1. Go to Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a Program
2. Find Windows Server AppFabric and uninstall it completely
3. Restart the server
4. Follow Method 1 above from scratch — this time using the command-line install

Don’t skip the restart. Without it, leftover registry entries can confuse the installer and you’ll end up in a loop.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

Here are a few things I’ve seen the mistakes most SharePoint administrators do.

• Installing AppFabric 1.0 instead of 1.1 — They look similar, but SharePoint specifically requires version 1.1.
• Skipping the KB2671763 update — AppFabric without this patch won’t satisfy SharePoint’s configuration check.
• Not running Command Prompt as Administrator — The installation will silently fail or throw access errors.
• Running the AppFabric installer manually without the /i CacheClient,CachingService,CacheAdmin /gac flags — SharePoint checks for specific features and they won’t be registered properly without these flags.
• Not restarting after uninstalling — This one trips up a lot of people. Always restart between an uninstall and reinstall.

Does This Apply to SharePoint 2019 or Higher Versions Too?

Yes. The same AppFabric dependency exists for SharePoint 2013, 2016, and 2019. The error message and the fix are essentially the same across all three versions. If you’re setting up SharePoint 2019 on Windows Server 2019 or even Windows Server 2022, the same steps apply. The only difference is that on newer OS versions, you may need to ensure that the Web Server (IIS) role and Application Server role are enabled via Server Manager before running the AppFabric installer.

To do that quickly:

• Open Server Manager
• Click Add Roles and Features
• Enable Web Server (IIS) and Application Server roles
• Then proceed with the AppFabric installation steps above

Wrapping Up

The “Windows Server AppFabric: download error” in SharePoint is one of those common errors that you might get during SharePoint on-premises installations. Once you understand that the prerequisite installer just can’t handle AppFabric gracefully on its own — especially in offline environments — the fix becomes straightforward. Install it manually with the right command-line flags, add the cumulative update, restart, and re-run the prerequisites. Nine times out of ten, that clears it up completely.

If you’re still hitting the error after following all three methods, double-check the server logs in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\ for the prerequisite installer log file. It often tells you exactly which step is failing.

Do let me know in the comments below which method works for you.

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