Gateway 3000.314.5 - Microsoft.Mashup.Container.NetFX45.exe crashes on Virtual Machines (GPU-less)

[pfarias]

Issue Summary The On-premises Data Gateway version 3000.314.5 (released April 27, 2026) fails to install on Virtual Machines without GPU acceleration. The previous version 3000.310.1 installs correctly on the same environment with a workaround.

Environment

• OS: Windows Server 2019 Standard (Build 17763.8644)
• Machine type: Virtual Machine (no GPU acceleration)
• .NET Framework: 4.8 (Release 528049)
• WebView2 Runtime: 147.0.3912.86
• Visual C++ Redistributable: 14.44.35211
• Gateway version failing: 3000.314.5
• Gateway version working: 3000.306

Steps to Reproduce

1. Provision a Windows Server 2019 VM without GPU acceleration
2. Download and run the Gateway installer version 3000.314.5
3. Observe the installation failing at the service start step

Error Details

From Windows Event Log:

Application: Microsoft.Mashup.Container.NetFX45.exe
Framework Version: v4.0.30319
Description: The application requested process termination via System.Environment.FailFast
Message: Unexpected exception in background thread of Mashup container (error code -2146233088)
Exception: CLR20r3 — FatalError

From MSI log:

Product: GatewayComponents -- Error 1920.
Service 'On-premises data gateway service' (PBIEgwService) failed to start.
Return value 3.

Additional log evidence: Even with all workarounds applied simultaneously (--disable-gpu, --no-sandbox, --use-gl=swiftshader, WEBVIEW2_USER_DATA_FOLDER), the MSI log confirms the installer returns 1603 with Return value 3 at the INSTALL action, consistent across all attempts on this environment.

Workarounds Attempted — None resolved on 3000.314.5

Workaround Result

--disable-gpu --no-sandbox --disable-software-rasterizer	❌Crash persists
--use-gl=swiftshader added	❌Crash persists
WEBVIEW2_USER_DATA_FOLDER set with full permissions	❌Crash persists
Visual C++ updated to 14.44.35211	❌Crash persists
Windows Defender exclusions added	❌Crash persists
Performance counters rebuilt (lodctr /R)	❌Crash persists
Service account changed to Local System	❌New error: "service is marked as interactive"

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Working Workaround

Version 3000.306 installs successfully on the same VM with the following environment variables:

WEBVIEW2_ADDITIONAL_BROWSER_ARGUMENTS = --disable-gpu --no-sandbox --disable-software-rasterizer --use-gl=swiftshader
WEBVIEW2_USER_DATA_FOLDER = C:\GatewayWebView2Data

Expected Behavior The Gateway should install successfully on Virtual Machines without GPU acceleration, as it did in version 3000.306.

Actual Behavior Microsoft.Mashup.Container.NetFX45.exe crashes with a fatal error during service initialization, causing the installer to roll back. This appears to be a regression introduced in version 3000.314.5.

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Additional Context

• The crash occurs because Microsoft.Mashup.Container.NetFX45.exe requires an interactive desktop session that is not available in VM service context
• The --use-gl=swiftshader flag (SwiftShader CPU fallback) does not resolve the issue in this version
• Community thread with full investigation details: [Re: On-premises Data Gateway 3000.314.5 - Microsof... - Microsoft Fabric Community]