ServerManager fails with 0x80040154 in c# Winforms app creating simple web application in IIS

I am writing a small app that installs IIS and configures a website before deploying the files to it. On a freshly reset Windows 10, the first attempt always fails with the 0x80040154 COM+ component failure as documented in This question

I looked at the version I am using and it is the latest and correct one for .net standard (4.8) and not the one meant for .net core

When I press the button to rerun the function it always finishes correctly. I tried using a retry routine, and it fails on each retry, yet runs fine again when the button is pressed. The reason for this I assume is that the server manager object isn't disposed when it hits the catch block since its in a using statement.

I can work around that, but I really want to understand the issue and make a permanent fix.

My routine simply creates a website in IIS and creates an app pool to assign to it.

And it is running with elevated privileges

For reference: Machine is Windows 10 latest from the downloadable media creator. Microsoft.Web.Administrator version is 7.0.0.0 App is .net 4.8 standard windows forms

using (var serverManager = new ServerManager())
{
    string iisrootdir = drive;
    //Check for inetpub/wwwroot
    if (!Directory.Exists(iisrootdir)) //Check for Drive D
    {
        iisrootdir = @"C:\";
    }

    string iiscmsdir = Path.Combine(iisrootdir, "webdir", "appdir");

    if (!Directory.Exists(iiscmsdir))
        Directory.CreateDirectory(iiscmsdir);

    var settings = new ApplicationSettings();
    settings.ReadFromFile();
    settings.CMSPATH = iiscmsdir;
    settings.SaveToFile();

    try
    {
        string poolName = "DefaultAppPool";

        if (serverManager.Sites.Count > 0)
        {
            Site myDefualtWebsite = serverManager.Sites[0];
            if (myDefualtWebsite != null)
            {
                OnRaiseInstallEvent(new InstallEventArgs("CreateWebsite", ProcessState.Started,
                    "Remove Default Website"));
                serverManager.Sites.Remove(myDefualtWebsite);
                serverManager.CommitChanges();
            }
        }

        if (!WebsiteExists("sitename"))
        {
            mySite.ServerAutoStart = true;
        }

        Site site = serverManager.Sites["sitename"];
        
        if (!AppPoolExists(poolName))
        {
            serverManager.ApplicationPools.Add(poolName);
        }
        
        ApplicationPool apppool = serverManager.ApplicationPools[poolName];
        apppool.ManagedPipelineMode = ManagedPipelineMode.Integrated;

        apppool.ManagedRuntimeVersion = "";
        serverManager.Sites["sitename"].ApplicationDefaults.ApplicationPoolName = poolName;
        foreach (var item in serverManager.Sites["sitename"].Applications)
        {
            item.ApplicationPoolName = poolName;
        }

        serverManager.CommitChanges();
        apppool.Recycle();
        serverManager.CommitChanges();
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        if (ex.Message.Contains("80040154") && errorCount < 4)
        {
            if (serverManager != null)
                serverManager.Dispose();
            errorCount++;
            OnRaiseInstallEvent(new InstallEventArgs("CreateWebsite", ProcessState.Started,
                "Error encountered with COM+ object, trying again: " + errorCount));
            CreateWebsite(@"D:\");
        }
        else
        {
            if (serverManager != null)
                serverManager.Dispose();
            errorCount = 0;
            OnRaiseErrorEvent(new InstallErrorEventArgs("CreateWebsite", ProcessState.Error, ex));
            return false;
        }
    }
    finally
    {
        serverManager?.Dispose();
    }

Thanks for the help Guys. I found the problem.

DISM was running in its own thread. The Process object exited the moment it launched. My function was then attempting to configure IIS before it had finished installing.