Unable to Install NuGet on Windows Server 2016 Due to TLS Error

This morning, while attempting to set up a virtual machine in my lab environment, I encountered an error while attempting to install the MSOnline module–the NuGet and PowerShellGet components were not already installed.  Easy enough–the installation procedure prompts to install them anyway, so just hit yes, right?

False.

PS C:\Users\labadmin.uf> install-module msonline

NuGet provider is required to continue
PowerShellGet requires NuGet provider version '2.8.5.201' or newer to interact with NuGet-based repositories. The NuGet
provider must be available in 'C:\Program Files\PackageManagement\ProviderAssemblies' or
'C:\Users\labadmin.uf\AppData\Local\PackageManagement\ProviderAssemblies'. You can also install the NuGet provider by
running 'Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -MinimumVersion 2.8.5.201 -Force'. Do you want PowerShellGet to install
and import the NuGet provider now?
[Y] Yes [N] No [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"): y
WARNING: Unable to download from URI 'https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=627338&clcid=0x409' to ''.
WARNING: Unable to download the list of available providers. Check your internet connection.
PackageManagement\Install-PackageProvider : No match was found for the specified search criteria for the provider
'NuGet'. The package provider requires 'PackageManagement' and 'Provider' tags. Please check if the specified package
has the tags.
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PowerShellGet\1.0.0.1\PSModule.psm1:7405 char:21
+ ... $null = PackageManagement\Install-PackageProvider -Name $script:N ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (Microsoft.Power...PackageProvider:InstallPackageProvider) [Install-Pac
kageProvider], Exception
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : NoMatchFoundForProvider,Microsoft.PowerShell.PackageManagement.Cmdlets.InstallPackagePro
vider

PackageManagement\Import-PackageProvider : No match was found for the specified search criteria and provider name
'NuGet'. Try 'Get-PackageProvider -ListAvailable' to see if the provider exists on the system.
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PowerShellGet\1.0.0.1\PSModule.psm1:7411 char:21
+ ... $null = PackageManagement\Import-PackageProvider -Name $script:Nu ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidData: (NuGet:String) [Import-PackageProvider], Exception
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : NoMatchFoundForCriteria,Microsoft.PowerShell.PackageManagement.Cmdlets.ImportPackageProv
ider

WARNING: Unable to download from URI 'https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=627338&clcid=0x409' to ''.
WARNING: Unable to download the list of available providers. Check your internet connection.
PackageManagement\Get-PackageProvider : Unable to find package provider 'NuGet'. It may not be imported yet. Try
'Get-PackageProvider -ListAvailable'.
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PowerShellGet\1.0.0.1\PSModule.psm1:7415 char:30
+ ... tProvider = PackageManagement\Get-PackageProvider -Name $script:NuGet ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (Microsoft.Power...PackageProvider:GetPackageProvider) [Get-PackageProvi
der], Exception
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnknownProviderFromActivatedList,Microsoft.PowerShell.PackageManagement.Cmdlets.GetPacka
geProvider

install-module : NuGet provider is required to interact with NuGet-based repositories. Please ensure that '2.8.5.201'
or newer version of NuGet provider is installed.
At line:1 char:1
+ install-module msonline
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (:) [Install-Module], InvalidOperationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CouldNotInstallNuGetProvider,Install-Module

Sometimes, it’s better in full color:

Heading off to the Event Viewer, I discovered this series of errors (corresponding to the times I ran the Install-Module cmdled):

It appears that there’s a TLS handshake problem between my newly-minted Windows Server 2016 VM and the package repository.

To resolve this issue, I ran this inside my PowerShell session (it only configures the current session and doesn’t make any long-term or persistent changes):

[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

After that, I was able to successfully run the Install-Module cmdlet to get NuGet and PowerShellGet.