diff --git a/templates/Cosmos-Emulator.ps1 b/templates/Cosmos-Emulator.ps1
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e510335e6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/Cosmos-Emulator.ps1
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+<#
+.SYNOPSIS
+Script for installing and launching cosmos emulator
+
+.DESCRIPTION
+This script downloads, installs and launches cosmosdb-emulator.
+
+.PARAMETER EmulatorMsiUrl
+Uri for downloading the cosmosdb-emulator
+
+.PARAMETER StartParameters
+Parameter with which to launch the cosmosdb-emulator\
+
+.PARAMETER Emulator
+Exact path to Microsoft.Azure.Cosmos.Emulator.exe
+
+.PARAMETER Stage
+Determines what part of the script to run. Has to be either Install or Launch
+#>
+[CmdletBinding()]
+Param (
+  [string] $EmulatorMsiUrl = "https://aka.ms/cosmosdb-emulator",
+  [string] $StartParameters,
+  [string] $Emulator,
+  [Parameter(Mandatory=$True)]
+  [ValidateSet('Install', 'Launch')]
+  [string] $Stage
+)
+
+$targetDir = Join-Path $Env:Temp AzureCosmosEmulator
+$logFile = Join-Path $Env:Temp log.txt
+$productName = "Azure Cosmos DB Emulator"
+
+if ([string]::IsNullOrEmpty($Emulator))
+{
+  $Emulator = (Join-Path $targetDir (Join-Path $productName "Microsoft.Azure.Cosmos.Emulator.exe"))
+}
+
+if ($Stage -eq "Install")
+{
+  $downloadTryCount = 0
+  New-Item $targetDir -Type Directory
+  New-Item $logFile -Type File
+  do
+  {
+    # Download and Extract Public Cosmos DB Emulator
+    Write-Host "Downloading and extracting Cosmos DB Emulator - $EmulatorMsiUrl"
+    Write-Host "Target Directory $targetDir"
+    Write-Host "Log File $logFile"
+
+    $downloadTryCount++
+    Write-Host "Download Try Count: $downloadTryCount"
+    Remove-Item -Path (Join-Path $targetDir '*') -Recurse
+    Clear-Content -Path $logFile
+
+    Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $targetDir
+
+    $installProcess  = Start-Process msiexec -Wait -PassThru -ArgumentList "/a $EmulatorMsiUrl TARGETDIR=$targetDir /qn /liew $logFile"
+    Get-Content $logFile
+    Write-Host "Exit Code: $($installProcess.ExitCode)"
+  }
+  while(($installProcess.ExitCode -ne 0) -and ($downloadTryCount -lt 3))
+
+  if(Test-Path (Join-Path $Env:LOCALAPPDATA CosmosDbEmulator))
+  {
+    Write-Host "Deleting Cosmos DB Emulator data"
+    Remove-Item -Recurse -Force $Env:LOCALAPPDATA\CosmosDbEmulator
+  }
+
+  Write-Host "Getting Cosmos DB Emulator Version"
+  $fileVersion = Get-ChildItem $Emulator
+  Write-Host $Emulator $fileVersion.VersionInfo
+}
+
+if ($Stage -eq "Launch")
+{
+  Write-Host "Launching Cosmos DB Emulator"
+  if (!(Test-Path $Emulator)) {
+    Write-Error "The emulator is not installed where expected at '$Emulator'"
+    return
+  }
+
+  $process = Start-Process $Emulator -ArgumentList "/getstatus" -PassThru -Wait
+  switch ($process.ExitCode) {
+    1 {
+      Write-Host "The emulator is already starting"
+      return
+    }
+    2 {
+      Write-Host "The emulator is already running"
+      return
+    }
+    3 {
+      Write-Host "The emulator is stopped"
+    }
+    default {
+      Write-Host "Unrecognized exit code $($process.ExitCode)"
+      return
+    }
+  }
+
+  $argumentList = ""
+  if (-not [string]::IsNullOrEmpty($StartParameters)) {
+      $argumentList += , $StartParameters
+  } else {
+    # Use the default params if none provided
+    $argumentList = "/noexplorer /noui /enablepreview /EnableSqlComputeEndpoint /disableratelimiting /partitioncount=10 /consistency=Strong"
+  }
+
+  Write-Host "Starting emulator process: $Emulator $argumentList"
+  $process = Start-Process $Emulator -ArgumentList $argumentList -ErrorAction Stop -PassThru
+  Write-Host "Emulator process started: $($process.Name), $($process.FileVersion)"
+
+  $Timeout = 600
+  $result="NotYetStarted"
+  $complete = if ($Timeout -gt 0) {
+    $start = [DateTimeOffset]::Now
+    $stop = $start.AddSeconds($Timeout)
+    {
+      $result -eq "Running" -or [DateTimeOffset]::Now -ge $stop
+    }
+  }
+  else {
+    {
+      $result -eq "Running"
+    }
+  }
+
+  do {
+    $process = Start-Process $Emulator -ArgumentList "/getstatus" -PassThru -Wait
+    switch ($process.ExitCode) {
+      1 {
+        Write-Host "The emulator is starting"
+      }
+      2 {
+        Write-Host "The emulator is running"
+        $result="Running"
+        return
+      }
+      3 {
+        Write-Host "The emulator is stopped"
+      }
+      default {
+        Write-Host "Unrecognized exit code $($process.ExitCode)"
+      }
+    }
+    Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
+  }
+  until ($complete.Invoke())
+  Write-Error "The emulator failed to reach Running status within ${Timeout} seconds"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/templates/emulator-setup.yml b/templates/emulator-setup.yml
index 990ad068b6..7c3db39180 100644
--- a/templates/emulator-setup.yml
+++ b/templates/emulator-setup.yml
@@ -1,69 +1,16 @@
-# File: templates/emulator-setup.yml
+parameters:
+  EmulatorInstallPath: "$(Agent.HomeDirectory)/../../Program Files/Azure Cosmos DB Emulator/Microsoft.Azure.Cosmos.Emulator.exe"
+  EmulatorMsiUrl: "https://aka.ms/cosmosdb-emulator"
+  StartParameters: ''
 
 steps:
-  - pwsh: |
-      Write-Host "Downloading Cosmos Emulator - $env:EMULATORMSIURL" -ForegroundColor green 
-      Invoke-WebRequest "$env:EMULATORMSIURL" -OutFile "$env:temp\azure-cosmosdb-emulator.msi"
-      Write-Host "Finished Downloading Cosmos Emulator - $env:temp\azure-cosmosdb-emulator.msi" -ForegroundColor green 
-      dir "$env:temp" 
-
-      function Remove-DirectoryIfExists {
-          param ([string]$Path)
-
-          if (Test-Path -Path $Path -PathType Container) {
-            Remove-Item -Path $Path -Recurse -Force
-            Write-Output "Folder deleted: $Path"
-          } else {
-            Write-Output "Folder does not exist: $Path"
-          }
-      }
-
-      $lessMsiDir="$env:temp\lessmsi"
-      $emulatorDir="$env:temp\Azure Cosmos DB Emulator\"
-
-      Remove-DirectoryIfExists -Path $lessMsiDir
-      Remove-DirectoryIfExists -Path $emulatorDir
-
-      Expand-Archive -LiteralPath 'tools\lessmsi-v2.1.1.zip' -DestinationPath $lessMsiDir
-      &"$env:temp\lessmsi\lessmsi.exe" x "$env:temp\azure-cosmosdb-emulator.msi" "$emulatorDir"
-
-      Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "$emulatorDir\SourceDir\Azure Cosmos DB Emulator"
-      Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "$env:localappdata\CosmosDBEmulator"
-    displayName: Downloading and Installing Cosmos DB Emulator
-    failOnStderr: true
-    errorActionPreference: stop
-  - pwsh: |
-      Write-Host "Starting Cosmos DB Emulator" -ForegroundColor green 
-      Import-Module "$env:temp\Azure Cosmos DB Emulator\SourceDir\Azure Cosmos DB Emulator\PSModules\Microsoft.Azure.CosmosDB.Emulator"
-      Get-Item env:* | Sort-Object -Property Name
-
-      for ($j=0; $j -lt 3; $j++) {
-        Write-Host "Attempt $j"
-        Start-Process "$env:temp\Azure Cosmos DB Emulator\SourceDir\Azure Cosmos DB Emulator\CosmosDB.Emulator.exe" "/NoExplorer /NoUI /DisableRateLimiting /PartitionCount=10 /Consistency=Strong /EnablePreview /EnableSqlComputeEndpoint" -Verb RunAs
-        for ($i=0; $i -lt (3+2*$j); $i++) {
-          $status = Get-CosmosDbEmulatorStatus
-          Write-Host "Cosmos DB Emulator Status: $status"
-          if ($status -ne "Running") {
-            sleep 30;
-          }
-          else {
-            break;
-          }
-        }
-        if ($status -ne "Running") {
-          Write-Host "Shutting down and restarting"
-          Start-Process "$env:temp\Azure Cosmos DB Emulator\SourceDir\Azure Cosmos DB Emulator\CosmosDB.Emulator.exe" "/Shutdown" -Verb RunAs
-          sleep 30;
-        }
-        else {
-          break;
-        }
-      }
-
-      if ($status -ne "Running") {
-        Write-Error "Emulator failed to start"
-      }
-
-    displayName: Waiting for Cosmos DB Emulator status
-    failOnStderr: true
-    errorActionPreference: stop
+  - task: Powershell@2
+    inputs:
+      filePath: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/templates/Cosmos-Emulator.ps1
+      arguments: >
+        -EmulatorMsiUrl "${{ parameters.EmulatorMsiUrl }}"
+        -StartParameters "${{ parameters.StartParameters }}"
+        -Emulator "${{ parameters.EmulatorInstallPath }}"
+        -Stage "Launch"
+      pwsh: true
+    displayName: Launch Public Cosmos DB Emulator
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tools/lessmsi-v2.1.1.zip b/tools/lessmsi-v2.1.1.zip
deleted file mode 100644
index 15cc3d9f24..0000000000
Binary files a/tools/lessmsi-v2.1.1.zip and /dev/null differ