Visual Studio Setup

Installation and containerization of the Visual Studio family of products

Fast acquisition of vswhere

March 5, 2017 Mar 5, 2017 03/5/17
Heath Stewart
I introduced vswhere last week as an easy means to locate Visual Studio 2017 and newer, along with other products installed with our new installer that provides faster downloads and installs - even for full installs (which has roughly doubled in size with lots of new third-party content). vswhere was designed to be a fast, small, single-file ...

vswhere Available

February 25, 2017 Feb 25, 2017 02/25/17
Heath Stewart
After feedback on the VSSetup PowerShell module to query Visual Studio 2017 and related products, I'm pleased to say that a native, single-file executable is available on GitHub: vswhere. The VSSetup PowerShell module is also available on GitHub and provides a number of benefits for PowerShell scripts, but build tools and CMake and deployment ...

Visual Studio Setup PowerShell Module Available

January 25, 2017 Jan 25, 2017 01/25/17
Heath Stewart
To make the new setup configuration APIs more accessible to developers, we have published the "VSSetup" PowerShell module on powershellgallery.com, making it quick and easy to install. If you have Windows Management Framework (WMF) 5.0 or newer - installed with Windows 10 - or PowerShellGet for PowerShell 3.0 or 4.0, you can run the following...

Documentation available for the Setup Configuration API

January 25, 2017 Jan 25, 2017 01/25/17
Heath Stewart
Visual Studio 2017 has brought big changes to extensibility that allow developers to install extensions to different instances and install dependencies. In support of multiple instances, a fast API was required that tools can use to find and launch Visual Studio and related tools, or to install extensions. I previously published some samples...

Changes to Visual Studio “15” Setup

September 15, 2016 Sep 15, 2016 09/15/16
Heath Stewart
We've listened to feedback over the years, and while each new release brought changes to the setup experience of Visual Studio and related products, none have been more significant than what we're doing for Visual Studio "15". New setup engine With Visual Studio supporting so many platforms and toolkits, one of the goals for Visual Studio "15...

Insert GUIDs directly into Visual Studio Code

January 30, 2016 Jan 30, 2016 01/30/16
Heath Stewart
Let me preface this by stating I love Visual Studio Code! While I think its big, older brother Visual Studio is great for large solutions or even small projects where project files are managed automatically by the IDE, Code work great for small, loose projects and is very fast. I still use Vim for a lot of quick edits in a console (I spend a ...

Get the Windows Installer PowerShell Module easier with WMF 5.0

December 18, 2015 Dec 18, 2015 12/18/15
Heath Stewart
Many years ago when PowerShell was first in beta, I saw an opportunity to write cmdlets that I could string together in different ways rather than writing and maintaining a bunch of one-off Windows scripts for various day-to-day tasks and customer diagnostics. I created the Windows Installer PowerShell Module to fill that role. These cmdlets ...

Failure when upgrading from VS2015 RTM to VS2015 with Update 1

December 17, 2015 Dec 17, 2015 12/17/15
Heath Stewart
(image) If you have Visual Studio 2015 RTM installed and attempt to install Visual Studio 2015 with Update 1, you may see a failure like the screenshot that reads, KB3022398 This action is only valid for products that are currently installed. This is a fatal error that occurs when upgrading from VS 2015 RTM to the VS 2015 ...
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Removing Visual Studio components left behind after an uninstall

July 17, 2015 Jul 17, 2015 07/17/15
Heath Stewart
When you install Visual Studio and related content like Windows Kits or some add-ons, most packages that comprise those bundles are reference counted to make sure they are not removed prematurely. Uninstalling Visual Studio and related content should eventually remove those packages (i.e. last one out the door turns off the light). Contrast ...