Visual C++ Redistributable Silent Install

[Blossom Stemmer]

Whenyou deploy an application, you must also deploy the files that are required to support it. If any of these files are provided by Microsoft, check whether you're permitted to redistribute them. You'll find a link to the Visual Studio license terms in the IDE. Use the License terms link in the About Microsoft Visual Studio dialog box. Or, download the relevant EULAs and licenses from the Visual Studio License Directory.

To view the "REDIST list" that's referenced in the "Distributable Code" section of the Visual Studio 2022 Microsoft Software License Terms, see Distributable code files for Microsoft Visual Studio 2022

To view the "REDIST list" that's referenced in the "Distributable Code" section of the Visual Studio 2019 Microsoft Software License Terms, see Distributable Code Files for Microsoft Visual Studio 2019

To view the "REDIST list" that's referenced in the "Distributable Code" section of the Visual Studio 2017 Microsoft Software License Terms, see Distributable Code Files for Microsoft Visual Studio 2017.

To view the "REDIST list" that's referenced in the "Distributable Code" section of the Visual Studio 2015 Microsoft Software License Terms, see Distributable Code Files for Microsoft Visual Studio 2015.

The easiest way to locate the redistributable files is by using environment variables set in a developer command prompt. In Visual Studio 2022, the redistributable files are in the %VCINSTALLDIR%Redist\MSVC\v143 folder. In the latest version of Visual Studio 2019, you'll find the redistributable files in the %VCINSTALLDIR%Redist\MSVC\v142 folder. In both Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Studio 2019, they're also found in %VCToolsRedistDir%. In Visual Studio 2015, these files can be found in %VCINSTALLDIR%redist\, where is the locale of the redistributable packages.

The Visual C++ Redistributable Packages install and register all Visual C++ libraries. If you use one, run it as a prerequisite on the target system before you install your application. We recommend that you use these packages for your deployments because they enable automatic updating of the Visual C++ libraries. For an example about how to use these packages, see Walkthrough: Deploying a Visual C++ Application By Using the Visual C++ Redistributable Package.

Each Visual C++ Redistributable package checks for the existence of a more recent version on the machine. If a more recent version is found, the package won't get installed. In Visual Studio 2015 or later, Redistributable packages display an error message stating that setup failed. If a package is run by using the /quiet flag, no error message is displayed. In either case, an error is logged by the Microsoft installer, and an error result is returned to the caller. In Visual Studio 2015 and later, you can avoid this error by checking the registry to find out if a more recent version is installed. The current installed version number is stored in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\VC\Runtimes\arm64 key. The version number is 14.0 for Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022 because the latest Redistributable is binary compatible with previous versions back to 2015. The key is arm64, x86, or x64 depending on the installed vcredist versions for the platform. (You need to check under the Wow6432Node subkey only if you're using Regedit to view the version of the installed x86 package on an x64 platform.) The version number is stored in the REG_SZ string value Version and also in the set of Major, Minor, Bld, and Rbld REG_DWORD values. To avoid an error at install time, you must skip installation of the Redistributable package if the currently installed version is more recent.

The Visual C++ Redistributable supports several command-line options. The /?, /h, or /help options display a pop-up dialog that lists the available options. You may specify /install to install, /repair to repair, or /uninstall to uninstall the Redistributable. The /layout option copies the complete contents of the Redistributable in the current directory. By default, the Redistributable installs its contents and prompts the user for information and whether to restart after installation. You can specify the /passive option, which displays progress, but doesn't otherwise require user interaction. You can also specify a /quiet option, which doesn't display any UI or require any user interaction. The /norestart option suppresses any attempts to restart. By default, a log file is created in %TEMP%. You can use /log filename.txt to log to a specific file.

Merge modules (.msm files) for Visual C++ Redistributable files are deprecated. We don't recommend you use them for application deployment. Instead, we recommend central deployment of the Visual C++ Redistributable package. Central deployment by a Redistributable package makes it possible for Microsoft to service runtime library files independently. And, an uninstall of your app can't affect other applications that also use central deployment. When you use a Redistributable package for central deployment, you aren't responsible for tracking and maintaining the runtime libraries. Otherwise, an update to the runtime library files requires you to update and redeploy your .msi installer. Your app could be vulnerable to bugs or security issues until you do.

Redistributable merge modules must be included in the Windows Installer package (or similar installation package) that you use to deploy your application. For more information, see Redistributing by using merge modules. For an example see Walkthrough: Deploying a Visual C++ application by using a setup project.

It's also possible to directly install the Redistributable DLLs in the application local folder. The application local folder is the folder that contains your executable application file. For servicing reasons, we don't recommend you use this installation location.

If Windows can't find one of the Redistributable library DLLs required by your application, it may display a message similar to: "This application has failed to start because library.dll was not found. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem."

To resolve this kind of error, make sure your application installer builds correctly. Verify that the Redistributable libraries get deployed correctly on the target system. For more information, see Understanding the Dependencies of a Visual C++ Application.

I have been pulling out what's left of my hair trying to install software that requires a C++ redistributable (2017 x86) using InstallShield lite.To start with, I define a prerequisite To include the C++ redistributable. When a user attempts an install, the user interface always appears. Now this is not a real problem however, if the redistributable was already installed`or there is a newer version then it will fail with a message that it has failed and it wioll ask the user if he wants to continue or abort the installation. If he selects continue, the software installs fine. This is not very user friendly.This happens despite the correct command line switches being used i.e. /q /norestart. If you do this at a command prompt manually, it operates as it should. In other words it installs it, or fails because it is already installed but tells the user nothing. This is the way it is supposed to work.Now I tried doing this as a custom action at the end of the installshield script but then the install appears to hang on some machines and on others other errors.Now the only clue that I can give, is that if I create an MSI installation, then it never prompts. However with a setup.exe install it acts as above. I have only been successful with the msi install if I am installing a 64 bit app. Never with a 32 bit app.Can someone guide me as to what I am doing incorrectly?Thanks

Merge Modules: Does Installshield Lite support merge modules? If so, you can install the VCRedist using merge modules instead of the VCRedist_x64.exe file. This is insufficient for UWP applications (the universal CRT) as explained in these links:

Batch File: Another option would be to keep the VCRedist_x64.exe file separate from your main setup and to zip up your MSI and the VCRedist_x64.exe in a ZIP archive and put an Install.cmd batch file in there which will install the VCRedist first and then your MSI file? Not too neat - one would have to admit. I think you can make a self-extracting archive that would automagically invoke it, but I haven't done that in ages.

Security Fixes & Link to Download: There have been so many security fixes for this runtime, and it is usually installed on most machines, that I would frankly just link to the download of the latest version and have people install it themselves as a pre-requisite rather than bundling an obsolete version in my setup, but that isn't really sufficient unless your package is for corporate use only (in which case they prefer to install their own runtimes with full control).

Thanks for a comprehensive answer. I am sure it will help a lot of people. What I have found is that running vc_redist.x86 from the command line in quiet mode will indeed always work as it should. In other words, if it is not installed, it will be installed. If it is already installed or a later release is installed, it will just return with no complaints. That is not the case using InstallShield Lite 2018 (same for all previous releases).

However, there is a simple solution to get it to work as I found out. All one needs to do is to include the entry Hidden="1" in the behavior part of the PRQ file. So there will now be an entry that looks like this:

This solves the issue. It no longer runs separately from the installshield installer with it's own GUI but rather the messages now appear in the menus in installshield and it operates exactly as if you ran it at the command line. No more errors.

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