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I would like to install Visual Studio (Community edition) on a server that is used by other individuals. The installation requires a restart to complete the process. Is there any way to complete the necessary steps manually without restarting the server?

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  • Have you tried just running it after the installation completes? Depending on what features you installed, it will probably just work.
    – heavyd
    Oct 7, 2015 at 14:41
  • Yes, the message I receive is "A reboot is pending. Please reboot before starting Visual Studio." Oct 7, 2015 at 14:42
  • Then you'll need to reboot.
    – heavyd
    Oct 7, 2015 at 14:43
  • I know this is useless, but is is possible to see what services need the reboot in order to run the software? If so, could you try rebooting them individually and report back if it works? Either way, a reboot is recommended, probably schedule one tonight if you can. Oct 7, 2015 at 14:44
  • Well, that's the question: Is it possible to perform the necessary steps manually? A reboot is not an option. Oct 7, 2015 at 14:45

1 Answer 1

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Silently installing Visual Studio is more difficult than it should be. On a Win2008R2 you will need to install .Net 4.5 seperately before running the visual studio installer.

On both 2008R2 and 2012 you will also need custom AdminFile that disables a lot of the optional stuff like SQL and Office Tools. This XML used by a Chocolatey package should result in a silent installation: https://github.com/mwrock/Chocolatey-Packages/blob/master/VisualStudio2012Ultimate/Tools/AdminDeployment.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<AdminDeploymentCustomizations xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2011/AdminDeployment">
   <BundleCustomizations TargetDir="default" NoWeb="yes"/>
   <SelectableItemCustomizations>
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="WebTools" Hidden="no" Selected="no"/>
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="SQL" Hidden="no" Selected="no" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="OfficeTools" Hidden="no" Selected="no"/>
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="SharepointTools" Hidden="no" Selected="no"/>
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="LightSwitch" Hidden="no" Selected="no"/>
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="SilverLight_Developer_Kit" Hidden="no" Selected="no" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="VC_MFC_Libraries" Hidden="no" Selected="no" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="Blend" Hidden="no" Selected="no" />

     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="BlissHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="HelpHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="IntelliTraceUltimateHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="LocalDBHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="NetFX4Hidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="NetFX45Hidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="PortableDTPHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="PreEmptiveDotfuscatorHidden" Selected="no" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="PreEmptiveAnalyticsHidden" Selected="no" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="ProfilerHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="ReportingHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="RIAHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="SDKTools3Hidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="SDKTools4Hidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="Silverlight5DRTHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="SQLCEHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="SQLCEToolsHidden" Selected="no" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="SQLCLRTypesHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="SQLDACHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="SQLDbProviderHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="SQLSharedManagementObjectsHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="StoryboardingHidden" Selected="no" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="TSQLHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="VCCompilerHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="VCCoreHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="VCDebugHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="VCDesigntimeHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="VCExtendedHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="WCFDataServicesHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="WinJSHidden" Selected="yes" />
     <SelectableItemCustomization Id="WinSDKHidden" Selected="yes" />
   </SelectableItemCustomizations>
</AdminDeploymentCustomizations>

Then finally you need to add /quiet and /norestart to your command:

vs_professional.exe /adminfile \\FQDN\Share\AdminDeployment.xml /quiet /norestart

If you just ran the installer I don't think you can avoid a reboot.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/ee225237(v=vs.110).aspx

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  • .NET 4.5.2 normally is the culprit for the reboot. Your answer just removed it from the picture
    – Ganesh R.
    Oct 7, 2015 at 16:49

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