Visual Studio 2019 Community Edition Installer can't start

Question

I tried to upgrade my Visual Studio 2019 Community edition, but the Visual Studio Installer can't start.

I tried a lot of things including uninstalling the existing version, using offline version, etc, but now I end up with no working version of Visual Studio.

This is the log from bootstrapper:

Beginning of the log. Start Time: 2019-05-25 10:04:39
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:40: Commandline arguments = --env,_SFX_CAB_EXE_PACKAGE:E:\Download\vs_community.exe _SFX_CAB_EXE_ORIGINALWORKINGDIR:E:\Download
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:40: Parent process name = vs_community
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:40: Parent process product version = 16.1.28922.388
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:40: CampaignId = 
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:40: ResponseId not available in 'vs_setup_bootstrapper.config'. Trying to parse filename.
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:40: loading config settings: -update --update --layout -offline --offline --locale --layout --originalworkingdir --installLayoutPath --env
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:45: DownloadURL = https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/installer
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:45: InstallLocation = C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:45: OfflineFilePath = 
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:45: LayoutLocation = 
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:45: ExecutableArguments = /finalizeInstall install --in "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Packages\_bootstrapper\vs_setup_bootstrapper_201905251004409923.json" --locale en-US --activityId "65140cc5-fa4c-470e-9740-8005502ed51e"
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:45: OSVersion = Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:45: Starting to detect the existing VS and .NET...
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:04:45: Finished detecting the existing VS and .Net
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:05:04: Beginning file download. File = https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/installer.
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:05:04: Download requested: https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/installer
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:05:05: Attempting download 'https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/installer' using engine 'WebClient'
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:05:05: Uri 'https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/installer' redirected to 'https://download.visualstudio.microsoft.com/download/pr/8e169392-7f87-4d2e-a6e9-0c510272d9df/d4e01b060095407608d193d7143f6e4a/vs_installer.opc'
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:18: Package signature verification returned Success for path: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Packages\_bootstrapper\vs_installer\d.uhy\vs_installer.opc
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:18: Download of 'https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/installer' succeeded using engine 'WebClient'
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:18: Current OptIn value is 1
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:18: Extracting file 'vs_installer.version.json' from package stream.
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:18: File found 'vs_installer.version.json' in package stream.
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:18: Comparing client candidate version '2.1.3125.514' to autoSelfUpdateMinVersion '2.1.3125.514'
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:22: Beginning extracting files to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer.
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:22: Extracting 'C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Packages\_bootstrapper\vs_installer\d.uhy\vs_installer.opc' to 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer'.
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:26: Successfully extracted 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer'.
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:26: Start named pipe: 91ba8373-9502-45d1-8629-a80eadc83d01
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:26: Starting VS setup process 'vs_installer.exe' with arguments '/finalizeInstall install --in "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Packages\_bootstrapper\vs_setup_bootstrapper_201905251004409923.json" --locale en-US --activityId "65140cc5-fa4c-470e-9740-8005502ed51e" --pipe "91ba8373-9502-45d1-8629-a80eadc83d01"'.
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:26: VS setup process C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vs_installer.exe started. All done.
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:11:26: VS setup process starting. Exiting with code 0
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:12:06: Pipe disconnected.
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:2019-05-25 10:12:06: Bootstrapper Successfully completed.

I hope someone can help me find the solution.

Answer 1

I first tried renaming the vs_installer.exe to vs_installer.old, and that did not work for me. When I unchecked the "Keep download cache after the installation" on the Installation tab, then the Close button changed to Modify.

Answer 2

I've had the exact same problem this evening while trying to install Visual Studio 2019 Community Edition on my laptop (Windows 10 Pro Build 19042). After nearly one hour of desperately trying out various scenarios (including messing with Component Services and adding my user to Local Access rights for COM+ Apps), I got it to work by simply moving the installer file from my "Downloads" folder to another place on the disk. Then, it worked.

That pointed out the installer is unable to start if run from a path/folder that has UTF-8 characters in its name (I was using "C:\Users\Dragoș\Downloads" initially). Since this proved to reproduce each time I placed the installer in any folder containing UTF-8 chars, I filed a bug report at Microsoft: https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/Visual-Studio-2019-installer-does-not-st/1411874

I do not know if this scenario matches your context, but anyhow, I hope it helps somebody along the way.

Answer 3

I've just had the same issue. I read about renaming the folder '/installer' but it didn't work for me. I ended removing the file 'vs_installer.exe' and I used one of the down-loaders.

enter image description here

I hope it helps.

Answer 4

There can be some troubles with the certificates on vs_installer.exe and vs_installershell.exe. Installing this KB3004394 may help.