Visual Studio administrator guide

Article
3/3/2022

Applies to: Visual Studio Visual Studio for Mac

Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

In enterprise environments, system administrators typically deploy and update software on end users machines. The Visual Studio product integrates well in these types of environments by giving system administrators the ability to manage and control when and how the Visual Studio software is deployed and updated. Visual Studio can be acquired from the internet, from a network share, or from a product cache, and it can be deployed and updated manually, programatically or by using systems management software. Visual Studio provides the ability to create and maintain acquisition locations, pre-configure installation defaults, deploy product keys during the installation process, and manage product updates after a successful rollout. This administrator guide provides quick links to scenario-based guidance for enterprise deployment.

Research and plan before you begin

You will need to make a plan for how you deploy Visual Studio across your organization. Below lists some of the key things to think about, and it's best if your plan and decisions are made before the original installation happens on the client machine.

Make sure that each target computer meets the minimum installation requirements. Note that Visual Studio does not support application virtualization solutions such as Microsoft App-V or MSIX for Windows or third-party app virtualization technologies.

Clarify your security and compatibility needs. Do you need to ensure that your organization is always running the latest and most secure software?

Decide on the update model.
- Where should your client machines acquire the product updates from? In other words, should they get their updates from an IT managed company-wide network layout, or should they acquire the updates from the internet? This often depends on if clients have access to the internet or not.
- Who is allowed to update the client machines? Remember that whoever initiates the update must have administrative privileges on the machine. Are users allowed to update their machines, or does an admin need to invoke it centrally or programatically?
- When should the updates happen? Should it be left to the user's discretion to decide when to update, or do you want central IT control that enforces when updates happen?
Decide if you want to configure group policy settings on your client machines.
Decide which workloads and components your company needs.
Follow Windows security baselines. Microsoft is dedicated to providing its customers with secure operating systems, such as Windows 10 and Windows Server, and secure apps, such as Microsoft Edge. In addition to the security assurance of its products, Microsoft also enables you to have fine control over your environments by providing various configuration capabilities.

Install Visual Studio

The following resources will help you do the initial install of Visual Studio in common enterprise scenarios.

Review the Install Visual Studio documentation to get a high level overview of the installation options available to end users. Select the workloads and components that you want available for install on your client machines.
Acquire the correct Visual Studio bootstrapper to install the product. There are different bootstrappers available for you to choose from. Some bootstrappers install a very particular version of the product, while other bootstrappers initialize the servicing baseline channel.
Use command-line parameters to install Visual Studio. Use a variety of parameters to programmatically control or customize your Visual Studio installation. You can build an installation script that automates the installation process. For more information, see command line parameter examples.
Create a layout (network installation) of Visual Studio. A layout is a cache of the Visual Studio files in a folder on your network that you can use for both the initial installation as well as all product updates. A layout can be used if your client machines have limited internet connectivity. You can use a response file, which allows you to set defaults when installing onto client machines. You can also configure how you want the layout to appear in the client's Update Settings dialog. After your layout is created, you should maintain it regularly.
Install required certificates for offline installation. Install necessary certificates if the client machine is completely disconnected from the internet.
Automatically apply product or subscription keys when deploying Visual Studio. You can programmatically apply a subscription or product key as part of a script that is used to automate the deployment of Visual Studio so that users don't need to activate the software separately. You can set this key either during an installation of Visual Studio or after an installation completes.
Install and use Visual Studio and Azure Services behind a firewall or proxy server. If your organization uses security measures such as a firewall or a proxy server, then there are domain URLs that you might want to add to an "allowlist" and ports and protocols that you might want to open so that you have the best experience when you install and use Visual Studio and Azure Services.

Update Visual Studio

The following resources will help you keep your Visual Studio updated, current, and secure.

Review the Update Visual Studio documentation to get a high level overview of the update options available to end users, and how end users are notified that updates are available.
Make sure you have configured the servicing baseline properly if you want to tightly control when and where updates come from.
Enabling Administrator Updates using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM). Visual Studio updates are included in the Microsoft Update Catalog and the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). Once Administrator updates are enabled on the client machines, then an Enterprise administrator can distribute and apply these updates to Visual Studio client machines across their organization using standard deployment tools such as Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM). Note that Administrator updates work if the client is connected to either the internet or to a layout.
Keep your layout (network installation) updated on a regular basis so that it remains current and secure with the latest product updates. Layouts are meant to be used as both as an installation point for new client installs of Visual Studio as well as a source of updated product bits for installations that are already deployed to client workstations. Visual Studio releases security updates on patch Tuesday, the second Tuesday of the month, and we strongly recommend that you update your layouts on a monthly cadence.
Use command-line parameters to update Visual Studio. Use a variety of parameters to programmatically update Visual Studio. For more information, see command line parameter examples.
Update client machines that are based on a network layout. After you've updated your layout, you can then update your client installations of Visual Studio from the updated network layout. This scenario is also designed to work when the updates are distrubuted thru SCCM and WSUS.
For computers that are not connected to the internet, you can update the client programmatically and prevent internet access or you can update Visual Studio using a minimal offline layout.

Configure Visual Studio

Set registry policies that affect the deployment and behavior of Visual Studio such as where some packages shared with other versions or instances are installed, where and whether packages are cached, if administrator update should be enabled or how they should be applied, which update channels are available and how they're presented to the client, and how notifications appear or don't appear.

Configure Visual Studio to disable customer feedback on individual computers.

Create custom bootstrapper packages. Learn advanced techniques for how to create custom bootstrapper packages to further control your installation configuration by creating product and package manifests.

Import or export installation configurations to other machines or to layouts.

Manage, Modify or Repair Visual Studio

Detect, verify, and manage installed Visual Studio instances on client machines.
Get troubleshooting tips. Get help when you’re installing or updating Visual Studio, and learn how to report a problem if you’re blocked. These tips include step-by-step instructions that should resolve most online or offline installation issues.
Repair Visual Studio to fix update issues. Sometimes your Visual Studio installation becomes damaged or corrupted. A repair is useful for fixing install-time issues across all install operations, including updates.

Support or troubleshooting

Sometimes, things can go wrong. If your Visual Studio installation fails, see Troubleshoot Visual Studio installation and upgrade issues for step-by-step guidance.

Here are a few more support options:

We also offer an installation chat (English only) support option for installation-related issues.
Report product issues to us via the Report a Problem tool that appears both in the Visual Studio Installer and in the Visual Studio IDE. If you're an IT Administrator and don't have Visual Studio installed, you can submit IT Admin feedback here.
Suggest a feature, track product issues, and find answers in the Visual Studio Developer Community.