Visual Studio 2019 Offline Installer

Before diving into the "how," let's clarify the "why." Microsoft’s default vs_community.exe (or vs_professional.exe) is a web bootstrapper. It is tiny (roughly 1-2 MB). When you run it, it downloads the exact components you need on the fly.

Problems with the Web Installer:

Advantages of the Offline Installer (Layout): visual studio 2019 offline installer

With Visual Studio 2022 (64-bit) available, why stick with 2019?

That said, Microsoft mainstream support for Visual Studio 2019 ended in April 2024, and extended support ends in April 2029. For new greenfield projects, use VS 2022. For maintaining existing 2019 solutions, the offline installer is essential. Before diving into the "how," let's clarify the "why

For enterprise automation, a silent installation is preferred. This is achieved using the --quiet and --norestart flags.

C:\VS2019Offline\vs_enterprise.exe --quiet --norestart --wait --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.ManagedDesktop --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NetWeb --includeRecommended

Note: The --wait parameter is essential for scripting, ensuring the process waits for completion before returning control to the script. Advantages of the Offline Installer (Layout):

Despite the ubiquity of broadband, several compelling use cases justify the offline installer:

To minimize download size and time, specific workloads should be targeted using the --add argument. If no --add arguments are provided, the tool attempts to download all available workloads, which is rarely necessary.

Common Workload IDs: