How to install Build Tools for Visual Studio 2022

Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 allows you to build native and managed MSBuild-based applications without requiring the Visual Studio IDE. This article will serve as an informative guide and give you a clear understanding of how to perform a silent installation of Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 from the command line using the EXE installer.

Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 Silent Install (EXE)

1. Navigate to: https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vs_BuildTools.exe
2. Download the vs_BuildTools.exe to a folder created at (C:\Downloads)
3. Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
4. Navigate to the C:\Downloads folder
5. Enter the following command to extract the setup files:
   • vs_BuildTools.exe --layout .\vs_BuildTools
6. Press Enter
7. Navigate to the C:\Downloads\vs_BuildTools folder
8. Enter the following command:
   • vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --allWorkloads --includeRecommended --includeOptional --quiet --norestart
9. Press Enter

After several minutes you will find Visual Studio entries in the Start Menu, Installation Directory, and Programs and Features in the Control Panel.

The information above provides a quick overview of the software title, vendor, silent install, and silent uninstall switches. The download links provided take you directly to the vendors website. Continue reading if you are interested in additional details and configurations.

Additional Configurations

Change Default Installation Directory

You can change the default installation directory by using the following command line parameters. In this example, I’m installing Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 to “C:\vs_BuildTools2022”

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --installPath C:\vs_BuildTools2022 --allWorkloads --includeRecommended --includeOptional --quiet --norestart

Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 Silent Install Using Response File

• Follow Steps 1-6 under “How to Install Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 Silently”
• Open Notepad or your favorite text editor
• Add the following lines:

{
  "installChannelUri": ".\\ChannelManifest.json",
  "channelUri": "https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/channel",
  "installCatalogUri": ".\\Catalog.json",
  "channelId": "VisualStudio.17.Release",
  "productId": "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Product.BuildTools",

  "includeRecommended": true,
  "includeOptional": true,
  "quiet": true,
  "norestart": true,

  "addProductLang": [
    "en-US"
    ],

    "add": [
        "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.AzureBuildTools",
        "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.DataBuildTools",
        "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.ManagedDesktopBuildTools",
        "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.MSBuildTools",
        "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NodeBuildTools",
        "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.OfficeBuildTools",
	"Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.UniversalBuildTools",
	"Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools",
	"Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VisualStudioExtensionBuildTools",
	"Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.WebBuildTools",
	"Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.XamarinBuildTools"
    ]
}

• Save the file to C:\Downloads\vs_BuildTools and name it: CustomInstall.json
• Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
• Navigate to the C:\Downloads\vs_BuildTools folder
• Enter the following command:

vs_setup.exe --quiet --nocache --wait --in C:\Downloads\vs_BuildTools\CustomInstall.json

Azure Development Build Tools Silent Install

ID: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.AzureBuildTools
Description: MSBuild tasks and targets for building Azure applications

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.AzureBuildTools;includeRecommended;includeOptional --quiet --norestart

Data Storage and Processing Build Tools Silent Install

ID: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.DataBuildTools
Description: Build SQL Server Database Projects

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.DataBuildTools;includeRecommended;includeOptional --quiet --norestart

.NET Desktop Build Tools Silent Install

ID: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.ManagedDesktopBuildTools
Description: Tools for building WPF, Windows Forms, and console applications using C#, Visual Basic, and F#

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.ManagedDesktopBuildTools;includeRecommended;includeOptional --quiet --norestart

MSBuild Tools Silent Install

ID: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.MSBuildTools
Description: Provides the tools required to build MSBuild-based applications

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.MSBuildTools;includeRecommended;includeOptional --quiet --norestart

Node.js Build Tools Silent Install

ID: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NodeBuildTools
Description: MSBuild tasks and targets for building scalable network applications using Node.js, an asynchronous event-driven JavaScript runtime

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NodeBuildTools;includeRecommended;includeOptional --quiet --norestart

Office/SharePoint Build Tools Silent Install

ID: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.OfficeBuildTools
Description: Build Office and SharePoint add-ins, and VSTO add-ins

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.OfficeBuildTools;includeRecommended;includeOptional --quiet --norestart

Universal Windows Platform Build Tools Silent Install

ID: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.UniversalBuildTools
Description: Provides the tools required to build Universal Windows Platform applications

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.UniversalBuildTools;includeRecommended;includeOptional --quiet --norestart

Desktop Development with C++ Silent Install

ID: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools
Description: Build modern C++ apps for Windows using tools of your choice, including MSVC, Clang, CMake, or MSBuild

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools;includeRecommended;includeOptional --quiet --norestart

Visual Studio Extension Development Silent Install

ID: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VisualStudioExtensionBuildTools
Description: Tools for building add-ons and extensions for Visual Studio, including new commands, code analyzers and tool windows

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VisualStudioExtensionBuildTools;includeRecommended;includeOptional --quiet --norestart

Web Development Build Tools Silent Install

ID: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.WebBuildTools
Description: MSBuild tasks and targets for building web applications

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.WebBuildTools;includeRecommended;includeOptional --quiet --norestart

Mobile Development with .NET Silent Install

ID: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.XamarinBuildTools
Description: Tools for building cross-platform applications for iOS, Android and Windows using C# and F#

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.XamarinBuildTools;includeRecommended;includeOptional --quiet --norestart

Check out the Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 Install and Uninstall (PowerShell) post for a scripted solution.

1. Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
2. Enter the following command:

Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 Silent Uninstall (EXE)

vs_setup.exe uninstall --installPath "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\BuildTools" --quiet --norestart

Always make sure to test everything in a development environment prior to implementing anything into production. The information in this article is provided “As Is” without warranty of any kind.