This document describes different types and characteristics of Visual Studio administrator updates. In this article, you'll find information on how and when they should be distributed throughout your organization, what configuration options are available, and how to view reports and troubleshoot.

Prerequisites

For more information about the prerequisites for using administrator updates, seeEnabling administrator updates.

Remember that administrator updates are updates, not initial installs. They presume that Visual Studio is already installed on the computer. In other words, applying administrator updates won't initiate a brand new installation.

Understanding Visual Studio administrator updates

The Visual Studio administrator update package that is published to the Microsoft Update system is available through three distribution channels:

1. TheWindows Server Update Servers (WSUS) channel, which is typically controlled by theSCCM Configuration Manager part of theMicrosoft Endpoint Manager device management solution.
2. TheWindows Update for Business Microsoft Update channel, which is typically controlled by theIntune part of theMicrosoft Endpoint Manager device management solution. Currently, only security updates are published to this channel.
3. TheMicrosoft Update Catalog channel, where you can download the package and use it to eitherupdate a layout or update aclient instance.

The vast majority of client machines are updated using the WSUS/SCCM or Windows Update for Business/Microsoft Update/Intune channels. In both of these scenarios, the Visual Studio administrator update is published to the Microsoft Update servers, where it is then detected as available and applicable by the native Windows Update client agent.

The Visual Studio administrator update package contains information that the Visual Studio installer on the client machines needs to be able to download and initiate the update. The Visual Studio Installer downloads the actual product update binaries from wherever theclient machine is configured to download updates from - either from the internet or from a layout.

The administrator update package doesn’t contain enough information to perform a clean installation of the product, nor does it contain any of the actual product binaries. The Visual Studio administrator updates are cumulative, which means that any Visual Studio update that has a higher product version number and a later release date is a superset of an older, lower version.

Visual Studio administrator updates only apply to Visual Studio servicing versions that are still under support. For more information about which Visual Studio servicing baselines are still in support during a particular time frame, seeVisual Studio Product Lifecycle and Servicing. All supported Visual Studio servicing baselines will be kept secure.

Types and characteristics of administrator updates

There are three types of administrator updates to Visual Studio:

• Security updates are applicable to all Visual Studio editions (for example, Enterprise, Professional, Community, etc.), and they contain limited, highly targeted and compatible servicing level changes. Security updates won't advance a client to a later minor version; they're designed to deliver fixes to security vulnerabilities to a client that is already at a particular minor version level. Security updates will have at least one security fix in them, but the security fix may or may not be in a component or workload that’s installed on the client machine. For example, we could fix a security vulnerability in the .NET components, and we would label the update as a security update, but it wouldn’t really have any meaningful effect on a client machine that had only C++ components installed. Security updates may also contain other reliability fixes or other necessary component updates. Security updates are published to all three distribution channels listed previously.

• Feature updates enable IT admins to advance computers in their organization to a more recent minor version of Visual Studio. Feature updates only apply to Visual Studio editions that are commonly found in enterprises, such as Enterprise, Professional, and Build Tools SKUs. All feature updates will be published only to theMicrosoft Update Catalog as “Feature Packs” where they're available to optionally be manuallyimported into SCCM Configuration Manager. Feature updates are cumulative and will contain additional quality and prior security fixes.

• Quality updates are also only applicable to those Visual Studio editions that are commonly found in enterprises, and they contain limited, highly targeted and compatible servicing level changes. Quality updates won't advance a client to a later minor version; they're designed to deliver performance and reliability fixes or other necessary component updates to a client that is already at a particular minor version level. Quality updates accumulate along with security updates, and thus will contain security fixes only if the security fix has already been independently released. Quality updates are also published only to theMicrosoft Update Catalog as “Updates” where they're available to optionally be manuallyimported into SCCM Configuration Manager.

Decoding the titles of administrator updates

The title of each administrator update the resultant version of the update. For example,

Configuring the client machine to receive Administrator Updates

Configuration options

There are a few configuration options that are can be used to tailor the Visual Studio administrator update experience so that it's compatible and aligned with your organization’s deployment preferences and requirements.

The most common configuration options are as follows:

• Windows Update for Business Microsoft Update opt-in**

  Cloud connected client machines that are managed by Intune must be configured for Windows Update for Business and opted into theAllowMUUpdateServicePolicy in order to receive Visual Studio administrator updates through the Windows Update for Business Microsoft Update channel.

• Visual Studio administrator update opt-in

  This registry key is required for the client machine to receive administrator updates through either the WSUS or Windows Update for Business Microsoft Update channels. It's a machine-wide registry key, which means it applies to all instances of Visual Studio installed on the box.

• Source location of the updated product bits

  When executing the update, the client machines will download the updated product bits from either the internet via the Microsoft CDN or from a network layout share that the admin has prepared and maintained. In both of these cases, the account on the client machine that is executing the update (typically SYSTEM, butcan be customized to USER) must have both administrative privileges on the machine and access to the source location of product bits.

  • If the product is being sourced from the internet, then the SYSTEM account executing the update must have access to at least theVisual Studio endpoints.
  • If the product is being sourced from a network layout location then the following conditions must be true before the administrator update can be successfully deployed:
  • The account executing the update must have permissions to the network share. For example, if SYSTEM accounts are executing the administrator updates, then you'll need to give the "Domain Computers" group permissions to the network layout share.
  • The client machine must have, at some point, already run the bootstrapper from that network layout location. Ideally, the original client install would have happened using the bootstrapper from the network layout, but it's also possible to have just installed an update using an updated bootstrapper in that same network location. Either one of these actions would embed, on the client machine, a connection with that particular layout location.
  • The network layout location (where the client is connected to) must beupdated to contain the updated product bits that the administrator update wants to deploy.

For an exhaustive list of all the supported administrator update behaviors, refer to theControlling Administrator Update Group Policies or theUse command-line parameters to update Visual Studio documentation.

Methods for configuring an administrator update

There are three main methods of configuring administrator updates: viapolicies) via aconfiguration file on the client machine, or via amodification of the Administrator Update deployment package within SCCM Configuration Manager or Microsoft Endpoint Manager.

Policies

Administrator updates look for specific policy configuration such asAdministratorUpdatesEnabled as described inConfigure policies for enterprise deployments. Admin access on the client computer is required to configure policies.

Configuration file

Some settings can be preserved on the client machine in an optional configuration file, which has the benefit of setting it only once and having it apply to all future administrator updates. The configuration file approach behaves like a registry key and is machine wide, which means it will apply to all installs of Visual Studio installed on the client machine. The standard location for the configuration file is atC:\ProgramData\Microsoft\VisualStudio\updates.config. However, if you wish to use another location to store the file, you can do so by configuring theUpdateConfigurationFile policy and set the value to the path of your config file.

The configuration file, which is in JSON format, supports the optioninstallerUpdateArgs, which is an array of strings separated by commas that specify more switches you can pass into the Visual Studio installer. If the contents of the file include an invalid field or an option that isn't supported, then the update will fail. For more information, seeUse command-line parameters to install Visual Studio.

Here's an example configuration file:

"installerUpdateArgs" : ["--quiet", "--keepWindowsUpdateOn"], "checkPendingReboot" :  "true"

Manually updating the Administrator Updates Package in SCCM or Intune

The command-line parameters of an individual administrator update package can be manually modified in either SCCM or Microsoft Endpoint Manager by the IT Admin. We don't generally recommend this approach, although it's technically possible.

Verification, error codes, and troubleshooting

Determining that Visual Studio was updated

You can use one of the following methods to verify that the administrator update was installed correctly:

• On the client computer, start Visual Studio, selectHelp >About, and verify that the version number matches the last number in the title of the intended update.
• Use thevswhere tool on the client machine to identify the various versions of Visual Studio on the computer. For more information, seeTools for detecting and managing Visual Studio instances.
• Each administrative update attempt generates several log files in the client machine’s%temp% directory that captures the progress of the update operation. Sort the folder by date and look for files that begindd_updatedriver,dd_bootstrapper,dd_client, anddd_setup for the administrative updates, the bootstrapper, the Visual Studio Installer, and the setup engine, respectively. Verify that these log files contain a 0, indicating that the update was successfully applied. These log files can also be used to verify that the configuration file is being used. Refer to theVisual Studio Log Collection Tool for further details.

Error codes and conditions

Administrator updates may return the following return codes:

For an exhaustive list of client error codes, seeUse command-line parameters to install Visual Studio.

Support or troubleshooting

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

Here are a few more support options:

• Use theinstallation chat (English only) support option for installation-related issues.
• Report product issues to us by using theReport 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 submitIT Admin feedback.
• Suggest a feature, track product issues, and find answers in theVisual Studio Developer Community.

You can use the following methods to provide feedback about Visual Studio administrator updates or report issues that affect the updates:

• Ask questions to the community at theVisual Studio Setup Q&A Forum.
• Go to theVisual Studio support page, and check whether your issue is listed in the FAQ.
• Provide feature feedback or report a problem to the Visual Studio team regarding your experience.
• Contact your organization’s technical account manager for Microsoft.

See also

To learn more, explore the following additional resources:

• Enabling administrator updates
• Visual Studio administrator guide
• Visual Studio Product Lifecycle and Servicing
• Install Visual Studio
• Update Visual Studio
• Using Command Line Parameters to install Visual Studio
• Tools for detecting and managing Visual Studio instances
• Create a network installation of Visual Studio
• Update a Visual Studio client that was installed from a network layout
• Microsoft Update Catalog FAQ
• Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM) documentation
• Import updates from Microsoft Catalog into Configuration Manager
• Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) documentation