Create an offline installer for Visual Studio 2017

Download the setup file you want

Edition	File
Visual Studio Enterprise	vs_enterprise.exe
Visual Studio Professional	vs_professional.exe
Visual Studio Community	vs_community.exe

Create an offline installation folder

To create an offline installation with all languages and all features, use one of the commands from the following examples. Run cmd in Administrator privilege.

Visual Studio Enterprise	vs_enterprise.exe --layout c:\vs2017offline
Visual Studio Professional	vs_professional.exe --layout c:\vs2017offline
Visual Studio Community	vs_community.exe --layout c:\vs2017offline

Install from the offline installation folder

1. Install the certificates (They are in the Certificates folder, which is in your Layout folder. Simply right-click each one to install it.)
2. Run the installation file. For example, run:
   c:\vs2017offline\vs_enterprise.exe

Additional tips for offline installers

There are many options you can use to customize your offline installer. Here are a few examples of how to customize it by language locale

• To download all workloads and components for only one language, run:
  vs_enterprise.exe --layout C:\vs2017offline --lang en-US
• To download all workloads and components for multiple languages, run:
  vs_enterprise.exe --layout C:\vs2017offline --lang en-US de-DE ja-JP
• To download one workload for all languages, run
  vs_enterprise.exe --layout C:\vs2017offline --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.Azure
• To download two workloads and one optional component for three languages, run:
  vs_enterprise.exe --layout C:\vs2017offline --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.Azure Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.ManagedDesktop Component.GitHub.VisualStudio --lang en-US de-DE ja-JP

To learn more about the options you can use to customize your installation, see our  Use command-line parameters to install Visual Studio 2017  page.


How to update an offline installer

You might want to update your offline installer at a later date. Here's how.

• To update a Visual Studio instance that you installed from an offline installation folder, run the Visual Studio Installer, and then click Update.
• To refresh your offline installation folder so that it includes the latest updates, run the --layout command again. Make sure to point to the same folder that you used before; this way, only those components that have been updated since you last ran --layout will be downloaded.

If you want to update your offline installation, run the  --layout  command again. Make sure to point to the same folder that you used before; this way, only those components that have been updated since you last ran  --layout  will be downloaded.

Windows File System: Maximum Path Length Limitation

In the Windows API (with some exceptions discussed in the following paragraphs), the maximum length for a path is MAX_PATH, which is defined as 260 characters. A local path is structured in the following order: drive letter, colon, backslash, name components separated by backslashes, and a terminating null character. For example, the maximum path on drive D is "D:\some 256-character path string" where "" represents the invisible terminating null character for the current system codepage. (The characters < > are used here for visual clarity and cannot be part of a valid path string.)

NOTE: File I/O functions in the Windows API convert "/" to "\" as part of converting the name to an NT-style name, except when using the "\\?\" prefix as detailed in the following sections.

The Windows API has many functions that also have Unicode versions to permit an extended-length path for a maximum total path length of 32,767 characters. This type of path is composed of components separated by backslashes, each up to the value returned in the lpMaximumComponentLength parameter of the GetVolumeInformation function (this value is commonly 255 characters). To specify an extended-length path, use the "\\?\" prefix. For example, "\\?\D:\very long path".

NOTE: The maximum path of 32,767 characters is approximate, because the "\\?\" prefix may be expanded to a longer string by the system at run time, and this expansion applies to the total length.

The "\\?\" prefix can also be used with paths constructed according to the universal naming convention (UNC). To specify such a path using UNC, use the "\\?\UNC\" prefix. For example, "\\?\UNC\server\share", where "server" is the name of the computer and "share" is the name of the shared folder. These prefixes are not used as part of the path itself. They indicate that the path should be passed to the system with minimal modification, which means that you cannot use forward slashes to represent path separators, or a period to represent the current directory, or double dots to represent the parent directory. Because you cannot use the "\\?\" prefix with a relative path, relative paths are always limited to a total of MAX_PATH characters.

There is no need to perform any Unicode normalization on path and file name strings for use by the Windows file I/O API functions because the file system treats path and file names as an opaque sequence of WCHARs. Any normalization that your application requires should be performed with this in mind, external of any calls to related Windows file I/O API functions.

When using an API to create a directory, the specified path cannot be so long that you cannot append an 8.3 file name (that is, the directory name cannot exceed MAX_PATH minus 12).
The shell and the file system have different requirements. It is possible to create a path with the Windows API that the shell user interface is not able to interpret properly.

TIP: Starting in Windows 10, version 1607, MAX_PATH limitations have been removed from common Win32 file and directory functions. However, you must opt-in to the new behavior.

A registry key allows you to enable or disable the new long path behavior. To enable long path behavior set the registry key at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem LongPathsEnabled (Type: REG_DWORD). The key's value will be cached by the system (per process) after the first call to an affected Win32 file or directory function (list follows). The registry key will not be reloaded during the lifetime of the process. In order for all apps on the system to recognize the value of the key, a reboot might be required because some processes may have started before the key was set.
The registry key can also be controlled via Group Policy at Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Filesystem > Enable NTFS long paths.
You can also enable the new long path behavior per app via the manifest:

XML

<application xmlns=urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3>
    <windowsSettings xmlns:ws2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2016/WindowsSettings">
        <ws2:longPathAware></ws2:longPathAware>
    </windowsSettings>
</application>

These are the directory management functions that no longer have MAX_PATH restrictions if you opt-in to long path behavior: CreateDirectoryW, CreateDirectoryExW GetCurrentDirectoryW RemoveDirectoryW SetCurrentDirectoryW.

These are the file management functions that no longer have MAX_PATH restrictions if you opt-in to long path behavior: CopyFileW, CopyFile2, CopyFileExW, CreateFileW, CreateFile2, CreateHardLinkW, CreateSymbolicLinkW, DeleteFileW, FindFirstFileW, FindFirstFileExW, FindNextFileW, GetFileAttributesW, GetFileAttributesExW, SetFileAttributesW, GetFullPathNameW, GetLongPathNameW, MoveFileW, MoveFileExW, MoveFileWithProgressW, ReplaceFileW, SearchPathW, FindFirstFileNameW, FindNextFileNameW, FindFirstStreamW, FindNextStreamW, GetCompressedFileSizeW, GetFinalPathNameByHandleW.

Media Feature Pack for Windows 10 Anniversary

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=53356

VMWare error: Could not get vmci driver version

Somebody says that you open up the configuration file of the VM and try to vmci0.present=FALSE. This can solve the problem at instance but another problem occurred that is the network of VM does not work.
The correct way to fix this problem is run the VM Installer again with Administrator privilege and select repair. This will fix your problem.

View or Change the Default Locations for Data and Log Files (SQL Server Management Studio)

• In Object Explorer, right-click on your server and click Properties
• In the left panel on that Properties page, click the Database settings tab.
• In Database default locations, view the current default locations for new data files and new log files. To change a default location, enter a new default pathname in the Data or Log field, or click the browse button to find and select a pathname.

NOTE: After changing the default locations, you must stop and start the SQL Server service to complete the change.

Increase request timeout in IIS

Add this to your Web Config

<system.web>
    <httpRuntime executionTimeout="180" />
</system.web>

This time-out applies only if the debug attribute in the compilation element is False. Therefore, if the debug attribute is True, you do not have to set this attribute to a large value in order to avoid application shutdown while you are debugging. 
The default is 110 seconds.

Refer this page:
 https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/e1f13641(v=vs.100).aspx for full references of httpRuntime

Windows version numbers

Product type:

• 1: Desktop OS
• 2: Server OS - Domain Controller
• 2: Server OS - Not a Domain Controller

Operating system	Version number	Product type
Windows 10	10.0*	1
Windows 8.1	6.3*	1
Windows Server 2012 R2	6.3*	2 or 3
Windows 8	6.2	1
Windows Server 2012	6.2	2 or 3
Windows 7	6.1	1
Windows Server 2008 R2	6.1	2 or 3
Windows Server 2008	6.0	2 or 3
Windows Vista	6.0	1
Windows Server 2003 R2	5.2	2 or 3
Windows Server 2003	5.2	2 or 3
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition	5.2	1
Windows XP	5.1	1