Major Install Problem With VS Community 2019 (or 2017) Installer

(Posting this again because the original form input doesn't appear to wrap your text. Truncates it instead making it look like nonsense.)

I have done a lot of searching today for a solution
to this problem that many people have had and have
done for years by the looks of it. I see responses
from MS developers on forums along the lines of
"this has been fixed in the latest version" going
back generations. No explanation of what is actually
causing the issue. You are kept in the dark. There's
a lot of smart people out here. If you gave us something
to work with it might lead to a permanent, all pervasive
fix. I have spent hours trying solution that don't work,

Well here we are again in 2021. The same problem.
The vs-setup-bootstapper infinite loop problem with
the occasional dialogue box pop up telling you that your
50 Meg broadband isn't good enough or, at least, that's
the assumption in the message. Maybe someone put a timeout
in there to handle slow data transfer. Hence the message.
It's a red herring.

Does anyone have a solution to this? Is it a local problem
or a server problem? A missing certificate? A local
permissions issue? A local file that needs deleting?
A missing directory? This problem is using the latest
version downloaded today vs_community__1056278425.1611503098.

Tried the 2019 version and the 2017. No success.

Cheers

Hi RayPooley-3427,

You could follow these steps: Troubleshoot Visual Studio installation and upgrade issues , to try to troubleshoot the error and report it to developer community.

Best Regards,
Dylan

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Ok. The problem seems to be a certificate problem. Here is the information from the C:\Users\Ray\AppData\Local\Temp\VSFaultInfo\210125_103942_7994524\ErrorInformation.txt file

Error Information
AppInsightsEvent Name = vs/setup/bootstrapper/error
Description = Failure to download
TelemetrySession = 'bfad9795-09f4-4f7c-a820-d8706656168a' Started = True OptIn=True IsInitialized = True Cloned = False
WatsonEventType = VisualStudioNonFatalErrors2
UTC time = 2021-01-25T10:39:42

Exception:
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Security.InvalidSignatureException
Certificate is invalid: vs_installer.opc
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Download.DownloadManager.DownloadWithRetry(IDownloadEngine[] engines, Uri uri, Stream outputStream, ProgressUpdateCallback progress, CancellationToken cancellationToken, DownloadContext downloadContext, Boolean verifySignature)

The bootstrap program is no longer looping because I changed the permissions on the AppData folder and all subfolders. But still no launch of the VS Installer because of this certificate issue.

I have downloaded a copy of vs-installer.opc. What do I do with it?

Here is the bootstrap log :

Beginning of the log. Start Time: 25/01/2021 11:47:15
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:15: Commandline arguments = --env,_SFX_CAB_EXE_PACKAGE:C:\Users\Ray\Downloads\vs_community__1056278425.1611503098.exe _SFX_CAB_EXE_ORIGINALWORKINGDIR:C:\Users\Ray\Downloads
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:15: Parent process name = vs_community__1056278425.1611503098
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:15: Parent process product version = 16.8.30907.101
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:15: CampaignId = 1056278425.1611503098
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:15: ResponseId not available in 'vs_setup_bootstrapper.config'. Trying to parse filename.
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:15: loading config settings: -update --update --layout -offline --offline --locale --layout --originalworkingdir --installLayoutPath --env
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:16: DownloadURL = https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/installer
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:16: InstallLocation = C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:16: OfflineFilePath = C:\Users\Ray\Downloads\vs_installer.opc
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:16: LayoutLocation =
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:16: ExecutableArguments = /finalizeInstall install --layoutPath "C:\Users\Ray\Downloads" --in "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Packages_bootstrapper\vs_setup_bootstrapper_202101251147156508.json" --locale en-US --activityId "01214aac-785e-4451-8b6b-5b4c0ae5bbb7" --campaign "1056278425.1611503098"
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:16: OSVersion = Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:16: Starting to detect the existing VS and .NET...
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:16: Finished detecting the existing VS and .Net
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:18: Using Offline package: C:\Users\Ray\Downloads\vs_installer.opc
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:18: Saving Certificates to layout folder
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:19: Certificate is invalid: C:\Users\Ray\Downloads\vs_installer.opc
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:19: Unable to verify the certificate: InvalidCertificate
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:19: Caught Exception: Type = InvalidOperationException, Message = Unable to verify the integrity of the installation files: the certificate could not be verified, StackTrace = at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.OpcVerifier.Verify(Stream packageStream, String layoutLocation)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Bootstrapper.Bootstrapper.VerifyLayoutPackage(Stream packageStream)
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:19: Signature verification failed. Error: Unable to verify the integrity of the installation files: the certificate could not be verified.
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:19: Bootstrapper failed with known error.

Thanks

How do you think I managed to download the bootstrapper if my "internet environment cannot access download server"?

Those are the bootstrapper logs that I posted. There is nothing in those logs that indicate a broadband problem.

What they do report is a problem with a certficate. A file called vs_installer.opc.
A file that I also downloaded from your server yesterday using my broadband.

Read this part:

VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:19: Certificate is invalid: C:\Users\Ray\Downloads**vs_installer.opc**
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:19: Unable to verify the certificate: InvalidCertificate
VisualStudio Bootstrapper:25/01/2021 11:47:19: Caught Exception: Type = InvalidOperationException, Message = Unable to verify the integrity of the installation files: the certificate could not be verified, StackTrace = at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.OpcVerifier.Verify(Stream packageStream, String layoutLocation)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Bootstrapper.Bootstrapper.VerifyLayoutPackage(Stream packageStream)

This is the problem: Unable to verify the certificate: InvalidCertificate

What I need from you is an explanation of how I deal with this problem. The link you have sent me, twice, does not cover this problem. I need a valid certificate.

If you are unable to answer this question please refer it to someone who can.

Hi RayPooley-3427,

What is your Windows version? Please check for Windows Updates and make sure all pending or recommended updates are installed.
Besides, please verify if you can successfully download vs_installer.opc to your machine from the link: https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/installer .

Meanwhile, your network may block Microsoft domains. Please find the hosts file in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts, and add one line 23.77.21.104 aka.ms into it. Go here to see more Microsoft domains and add them into the allow list.

Then, re-download the bootstrapper file from the Visual Studio Downloads page: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/.

By the way, if it still persists, we need your help to collect completed logs. Please download and run this collect.exe tool, go to %temp% folder and find the vslogs.zip file, upload it to https://onedrive.live.com/ and share the link here.

Sincerely,
Anna

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