I have Windows running in a VMware VM, to which I connect via SSH. I can run a Command Prompt or a PowerShell. I'm trying to follow the instructions to install Visual Studio 2017 Build Tools from a command line. I download the installer from https://aka.ms/vs/15/release/vs_buildtools.exe and name it vsbt2017.exe, the "installation channel" from https://aka.ms/vs/15/release/channel and name it vs2017.chman, and I create an empty directory for the installation at C:\vs2017.
When I try this command in Command Prompt, it does not return immediately, waits a few seconds, then returns. My install path remains empty. No error message is printed to the terminal. %ERRORLEVEL% is 1.
start /wait .\vsbt2017.exe --quiet --wait --norestart --nocache --installPath C:\vs2017 --channelUri C:\vs2017.chman --installChannelUri C:\vs2017.chman --add "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools;includeRecommended"
When I try this command in PowerShell, I get the same results. The analog of this command works for me for VSBT 2019, so it's really puzzling why it doesn't work for 2017.
Start-Process -FilePath C:\vsbt2017.exe -ArgumentList "--quiet --wait --norestart --nocache --installPath C:\vs2017 --channelUri C:\vs2017.chman --installChannelUri C:\vs2017.chman --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools;includeRecommended" -Wait -PassThru
If it makes a difference, I already have VSBT 2019 installed on this VM, but I've read in Microsoft's documentation that multiple versions can be installed simultaneously.
Almost two years ago, I asked a similar question about the 2019 Build Tools installer. This time, I need to install the 2017 Build Tools. The reason is that I need to figure out why someone else's installation of Visual Studio 2017 doesn't work, so I need to test with their version. "Just install Visual Studio 2019" is not an acceptable answer to this question.