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My system:

  • Windows 10 Professional 64-bit
  • Locked down via W10Privacy
  • SSLv3 and TLS 1.0 disabled
  • “System Cryptography: Use FIPS compliant algorithms” enabled in Group Policy Editor to deal with Schannel error in system logs that would occur 100+ times per minute.
  • SQL Server 2016 Developer
  • Visual Studio 2017 Community

Please note that all work was done in this order, with VS 2017 being one of the last things I installed, and I managed to successfully install a number of extensions before I ended up in VSIX hell.

All other things are default, vanilla configuration. Very little has been done to this machine since it has been rebuilt.

I was able to install a number of plugins to VS when it was initially installed, but suddenly everything came to a screeching halt with the GitHub update where VSIXInstaller started to show its error message for the first time. Somehow the GitHub update managed to install (the installer claims VS already has that version) but now all other plugins cease to install or update.

When attempting to install a plugin, I get the initial screen, where VSIX summarizes the plugin and asks where I want to install it (VSC 17).

enter image description here

When I click on the Install button, the next screen comes up but the progress bar barely has enough time to show itself before the installer completely locks up and the error message appears.

enter image description here

Any attempt to generate a log file using the elevated Developer command prompt:

vsixinstaller /logFile:d:\temp\log.txt extension.vsix

Fails to create a log file.

I have tried to repair Visual Studio.

I have tried to uninstall and reinstall it.

I have rebooted multiple times.

Nothing works. I am not quite sure how to proceed. Since my initial installation of VS and the addition of a number of plugins, I have done very little to alter this system, and especially not at a fundamental level. All that happened before I installed Visual Studio.

Edit: When I try to examine the error, it appears to be a DotNet exception:

enter image description here

But the DotNet repair tool has no effect.

The DotNet Framework Setup Verification Utility shows no issues from DotNet 2 through 4.7

Suggestions?

Edit 2: Holy crap, I can’t even uninstall prior extensions!! As in, those few I managed to install prior to everything going sideways are stuck in my system. I have no way of uninstalling them, as the exact same error occurs.

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  • look in eventlog for more details about the crash. for .net apps, you should see a managed callstck
    – magicandre1981
    Commented Sep 6, 2017 at 15:40

2 Answers 2

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After a lot of poking and prodding, I discovered that it was a combination of

  • SSLv3 and TLS 1.0 disabled
  • “System Cryptography: Use FIPS compliant algorithms” enabled in Group Policy Editor to deal with Schannel error in system logs that would occur 100+ times per minute.

Unfortunately Microsoft has yet to bring VS 2017 into the “modern world” such that it can deal purely with TLS 1.1+. The VS updater seems to be stuck on older, insecure protocols, and for the life of me I can’t understand why. My only option was to turn off the System Cryptography setting and deal with my system log files filling up with the Schannel errors.

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I am testing using Windows 10 and Visual Studio 2017 with a non-admin account for my organization.

When I run VS as non-admin and update extensions, after closing VS the vsix installer would run and then ask for admin password which I provided. Vsixinstaller.exe then "stopped working".

I got around this by running VS as the admin account and then installing the vsix updates. vsixinstaller did not ask for the admin password.

Hope this helps you to move forward.

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