How can I bundle the VC++ 2015 redistributable with my ClickOnce (.NET) application?

Question

I have a C# application running on the .NET Framework 4.5 deployed via Microsoft ClickOnce. I also am utilizing a small utility from a Microsoft SDK called DComPerm.exe which is a C++ application that I had to compile separately. My main application uses Process.Start() to access this executable.

When I first tried running this on a client machine, I got an error message stating that VCRUNTIME140.dll was missing when the application tried to call DComPerm.exe.

This makes sense... since that program was compiled in C++ it needs the Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable package, which had not been installed on the client machine. I want to make this as painless as possible, so I was hoping I could bundle the VC++ 2015 Redist with my ClickOnce application. Under the project properties > Publish tab, there's a button for Prerequisites, which allows me to specify that the application should bundle the redistributable package.

That sounds great in theory, but it doesn't work. Now when I try to install my ClickOnce application on the client machine, it doesn't work. The installation fails and points me to a log file, which contains the following relevant information:

'Visual C++ "14" Runtime Libraries (x86)' RunCheck result: Install Needed

Installation of components 'Visual C++ "14" Runtime Libraries (x86)' was accepted.

Copying files to temporary directory "C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Temp\VSD3872.tmp\"

Downloading files to "C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Temp\VSD3872.tmp\"

(8/4/2016 12:57:48 PM) Downloading 'vcredist_x86\vcredist_x86.exe' from 'http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=800028&clcid=0x409' to 'C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Temp\VSD3872.tmp\'

Download completed at 8/4/2016 12:57:49 PM

Downloading failed with HRESULT=-2146697208

And that message makes it pretty clear what the problem is: the link that it's trying to use to download the redist package is dead. Only... I'm not sure how I can tell it to find the correct link. I'm quite surprised that it can't find it automagically as that seems like a bug with Visual Studio. Some searching revealed that the correct link is actually this one, but that's not what ClickOnce is resolving. I also saw that by checking the box this was the corresponding XML update to my csproj file:

<BootstrapperPackage Include="Microsoft.Visual.C++.14.0.x86">
  <Visible>False</Visible>
  <ProductName>Visual C++ "14" Runtime Libraries %28x86%29</ProductName>
  <Install>true</Install>
</BootstrapperPackage>

Is there some XML tag I can use to specify the location explicitly? Or how else can I fix this? How can I bundle the redistributable without breaking my application?

Charleencharlemagne

since that program was compiled in C++ it needs the Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable package Only if you link to the CRT DLLs. Why not link the CRT statically, instead (/MT, see CRT Library Features)? – Imposing

@Imposing what you're saying here sounds promising but I don't really understand it. Are you saying that it's possible to essentially build the DLL into the executable itself, thereby negating the need for a separate redistributable? – Charleencharlemagne

With the CRT statically linked the program won't depend on the VCRUNTIME DLLs. See for example How do I make a fully statically linked .exe with Visual Studio Express 2005? (it works the same for VS 2015). – Imposing

Answer 1

I had pretty much the exact same problem. You asked how to specify the download location that ClickOnce resolves. In order to do that, open

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\SDK\Bootstrapper\Packages\vcredist_x86\en\package.xml

and edit the attribute with Name="https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/..." to the correct URL. By the way, thanks for finding the correct download link, I hadn't been able to find it until seeing this post.

The VC++ Redis installed correctly on the client's computer after doing this.

Achromic

Thanks for your help! And just for reference, here's the link to the x64 version. – Charleencharlemagne