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"VS Shell installation has failed with exit code 1638" - Error message thrown as SQL Server 2017 installation fails

Owned by Arindam Banerjee (Unlicensed)
Last updated: May 03, 2020
1 min read

SYMPTOMS

While installing SQL Server 2017 one error message appers and the installation fails. The message is,

The following error has occurred:
VS Shell installation has failed with exit code 1638.

CAUSE

This error occurs as SQL Server setup doesn’t get the correct version of VC++ Runtime 2017. Generally SQL Server setup wizard determines the presence of its prerequisites and intimate to install the same if missing. Moreover, during the actual setup runs the SQL server setup wizard installs components like VC++ runtime. In this case, due to any reason, SQL server detects the presence of the runtime but actually unable to load that due to any version incompatibility.

RESOLUTION

  • Download and install latest version of Visual C++ Runtime 2017.

  • Reboot the system

  • Rety the setup.

Download the runtime from

https://support.microsoft.com/en-in/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads

Visual C++ 2015, 2017 and 2019 all share the same redistributable files. This is different from all previous Visual C++ versions, as they each had their own distinct runtime files, not shared with other versions.

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