Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 setup log files

The installers for the .NET Framework 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008 chain several different prerequisites and optional components behind the scenes.  If one of these setups fails, there are numerous possible causes due to the number of packages being chained behind the scenes.  The following provides a list of log files created by the setup wrappers for each product and the child packages that are chained in during installation. 

.NET Framework 3.5 setup log files

The following is a complete list of log files that can be produced during .NET Framework 3.5 setup.  This list may vary depending on what OS you are installing on, what processor architecture, and what prerequisite components were already installed on the system prior to running .NET Framework 3.5 setup.

Logs produced by the .NET Framework 3.5 setup wrapper:

  • %temp%\dd_dotnetfx35install.txt
  • %temp%\dd_dotnetfx35error.txt
  • %temp%\dd_depcheck_netfx*.txt

Logs produced by the packages chained during .NET Framework 3.5 setup:

  • RGB Rasterizer - %temp%\dd_RGB9Rast_*.txt
  • MSXML 6.0 - %temp%\dd_msxml6_*.txt
  • WIC - %temp%\dd_wic*.txt
  • .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 - %temp%\dd_net_framework20*.txt
  • .NET Framework 3.0 SP1 - %temp%\dd_net_framework30*.txt
  • .NET Framework 3.0 SP1 WCF custom action - %temp%\dd_wcf_retCA*.txt
  • .NET Framework 3.5 product MSI - %temp%\dd_net_framework35*.txt

Visual Studio 2008 setup log files

The following is a complete list of log files that can be produced during Visual Studio 2008 setup.  This list may vary depending on what OS you are installing on, what processor architecture, and what prerequisite components were already installed on the system prior to running Visual Studio 2008 setup.

In addition to the logs listed below, Visual Studio 2008 setup can produce the logs listed above for the .NET Framework 3.5 because the .NET Framework 3.5 is a prerequisite that is chained in during Visual Studio 2008 setup if it is not already installed on the system.

Logs produced by the Visual Studio 2008 setup wrapper:

  • %temp%\dd_install*.txt
  • %temp%\dd_error*.txt
  • %temp%\dd_depcheck*.txt
  • VSMsiLog*.txt - located in your %temp% directory during Visual Studio 2008 setup; moved to %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\<product name>\Logs after a successful installation; left in %temp% after a failed installation and after uninstallation

Logs produced by the packages chained during Visual Studio 2008 setup:

  • Windows Installer 3.1 - %windir%\KB893803v2.log
  • .NET Framework 3.5 - see the full list of logs at the top of this post
  • Visual Studio 2008 64bit Prerequisites - %temp%\dd_prereq*.txt
  • Document Explorer 2008 - %temp%\dd_dexplore*90*.txt
  • Web Designer Tools - %temp%\SetupExe(*).txt
  • .NET Compact Framework 2.0 SP2 - %temp%\dd_netcfsetupv2*.txt
  • .NET Compact Framework 3.5 - %temp%\dd_netcfsetupv35*.txt
  • Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime 3.0 - %temp%\dd_vstor*.txt
  • Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System Runtime - %temp%\dd_vsto_ret20*.txt
  • SQL Server Compact Edition 3.5 - %temp%\dd_SSCERuntime*.txt
  • SQL Server Compact Edition 3.5 Design Tools - %temp%\dd_SQLCEToolsForVS2007*.txt
  • SQL Server Compact Edition 3.5 For Devices - %temp%\dd_SSCEDeviceRuntime*.txt
  • Windows Mobile 5.0 SDK R2 for Pocket PC - %temp%\dd_WMPPC_5_0*.txt
  • Windows Mobile 5.0 SDK R2 for Smartphone - %temp%\dd_WMSP_5_0*.txt
  • Device Emulator version 3.0 - %temp%\dd_64bitEmulator*.txt, %temp%\dd_EmulatorForWinXP*.txt and/or %temp%\dd_Emulator*.txt
  • SQL Server 2005 Express Edition - %programfiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\LOG\Files\*.*
  • Visual Studio 2008 Remote Debugger - %temp%\dd_rdbg*.txt
  • Windows SDK - %temp%\dd_winsdk*.txt
  • Visual Studio Performance Collection Tools - %temp%\dd_Performance_Collection_Tools*.txt
  • Crystal Reports - %temp%\dd_CrystalReports2007*.txt

Logs produced by the packages chained during Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition setups:

  • Windows Installer 3.1 - %windir%\KB893803v2.log
  • .NET Framework 3.5 - see the full list of logs at the top of this post
  • SQL Server Compact Edition 3.5 - %temp%\dd_SSCERuntime*.txt
  • SQL Server Compact Edition 3.5 Design Tools - %temp%\dd_SQLCEToolsForVS2007*.txt
  • Visual Studio 2008 Remote Debugger Light - %temp%\dd_ExpRemoteDbg*.txt
  • Windows SDK - %temp%\dd_winsdk*.txt
  • MSDN for Visual Studio Express Editions - %temp%\dd_MSDNExp*.txt
  • Silverlight 1.0 - %temp%\Silverlight*.txt

Logs produced by the MSDN for Visual Studio 2008 setup wrapper:

  • %temp%\dd_install_MSDN_VS_90*.txt
  • %temp%\dd_error_MSDN_VS_90*.txt
  • %temp%\dd_depcheck_MSDN_VS_90*.txt
  • VSMsiLog*.txt - located in your %temp% directory during MSDN setup; moved to %ProgramFiles%\MSDN\MSDN9.0\<product name>\Logs after a successful installation; left in %temp% after a failed installation and after uninstallation

Logs produced by Visual Studio 2008 SP1:

  • %temp%\Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 SP1*.*  

If you run into any issues while installing the .NET Framework 3.5, Visual Studio 2008 or MSDN for Visual Studio 2008 and plan to report setup issues to Microsoft via the product feedback site or the MSDN Forums, please locate and include any of the above log files if possible because it will make it easier for us to debug the failures and find root causes and workarounds.

<update date="10/4/2007"> Added a log file to the .NET Framework 3.5 list for the WCF custom action that I missed previously </update>

<update date="1/11/2008"> Added Silverlight log files to the list for VS 2008 Express Editions since it was added as a chained component between the time I wrote this blog post and the time that VS 2008 shipped. </update>

<update date="5/23/2008"> Added log file information for Visual Studio 2008 SP1 </update>

<update date="11/20/2009"> Fixed broken link to the product feedback site. </update>