January 11, 2021 at 2:39 pm
Hello experts,
I've run into an issue that many others on the internet seem to report: Although it is free, VS 2017 Community Edition starts presenting a license expired error after 30 days.
The main workaround has been to sign into a Microsoft account. However, that workaround doesn't work for computers that are not allowed to access the internet. I am having that issue for a server that is not allowed to go out to the internet for the necessary sign-in.
Does anyone know either (1) am offline/non-internet solution or (2) a way to get a valid Community Edition license?
Thanks for any help. I can provide error text if needed.
-- webrunner
-------------------
A SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. He walks up to them and asks, "Can I join you?"
Ref.: http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2009/02/sql-joke.html
January 11, 2021 at 4:11 pm
Pretty sure it needs access to the internet to do what is needed for license validation.
That being said, why do you need this installed on a server? I don't think I have ever installed visual studio on a server. I always just put it on a development machine.
If the server is in offline mode, can it be granted access to the web site temporarily to do the license validation?
Also, what happens after the license expires on community edition? I've not had it expire, but I expect that it will continue to function, possibly just with a nag screen.
The above is all just my opinion on what you should do.
As with all advice you find on a random internet forum - you shouldn't blindly follow it. Always test on a test server to see if there is negative side effects before making changes to live!
I recommend you NEVER run "random code" you found online on any system you care about UNLESS you understand and can verify the code OR you don't care if the code trashes your system.
January 11, 2021 at 5:11 pm
Thanks, Brian, for your response.
That being said, why do you need this installed on a server? I don't think I have ever installed visual studio on a server. I always just put it on a development machine.
This issue falls under the "we've done it like this for years." The client somehow got VS 2015 installed on the server and assumed that was the standard. If necessary I suppose I can try to talk them out of it since our Systems team also asked the question you did.
If the server is in offline mode, can it be granted access to the web site temporarily to do the license validation?
I'll try that. Thanks.
Also, what happens after the license expires on community edition? I've not had it expire, but I expect that it will continue to function, possibly just with a nag screen.
I tried that, but the only option available at that point is "Exit Studio" 🙁
Thanks again, I will see if there is a way to temporarily get to the internet to do the sign-in.
-- webrunner
-------------------
A SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. He walks up to them and asks, "Can I join you?"
Ref.: http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2009/02/sql-joke.html
January 12, 2021 at 5:38 pm
How did you build/download the original installation package?
We run VS2017 on a few clients, all 100% disconnected from the internet. Downloading the package is a bit of a pain, getting all the dependencies together; but once done, we haven't had issues of "phone home" activation.
January 12, 2021 at 7:36 pm
Thanks for your reply, Andy. I don't recall exactly, but basically I downloaded VS 2017 Community Edition to my local computer, ran some steps to get the offline files, then copied all of that to the server. It is possibly I didn't do the download correctly, or that I downloaded the wrong files.
At this point, the clients have decided to pursue asking for Enterprise or Professional licenses to get around the Community Edition sign-in issue.
Thanks again.
-- webrunner
-------------------
A SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. He walks up to them and asks, "Can I join you?"
Ref.: http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2009/02/sql-joke.html
January 12, 2021 at 7:47 pm
From a cost perspective, it will probably be cheaper to install visual studio on the developer machines rather than getting enterprise/professional licenses for all of the developers so they can use it on the server.
I would recommend using the offline installer method described by Microsoft:
Unless you already did that.
I would still be pushing for getting this uninstalled from the server. Visual studio is not very light on resources, so I wouldn't want visual studio running on any server (test or live) if I could avoid it. I imagine there are some use cases where having it on there is required, but if it isn't required, I'd much rather bog down my local machine than bog down a server.
The above is all just my opinion on what you should do.
As with all advice you find on a random internet forum - you shouldn't blindly follow it. Always test on a test server to see if there is negative side effects before making changes to live!
I recommend you NEVER run "random code" you found online on any system you care about UNLESS you understand and can verify the code OR you don't care if the code trashes your system.
January 13, 2021 at 6:56 am
If I come across this license expiry in the future, and find a solution/workaround, I'll try to remember to post here.
Andy
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