VSIXInstaller.exe exit code documentation

Question

When launching VSIXInstaller.exe from our application, we're trying to use the ExitCode property on the Process object to determine if the package was successfully installed, but we've found that the exit code is 0 even if the user clicks the 'Cancel' button on the dialog.

I expected that there would be some other code returned in that scenario, similar to what msiexec does.

However, when I searched for documentation about the exit codes VSIXInstaller uses, I don't find anything. I'm looking for something along these lines.

Answer 1

These exit codes come from various inheritors of the Microsoft.VisualStudio.ExtensionManager.ExtensionManagerException class:

1001 ExtensionManager.AlreadyInstalledException  
1002 ExtensionManager.NotInstalledException  
1003 ExtensionManager.NotPendingDeletionException  
1005 ExtensionManager.IdentifierConflictException  
1006 ExtensionManager.MissingTargetFrameworkException  
1007 ExtensionManager.MissingReferencesException  
1008 ExtensionManager.BreaksExistingExtensionsException  
1009 ExtensionManager.InstallByMsiException  
1010 ExtensionManager.SystemComponentException  
1011 ExtensionManager.MissingPackagePartException  
1012 ExtensionManager.InvalidExtensionManifestException  
1013 ExtensionManager.InvalidExtensionPackageException  
1014 ExtensionManager.NestedExtensionInstallException  
1015 ExtensionManager.RequiresAdminRightsException  
1016 ExtensionManager.ProxyCredentialsRequiredException  
1017 ExtensionManager.InvalidPerMachineOperationException  
1018 ExtensionManager.ReferenceConstraintException  
1019 ExtensionManager.DependencyException  
1020 ExtensionManager.InconsistentNestedReferenceIdException  
1021 ExtensionManager.UnsupportedProductException  
1022 ExtensionManager.DirectoryExistsException  
1023 ExtensionManager.FilesInUseException  
1024 ExtensionManager.CannotUninstallOrphanedComponentsException
1025 ExtensionManager.CorruptInstanceException
1026 ExtensionManager.RunFromEnginePathLocationException

2001 VSIXInstaller.InvalidCommandLineException  
2002 VSIXInstaller.InvalidLicenseException  
2003 VSIXInstaller.NoApplicableSKUsException
2004 VSIXInstaller.BlockingProcessesException
2005 VSIXInstaller.UserCancelledException

3001 means any other exception.

P.S. To escape the situation of getting the zero exit-code when a user clicks "Cancel", use silent installation (/quiet flag in the command line) if it is appropriate in your scenario.

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Edit: As of Visual Studio 2017 15.7, VSIXInstaller returns the exit code of 2005 if the user cancels the installation.