Share via

Visual Studio “15” Preview Known Issues

  • Article

 

Summary

Microsoft released Visual Studio "15" Preview on March 30, 2016. This article lists the known issues for Visual Studio "15" Preview.

To see the Visual Studio “15” downloads, go to the Visual Studio Downloads website.

Visual Studio "15" Preview details

Download the Visual Studio "15" Preview now.

Known issues

Installation

  • Issue: After you install Visual Studio "15" Preview and start Visual Studio, you install Visual Studio 2015 Update 2 (or an earlier version update). When you open Visual Studio "15" Preview again, you receive package load errors.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, restart Visual Studio "15" Preview. Visual Studio works correctly on the next start because the corrupted MEF cache is deleted, and fresh cache is built at restart.

  • Issue: Visual Studio "15" Preview expires 14 days after you install it on a computer that has Visual Studio 2015 RTM installed.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, install Visual Studio 2015 Update 1 or Update 2, or install Visual Studio "15" Preview on a physical or virtual machine that does not have Visual Studio 2015 RTM installed.

  • Issue: If Visual Studio "15" Preview Low Impact is installed, synchronized settings may not work after you sign in to the Visual Studio IDE.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, install Visual Studio "15" Preview (full installation). This forces Synchronized Settings to start working in the Low Impact installation.

  • Issue: The installation screen for Visual Studio "15" Preview language packs displays “ENU” in the language pack name instead of the actual language pack name.

    Symptoms: Those installing language packs of Visual Studio "15" Preview see the string "15 Preview Language Pack – ENU" on the installation screen even though the language pack is installing in the correct, selected language.

    Workaround: Not required.

  • Issue: In some cases, if Visual Studio "15" Preview is installed on the same computer as either Visual Studio 2013 or Visual Studio 2015, using Visual Studio 2013 or Visual Studio 2015 may cause package load errors. For example, you may receive the following error message:

    The 'Microsoft.VisualStudio.Editor.Implementation.EditorPackage' package did not load correctly. The problem may have been caused by a configuration change or by the installation of another extension. You can get more information by examining the file '%AppData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\ActivityLog.xml'. Restarting Visual Studio could help resolve this issue.

    However, restarting Visual Studio does not resolve the issue.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, follow these steps:

    1. In the %ProgramFiles(x86)% folder, locate the Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Immutable.10.0.dll file that is installed by Visual Studio "15" Preview. For example, locate the file in either of the following paths or a similar path:

      %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio 15.0\Common7\IDE\PublicAssemblies\Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Immutable.10.0.dll

      %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio\VS15Preview\Common7\IDE\PublicAssemblies\Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Immutable.10.0.dll

    2. Open an elevated Developer Command Prompt window (in any Visual Studio version).

    3. Run the following command:

      ngen uninstall <path of Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Immutable.10.0.dll>

NuGet

  • Issue: You experience the following symptoms:

    • Opening a project with a package that contains an init.ps1 script either crash Visual Studio or the PowerShell Console fails to respond.

    • Installing a NuGet package together with an install.ps1 will either crash Visual Studio or the PowerShell Console fails to respond.

    • Web Publishing crashes Visual Studio or the PowerShell console fails to respond.

    • Package Manager Console does not work on a computer that does not have the latest updates to Windows 10 version 1511 installed.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, install Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1511: January 2016 (KB 3124263) or a later cumulative update.

    For more information, see GitHub issue #1638

  • Issue: NuGet v2 protocol redirects are broken.

    Custom NuGet repositories that redirect requests to an alternative host do not honor the redirect request.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, configure the package repository URI in settings to point to the redirected server location.

    For more information, see GitHub issue #387.

Testing tools

  • Issue: When you create a load test by using Visual Studio "15" Preview, unit tests and coded Web tests that are present in the project may not be displayed in the test mix list.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, follow these steps:

    1. Manually add a reference to Microsoft.VisualStudio.Platform.AppDomainManager.dll.

    2. Rebuild the solution.

    3. Edit or create the load test. These tests should now be available in the test mix.

  • Issue: If a previous version of Test Controller is installed side-by-side on the same computer as Visual Studio "15" Preview, you can't add a load test to the projects. When you try to add a load test, you may see multiple typeload exceptions and load tests won't be added to the project.

    There is no workaround for this issue. The recommendation is not to install Visual Studio "15" Preview and older Test Controller SxS on the same computer.

  • Issue: Code Coverage data collection for .NET code has these known limitations:

    • You cannot navigate to code when Code Coverage data collection is done together with tools that do IL rewriting (for example: Code Contracts).

    • Code Coverage data collection for .NET code cannot be used together with Fakes.

    • Code Coverage data collection for .NET code cannot be done by using CodeCoverage.exe.

      Workaround: To work around this issue, edit the CodeCoverage.config file, and set the following property as shown:

      false

    • Code Coverage data collection for .NET code cannot be done by using Vstest.console.exe in a situation in which the test DLL is starting another process.

      Workaround: To work around this issue, pass in an .rusettings file, and set the following property as shown:

      false

  • Issue: You cannot use the "Coded UI Test (Windows Phone)" UWP template or open an existing "Coded UI Test (Windows Phone)" UWP project. "Coded UI Test (Windows Phone)" is not supported in the Preview release.

Universal Windows App Projects

  • Issue: When you build a Universal Windows Project (UWP) application by using Visual Studio "15" Preview, the build fails and you receive the following error message:

    Error: Windows Runtime metadata is invalid in Windows SDK, follow the steps in https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=733341 to repair your installation.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, open the Programs and Features item in Control Panel to repair the Windows SDK 10.0.10586.15. For more information, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=733341.

Visual Studio SDK

  • Issue: When you use the Visual Studio "15" Preview VS SDK to build an extension to Visual Studio, the SDK includes VS assemblies that should not be included in the VSIX.

    Workaround: This issue occurs when you run an extension by using Visual Studio “15” Preview and may introduce issues in the future if your extension is installed by using a later version of Visual Studio “15” Preview.

    We plan to update the NuGet packages for the SDK to address this issue. You may want to update the NuGet packages in your project to apply this fix when it becomes available.

    We also recommend that you rebuild and redeploy your extension when an updated version of the Visual Studio “15” Preview SDK is released.

Visual Studio IDE

  • Issue: Visual Studio "15" Preview contains a bug that will frequently lead to a crash or hang when you use Navigate To in large solutions (more than 50 projects).

    Workaround: To work around this issue, use one of the following methods:

    • Unload non-critical projects in the solution (right-click the project in Solution Explorer -> Unload Project).

    • Avoid using the Navigate To feature in large solutions.

Visual Studio tools for Apache Cordova

  • Issue: If you install Visual Studio "15" Preview on a computer that has Visual Studio 2015 installed, building a Cordova project by using Visual Studio 2015 fails if you target the Windows platform and you use Cordova version 6.0.0 or a later version.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, add the following registry value:

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\15.0\14.0]

    WindowsSDK80Path="$(Registry:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeMicrosoftMicrosoft SDKsWindowsv8.1@InstallationFolder)"

Visual C++

  • Issue: PDBCopy for Visual C++ Universal Windows Project projects fails and returns code 11 when you use the Debug configuration. Additionally, the project does not include PDBs in the .appx package.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, follow these steps:

    1. Right-click the application project in Solution Explorer.

    2. Select Properties and expand the Linker menu item.

    3. Select Debugging, change the value for Generate Debug Info from Optimize for faster linking (/DEBUG:FASTLINK) to Optimize for debugging (/DEBUG).

    4. Clean the project, and then rebuild.

Workflow Tools

  • Issue: The Workflow v3.5 designer tools are not installed by default:

    The Workflow v3.5 designer tools are not installed by default starting in Visual Studio "15" Preview. You cannot create a Workflow v3.5 project in Visual Studio "15" Preview because the Workflow v3.5 project templates are not installed by default. The existing Workflow v3.5 projects that are created by previous Visual Studio versions also cannot be opened.

    Workaround: Workflow v3.5 designer tools are part of “Microsoft Office Developer Tools” starting in Visual Studio "15" Preview. You can install Workflow v3.5 designer tools in the following ways:

    • Select "Microsoft Office Developer Tools" feature during Visual Studio "15" Preview setup.

    • Change the existing Visual Studio "15" Preview installation through "Control Panel -> Programs" to install Office Developer Tools.

Web Platform and Tools

  • Issue: If you have a Visual Studio "15" Preview installation, and you create an empty ASP.NET 5 application and then try to add a scaffold to the project by using the Add New Scaffolded Item context menu item or Add Controller context menu item, the context menu item for scaffolding is ioncorrectly highlighted, and you receive an error message that says, The command Microsoft.Extensions.CodeGeneration could not be executed if you try to add a scaffold.

    Adding a scaffolded item works only when you use the ASP.NET 5 Web Application template. It does not work for the ASP.NET 5 Empty template because that template does not carry all the required dependencies to enable scaffolding.

  • Issue: When you install Visual Studio "15" Preview and then you create a Web Job and publish it as a scheduled web job to Azure, the publishing succeeds. However, the job does not run on schedule.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, install Azure SDK 2.9 from here: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=746956.

  • Issue: When you install Visual Studio "15" Preview, browse to an Azure Web App, and then select View Settings from the context menu, the logs pane does not work, and tab for the pane is surrounded by the texts "#if !VS15" and "#endif."

    Workaround: To work around this issue, install Azure SDK 2.9 from here: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=746956. In Azure SDK 2.9, the tab and extra text are removed.

  • Issue: After you install Visual Studio "15" Preview, and you try to publish an ASP.NET 5 web application by using npm / Bower (for example, you publish an application that is created by using the default ASP.NET 5 Web Application template), you may experience one of the following errors:

    Executing script 'prepublish' in project.json

    C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v15.0\Web\Microsoft.DNX.Publishing.targets(151,5): Error : 'npm' is not recognized as an internal or external command,

    C:Program Files (x86)MSBuildMicrosoftVisualStudiov15.0WebMicrosoft.DNX.Publishing.targets(151,5): Error : operable program or batch file.

    C:Program Files (x86)MSBuildMicrosoftVisualStudiov15.0WebMicrosoft.DNX.Publishing.targets(151,5): Error : The 'prepublish' script failed with status code 1.

    1>Publish failed due to build errors. Check the error list for more details.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, use one of the following methods:

    • This error does not reproduce if the computer has Visual Studio 2015 installed side-by-side with Visual Studio "15" Preview.

    • Add the following two paths to the PATH environment variable in the Command Prompt window that is used to start Visual Studio:

      • %DevEnvDir%ExtensionsMicrosoftWeb ToolsExternal

      • %DevEnvDir%ExtensionsMicrosoftWeb ToolsExternalGit

    • Add the following paths to the PATH environment variable in System Environment Variables:

      • C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft Visual Studio 15.0Common7IDEExtensionsMicrosoftWeb ToolsExternal

      • C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft Visual Studio 15.0Common7IDEExtensionsMicrosoftWeb ToolsExternalGit

    • Install npm, Bower, and Git globally.

  • Issue: If you are not signed in to an account by using Azure Subscriptions, and you create a web application of any kind by pressing OK in the ASP.NET Project dialog box that has the Host In Cloud option selected, the App Service provisioning dialog box opens. The first time in a session that you press the Cancel button in the dialog box, a message is displayed that indicates that the "Object reference is not set to an instance of an object." When you press Cancel the next time, the dialog box does not contain this message.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, clear the Host In Cloud check box or sign in to Azure. Or, install Azure SDK 2.9 from here: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=746956.

  • Issue: When you create an ASP.NET 5 web application by using Visual Studio "15" Preview, or you open an existing ASP.NET 5 Web Application by using Visual Studio "15" Preview, you notice that there is no colorization or Intellisense for Razor tag helpers.

    Workaround: To work around this issue, edit the _ViewImports.cshtml file so that there are no quotation marks around the @addTagHelper value. This helps to restore Razor tag helper support.

    For example, in the _ViewImports.cshtml file, change from:

    @addTagHelper "*, Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.TagHelpers"

    to:

    @addTagHelper *, Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.TagHelpers

Applies to

  • Visual Studio Enterprise "15" Preview