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You can share extensions within your organization by hosting them on a private gallery on your intranet or other internal infrastructure. Private galleries currently use Atom (RSS) feeds to list available extensions that Visual Studio can discover through the Extension Manager.
Note
A new private gallery model is being developed. The Atom-based approach described here continues to work, but watch for announcements about the updated mechanism.
Set up a private gallery
A private gallery is an Atom feed (XML file) that describes the available extensions. You host this feed on a web server, network share, or any location accessible to your target users.
For details on creating the Atom feed, see Create an Atom feed for a private gallery ↗. You can also use the VsixUtil tool to generate feeds — see Create a VSIX feed for a private gallery ↗.
Add a private gallery in Visual Studio
- In Visual Studio, go to Tools > Options.
- Navigate to Environment > Extensions.
- Select Add to add a new gallery.
- In the Name field, enter a name for your private gallery (for example,
My Organization Extensions). - In the URL field, enter the URL to the Atom feed or other feed hosting the extensions.
- Select OK to save.
The private gallery now appears in the Extensions > Manage Extensions dialog under Online.
Install extensions from a private gallery
- In Visual Studio, go to Extensions > Manage Extensions.
- Select Online and choose your private gallery from the list on the left.
- Browse or search for the extension you want to install.
- Select Download to schedule the installation.
- Close all instances of Visual Studio to complete the installation.
Update extensions from a private gallery
When an updated version of an extension is available in the private gallery, Visual Studio detects the update automatically. Check for updates in Extensions > Manage Extensions > Updates.
Manage private galleries using registry settings
You can also add private galleries through the Windows registry or distribute a .pkgdef file with your extension that registers the gallery automatically. For more information, see Manage a private gallery using registry settings ↗.