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Boxstarter-based automated install fails with VS2022 workload #61690
Description
Version
main branch (and lower branches down to v20.x)
Platform
Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64 (Windows 11 25H2)
Subsystem
build
What steps will reproduce the bug?
On Windows 11 25H2
Test setup
Follow the instructions in https://docs.chocolatey.org/en-us/choco/uninstallation/ to uninstall any Chocolatey installation. Similarly, uninstall any Boxstarter installation in C:\ProgramData\Boxstarter and associated environment variables.
From Windows Settings > Apps > Installed Apps delete any of:
- Git
- Microsoft Visual Studio Installer
- Python & Python Installer
Delete:
C:\Python314C:\Program Files\NASM
Restart system
Test
Open a Windows PowerShell (5.1) terminal window and execute the following commands taken from https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/BUILDING.md#option-3-automated-install-with-boxstarter
Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Force
iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://boxstarter.org/bootstrapper.ps1'))
get-boxstarter -Force
Install-BoxstarterPackage https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nodejs/node/HEAD/tools/bootstrap/windows_boxstarter -DisableReboots
refreshenv
How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?
Hard error, always reproducible.
What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?
It is expected that running the script as documented in BUILDING > Option 3: Automated install with Boxstarter will install:
- Git for Windows with the
gitand
Unix tools added to thePATH - Python 3.x
- Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools
with Visual C++ workload - NetWide Assembler
What do you see instead?
In logs:
Unhandled Exception: System.ArgumentException: --add
Opening Visual Studio Installer shows:
- Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 17.14.25 installed
- NO "Desktop development with C++" nor components that should have been installed:
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Tools.ARM64Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.ATL.ARM64Microsoft.NetCore.Component.SDKMicrosoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Llvm.ClangMicrosoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Llvm.ClangToolset
Logs show:
VERBOSE: Using a local installer executable: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vs_installer.exe
Installing visualstudio2022-workload-vctools...
Unhandled Exception: System.ArgumentException: --add
Parameter name: --add
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Installer.CommandLine.CommandLineParser.HandleMultiInstanceOption(String option, IEnumerable`1 args)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Installer.CommandLine.CommandLineParser.MergeMultiInstanceOption(IEnumerable`1 args)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Installer.CommandLine.CommandLineParser.PreProcessArgs(IEnumerable`1 args, Boolean& finalizeInstall, Boolean& uninstallSelf)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Installer.CommandLine.CommandLineParser.Parse(IEnumerable`1 args)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Installer.Program.CreateParserResult(IServiceContainer services, String[] args)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Installer.Program.Main(String[] args)
[1a20:0001][2026-02-05T15:56:16] Releasing singleton lock.
The following are installed as shown by choco list:
Chocolatey v2.6.0
Boxstarter 3.0.3
Boxstarter.Bootstrapper 3.0.3
Boxstarter.Chocolatey 3.0.3
Boxstarter.Common 3.0.3
Boxstarter.HyperV 3.0.3
Boxstarter.WinConfig 3.0.3
chocolatey 2.6.0
chocolatey-compatibility.extension 1.0.0
chocolatey-core.extension 1.4.0
chocolatey-dotnetfx.extension 1.0.1
chocolatey-visualstudio.extension 1.13.0
chocolatey-windowsupdate.extension 1.0.5
dotnetfx 4.8.0.20220524
git 2.53.0
git.install 2.53.0
KB2919355 1.0.20160915
KB2919442 1.0.20160915
KB2999226 1.0.20181019
KB3033929 1.0.5
KB3035131 1.0.3
nasm 3.1.0
python3 3.14.3
python314 3.14.3
tmp582D.tmp 1.0.0
vcredist140 14.50.35719
vcredist2015 14.0.24215.20170201
visualstudio2022buildtools 117.14.24
visualstudio-installer 2.0.7
28 packages installed.
Boxstarter install failure.log
Additional information
The last release of chocolatey/boxstarter was 3.0.3 in Oct 6, 2023. It is bundled with choco@1.1.0, not the current chocolatey@2.6.0.
If the following failing command is run directly in choco rather than through Boxstarter, it works, so it looks like there is a compatibility issue with Boxstarter:
choco install visualstudio2022-workload-vctools -y --params="--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Tools.ARM64 --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.ATL.ARM64 --add Microsoft.NetCore.Component.SDK --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Llvm.Clang --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Llvm.ClangToolset"Also Boxstarter is only compatible with the legacy Windows PowerShell 5, not with PowerShell 7 (see issue chocolatey-community/boxstarter#353 from Oct 2018).
Activity
MikeMcC399 commentedon Feb 5, 2026
I couldn't find a fix for this, and given that Boxstarter hasn't been updated for more than 2 years, it may be necessary to mark the Boxstarter installation method as legacy or remove it.
The WinGet method is much more reliable than
chocoand well integrated into Windows. WinGet installation is covered in:https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/BUILDING.md#option-2-automated-install-with-winget
StefanStojanovic commentedon Feb 10, 2026
I'd be OK with removing Boxstarter. I've personally never used it, and since it's not working for you, I suspect not many people have tried it over the last few years. I'm open to hearing other opinions, as my understanding might be incorrect, but as far as I'm concerned, removing it from the docs would be welcome.
MikeMcC399 commentedon Feb 10, 2026
I'll wait one more week and if there are no different opinions, I'll go ahead with a PR to remove the Boxstarter section.
To reverse my opinion it would need Chocolatey / Boxstarter to release a new version which:
chocobundled into BoxstarterLooking at the fact that the last release of Boxstarter is more than 2 years ago, I wouldn't expect it to be revived and updated.
MikeMcC399 commentedon Feb 12, 2026
I decided not to wait any longer. I don't really expect anybody else to come up with a different solution, so I have now submitted #61785
doc: remove obsolete Boxstarter automated install
doc: remove obsolete Boxstarter automated install
MikeMcC399 commentedon Apr 4, 2026
Reconfirmed that there has been no new release https://github.com/chocolatey/boxstarter/releases since Oct 6, 2023
doc: remove obsolete Boxstarter automated install
doc: remove obsolete Boxstarter automated install
doc: remove obsolete Boxstarter automated install
doc: remove obsolete Boxstarter automated install