Visual Studio Test Agent 2019 Silent Install (How-To Guide)

Visual Studio Test Agent 2019 supports running automated tests and load tests remotely. This article will serve as an informative guide and give you a clear understanding of how to perform a silent installation of Visual Studio Test Agent 2019 from the command line using the EXE installer.

How to Install Visual Studio Test Agent 2019 Silently

Visual Studio Test Agent 2019 Silent Install (EXE)

Navigate to: https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/vs_TestAgent.exe
Download the vs_TestAgent.exe to a folder created at (C:\Downloads)
Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
Navigate to the C:\Downloads folder
Enter the following command to extract the setup files:
- vs_TestAgent.exe --layout .\vs_TestAgent
Press Enter
Navigate to the C:\Downloads\vs_TestAgent folder
Enter the following command:
- vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --allWorkloads --includeRecommended --quiet --norestart
Press Enter

After a few minutes you will find Visual Studio entries in the Start Menu, Installation Directory, and Programs and Features in the Control Panel.

Software Title:	Visual Studio Test Agent 2019
Vendor:	Microsoft Corporation
Architecture:	x86_x64
Installer Type:	EXE
Silent Install Switch:	`vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --allWorkloads --includeRecommended --quiet --norestart`
Silent Uninstall Switch:	`vs_setup.exe uninstall --installPath "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\TestAgent" --quiet --norestart`
Download Link:	https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/vs_TestAgent.exe

The information above provides a quick overview of the software title, vendor, silent install, and silent uninstall switches. The download links provided take you directly to the vendors website. Continue reading if you are interested in additional details and configurations.

Additional Configurations

Change Default Installation Directory

You can change the default installation directory by using the following command line parameters. In this example, I’m installing Visual Studio Test Agent 2019 to “C:\vs_TestAgent2019”

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --installPath C:\vs_TestAgent2019 --allWorkloads --includeRecommended --quiet --norestart

Visual Studio Test Agent 2019 Silent Install Using Response File

Follow Steps 1-6 under “How to Install Visual Studio Test Agent 2019 Silently”
Open Notepad or your favorite text editor
Add the following lines:

{
  "installChannelUri": ".\\ChannelManifest.json",
  "channelUri": "https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/channel",
  "installCatalogUri": ".\\Catalog.json",
  "channelId": "VisualStudio.16.Release",
  "productId": "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Product.TestAgent",

  "includeRecommended": true,
  "quiet": true,
  "norestart": true,

  "addProductLang": [
    "en-US"
    ],

    "add": [
        "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.TestAgent"
    ]
}

Save the file to C:\Downloads\vs_TestAgent and name it: CustomInstall.json
Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
Navigate to the C:\Downloads\vs_TestAgent folder
Enter the following command:
- vs_setup.exe --quiet --nocache --wait --in C:\Downloads\vs_TestAgent\CustomInstall.json
Press Enter

Test Agent Silent Install

ID: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.TestAgent
Description: Supports running automated tests and load tests remotely

vs_setup.exe --nocache --wait --noUpdateInstaller --noWeb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.TestAgent;includeRecommended --quiet --norestart

How to Uninstall Visual Studio Test Agent 2019 Silently

Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
Enter the following command:

Visual Studio Test Agent 2019 Silent Uninstall (EXE)

vs_setup.exe uninstall --installPath "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\TestAgent" --quiet --norestart

Always make sure to test everything in a development environment prior to implementing anything into production. The information in this article is provided “As Is” without warranty of any kind.