Win11 install very long pause during install of `visualstudio2017-workload-vctools`

[emtuls]

What's the problem?

When trying to install binaryninja.vm, it installs vcbuildtools.vm, which in turn installs visualstudio2017-workload-vctools, which seems to install for an extended period of time. Another issue of a 'hanging' during install (mandiant/flare-vm#636) makes it seem like this could be vcredist140 taking a long time to install? Not really sure.

Should we include some sort of indicator somewhere that this could take a long time?

Issue

During the installation of visualstudio2017-workload-vctools, it leads to the following issue which seems to halt installation for a very extended period of time. My VM did end up restarting and continuing the installation after leaving it up for some time, so it could just be a very long install with no indicator?

Warning: [15c0:0004][2025-07-28T21:21:18] The operation was canceled.
Warning: [15c0:0013][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Didn't find any channel feed.
Warning: [15c0:0004][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Didn't find any channel feed.
[15c0:0015][2025-07-28T21:21:18] WebClient error 'RequestCanceled' with 'https://aka.ms/vs/channels' - ExecuteWithRetryAsync failed along with a cancellation request
Warning: [15c0:0015][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Failed to get the HttpWebResponse while invoking a HEAD request against https://aka.ms/vs/channels:System.OperationCanceledException: The operation was canceled.
   at System.Threading.CancellationToken.ThrowOperationCanceledException()
   at System.Threading.CancellationToken.ThrowIfCancellationRequested()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Download.WebRequestService.<>c__DisplayClass9_0.<ExecuteWithRetryAsync>b__0(Object _)   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task`1.InnerInvoke()
   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Execute()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Download.DownloadManagerAuthenticationProxy.<MungeUriAsync>d__28.MoveNext()
[15c0:0015][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Download requested: https://aka.ms/vs/channels
Warning: [15c0:0015][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Failed to download channels file from https://aka.ms/vs/channels: A task was canceled.
[15c0:0017][2025-07-28T21:21:18] WebClient error 'RequestCanceled' with 'https://aka.ms/vs/installer/latest/feed' - ExecuteWithRetryAsync failed along with a cancellation request
Warning: [15c0:0017][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Failed to get the HttpWebResponse while invoking a HEAD request against https://aka.ms/vs/installer/latest/feed:System.OperationCanceledException: The operation was canceled.
   at System.Threading.CancellationToken.ThrowOperationCanceledException()
   at System.Threading.CancellationToken.ThrowIfCancellationRequested()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Download.WebRequestService.<>c__DisplayClass9_0.<ExecuteWithRetryAsync>b__0(Object _)   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task`1.InnerInvoke()
   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Execute()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Setup.Download.DownloadManagerAuthenticationProxy.<MungeUriAsync>d__28.MoveNext()
[15c0:0017][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Download requested: https://aka.ms/vs/installer/latest/feed
Warning: [15c0:0017][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Failed to update the latest installer feed A task was canceled.
Warning: [15c0:0017][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Didn't find any channel feed.
[15c0:0003][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Status changed to NoUpdate
Warning: [15c0:0004][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Didn't find any channel feed.
Warning: [15c0:0013][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Didn't find any channel feed.
[15c0:0012][2025-07-28T21:21:18] Authenticode verification returned 0x00000000 for path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\setup.exe.

Steps to Reproduce

Run flare-vm installer defaults (or just something that installs/uses vcbuildtools.vm, like binaryninja.vm)

Environment

Windows 11 install

Additional Information

No response

Detected by test suite

No

[Ana06]

If it is expected that visualstudio2017-workload-vctools takes long to install, so I think we should include it in the package description of vcbuildtools.vm as we did for other packages in #1401. The issue here is that this also affect every other package that needs vcbuildtools.vm and I think it is a bad idea to add it to all of them, as this is difficult to maintain.

I wonder if we can write something to the output as well or if this is something that can be reported upstream. Does visualstudio2017-workload-vctools also take long to install when installing it directly?