Visual Studio 2015 express missing amd64 option

4
votes

I have a problem with Visual Studio 2015 Express that it seems to be missing files needed to setup the environment for a 64 bit compilation.

I have installed both Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2015 for Windows 10 and Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2015 for Windows Desktop. Now when I call the vcvarsall.bat with the option amd64 to setup the environment for a 64bit compilation I get the error message:

"The specified configuration type is missing. The tools for the configuration might not be installed."

I check in my installations folder and I have vcvarsall.bat in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC but I'm missing vcvars64.bat in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\bin\amd64 which seems to be required. What am I missing?

2
visual-studio-201564-bitwindows-10visual-studio-express
You should install VS 2015 Community which has all the same features as VS 2015 Professional including the x64 toolset. Alternatively you can install the Microsoft Visual C++ Build Tools 2015 if all you really want is the toolset (i.e. not the IDE). - Chuck Walbourn
I see, but as I understand it VS 2015 Community is not free? I tried also to install the build tools but it still does not provide the needed files. - Christian Winther
VS 2015 Community is free if you meet the license terms. If you don't meet them, just buy Professional. I would definitely expect to find the x64 toolset in the Build Tools SKU. I'll investigate that tomorrow. Do you have any other files in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\bin\amd64? - Chuck Walbourn
Still I thought that the express version would include these? In C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\bin\amd64 I only have the DLL vcmeta.dll - Christian Winther
Ok. I had a closer look at the license terms and it seems that I'm eligible for the community version so I installed it and everything works now (the community version included the missing files). I leave the question open though until we get clarity and confirmation that it should or should not be included in the express version or if I did something wrong. - Christian Winther

2 Answers

3
votes

Visual Studio Express editions do not include the x64 toolset.

2
votes

If you only need the 64 bit compiler I recommend to install the Visual C++ 2015 Build Tools. However, you can't install it together with Visual Studio 2015 Express.