Install vcredist_x64 with VS2017 installer project - visual-studio-2017

Question

I currently want to create a installer for a VS2017 project. This project has as prerequisite vcredist_x64.
To create an installer I have installed:
- ClickOnce Publishing (via VS2017 installer)
- Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Installer Projects (VS2017 Addon by Microsoft)
Now I created a setup project and in properties => prerequisite I selected Visual C++ "14" Runtime Libraries (x64) and Download prerequisites from the component vendor's web site.
If I now start created setup.exe I'm getting on my target machine an error during installing of prerequisites: The following packages could not be found: (there is not a single packages listed).
Log file:
The following properties have been set:
Property: [AdminUser] = true {boolean}
Property: [InstallMode] = HomeSite {string}
Property: [NTProductType] = 1 {int}
Property: [ProcessorArchitecture] = AMD64 {string}
Property: [VersionNT] = 10.0.0 {version}
Running checks for package 'Visual C++ "14" Runtime Libraries (x64)', phase BuildList
Running MsiProductCheck with ProductCode '{C99E2ADC-0347-336E-A603-F1992B09D582}'
MsiQueryProductState returned '-1'
Setting value '-1 {int}' for property 'VCRedistInstalled'
The following properties have been set for package 'Visual C++ "14" Runtime Libraries (x64)':
Property: [VCRedistInstalled] = -1 {int}
Running checks for command 'vc_redist.x64.exe'
Result of running operator 'ValueGreaterThanEqualTo' on property 'VCRedistInstalled' and value '3': false
Result of running operator 'ValueEqualTo' on property 'AdminUser' and value 'false': false
Result of running operator 'ValueNotEqualTo' on property 'ProcessorArchitecture' and value 'AMD64': false
Result of running operator 'VersionLessThan' on property 'VersionNT' and value '6.00': false
Result of checks for command 'vc_redist.x64.exe' is 'Install'
'Visual C++ "14" Runtime Libraries (x64)' RunCheck result: Install Needed
Installation of components 'Visual C++ "14" Runtime Libraries (x64)' was accepted.
Copying files to temporary directory "C:\Users\blubb_user\AppData\Local\Temp\VSD1A14.tmp\"
Error: The following package files could not be found:
In VS 2015 I had same trouble. Fix there was to fix PublicKey in bootstrapp file. But I was not able to find correct PublicKey. I was trying using the PublicKey of signature of matching installer. In C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\ClickOnce Bootstrapper\Packages\vcredist_x64\product.xml GUID C99E2ADC-0347-336E-A603-F1992B09D582 is mentioned, so I looked for setup with this GUID in C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\ and took this PublicKey.
Any idea how to fix it for VS2017?
Update (Solution):
I was able to fix it for me (VS2017 Update 7):
In packages.xml (C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\ClickOnce Bootstrapper\Packages\vcredist_x64\en) path of VCRedistExe was invalid.
Instead of
<String Name="VCRedistExe">https://aka.ms/vs/15/release/26405.00/VC_Redist.x64.exe</String>
I have now
<String Name="VCRedistExe">https://aka.ms/vs/15/release/26429.04/VC_Redist.x64.exe</String>
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\ClickOnce Bootstrapper\Packages\vcredist_x64\product.xml I changed too
<Product xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/2004/01/bootstrapper" ProductCode="Microsoft.Visual.C++.14.0.x64">
<!-- Defines list of files to be copied on build -->
<PackageFiles CopyAllPackageFiles="false">
<PackageFile Name="vc_redist.x64.exe" HomeSite="VCRedistExe" PublicKey="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" />
</PackageFiles>
<InstallChecks>
<MsiProductCheck Property="VCRedistInstalled" Product="{03EBF679-E886-38AD-8E70-28658449F7F9}"/>
</InstallChecks>
<!-- Defines how to invoke the setup for the Visual C++ 14.0 redist -->
<Commands Reboot="Defer">
<Command PackageFile="vc_redist.x64.exe" Arguments=' /q '>
<!-- These checks determine whether the package is to be installed -->
<InstallConditions>
<BypassIf Property="VCRedistInstalled" Compare="ValueGreaterThanOrEqualTo" Value="3"/>
<!-- Block install if user does not have admin privileges -->
<FailIf Property="AdminUser" Compare="ValueEqualTo" Value="false" String="AdminRequired"/>
<!-- Block install on any platform other than x64 -->
<FailIf Property="ProcessorArchitecture" Compare="ValueNotEqualTo" Value="AMD64" String="InvalidOS"/>
<!-- Block install on Vista or below -->
<FailIf Property="VersionNT" Compare="VersionLessThan" Value="6.00" String="InvalidPlatformWinNT"/>
</InstallConditions>
<ExitCodes>
<ExitCode Value="0" Result="Success"/>
<ExitCode Value="3010" Result="SuccessReboot"/>
<DefaultExitCode Result="Fail" FormatMessageFromSystem="true" String="GeneralFailure" />
</ExitCodes>
</Command>
</Commands>
</Product>
I'm not sure about Product="{03EBF679-E886-38AD-8E70-28658449F7F9}", because Setup has GUID {80586c77-db42-44bb-bfc8-7aebbb220c00} (MsiProductCheck does not work with it), so I took GUID from Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 x64 Minimum Runtime - 14.14.26429. Another possibility is to use GUID from Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 x64 Additional Runtime - 14.14.26429 ({B12F584A-DE7A-3EE3-8EC4-8A64DBC0F2A7}). Minimum and Additional Runtime will be installed with script above, so it should doesn't matter which GUID we take.

Answer 1

I had this problem with the x86 redist and was eventually able to blame everything on the MS supplied vcredist_x86\product.xml file. You should be able to apply the same fix to the vcredist_x64\product.xml file.
The problem arises due to file name and public key mismatches with the actual redist file that you download from MS.
You must change the name in both the PackageFiles\PackageFile node and Commands\Command node of product.xml to vcredist_x64.exe, as well as renaming the redist package from MS to vcredist_x64.exe. Then, change the publickey attribute in the PackageFile node to match the public key of the EXE you got from MS. You can get this by looking at the EXE's SHA1 certificate with File Explorer (Properties -> Digital Signatures (SHA1) -> Details -> View Certificate -> Details -> Public Key)

Answer 2

Same problem. Microsoft had a typo in their bootstrapper file. In C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\ClickOnce Bootstrapper\Packages\vcredist_x86\product.xml
replace vcredist_x86.exe with vc_redist.x86.exe and reload Visual Studio.

Answer 3

For vs2015,vs2017,vs2019: I had to right-click select Properties on the VC_redist.x86.exe file, then select Digital Signatures tab, select sha256 (not sha1) as above, then Details button to get the Certificate properties window, then the Details tab on that. Then I had to scroll down to Public Key. From there I had to select and Ctrl+C copy the hexadecimal Public key text from the ASCII dump window below since the Copy to File button only creates .cer files. Then I had to edit the product.xml file in Notepad++ launched in Administrator mode or else you won't be able to save the updated file. After pasting the Public key text into the product.xml file, I had to select the lines of the key and replace all the spaces separating the hex digits with "". Then I replaced the PublicKey value and finally saved.
Does anyone else think it odd that in 2020 the vc_redist.*.exe file still has no versioning reflected in the name, that the download site doesn't indicate the version in the text, does not indicate the public key, and that therefore the only way to know it's been updated since you last downloaded it is to compare the file size with your last version?
Update 2020-11-04: After downloading the latest redist from https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads and updating product.xml as above, when installing my application with the updated msi, I get an error indicating "The following package files could not be found: vc_runtimeMinimum_x64.msi". In comparing the vc_redist exe I downloaded today to the one I had been using, I noted it is smaller. Looks like I get to go back to an older version.