VS Code `.NET install tool`: .NET install timed out.

[moritzluedtke]

I'm using the .NET Install Tool in VS Code as it came bundled with the Bicep plugin. When opening a Bicep file the Bicep plugin wants to initialize itself but fails to do so due to the error below.

Although the error says it's a timeout issue I suspect that this is not the case. The timeout is already quite high (600 seconds) and the command fails within a matter of seconds. Also no company VPN or such is being used.

macOS: 15.4.1
VS Code: 1.99.3
Bicep Plugin: 0.34.44
.NET Install Tool: 2.3.3

ms-azuretools.vscode-azure-github-copilot: Trying to install .NET 8.0.15~arm64~aspnetcore but it already exists. No downloads or changes were made.
ms-azuretools.vscode-azure-github-copilot tried to install .NET 8.0.15~arm64~aspnetcore but that install had already been requested. No downloads or changes were made.
ms-azuretools.vscode-bicep requested to download the .NET Runtime.
Downloading .NET version(s) 8.0.15~arm64 ...
Could not find the architecture of the dotnet host /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime/.dotnet/8.0.15~arm64/dotnet. If this host does not match the architecture arm64:
Please set the PATH to a dotnet host that matches the architecture arm64. An incorrect architecture will cause instability for the extension undefined.

...........
Error : (DotnetAcquisitionFinalError)
Failed to download .NET 8.0.15~arm64:
.NET Acquisition Failed: .NET install timed out.
You should change the timeout if you have a slow connection. See: https://github.com/dotnet/vscode-dotnet-runtime/blob/main/Documentation/troubleshooting-runtime.md#install-script-timeouts.
Our CDN may be blocked in China or experience significant slowdown, in which case you should install .NET manually., MESSAGE: Command failed: "/Users/USERNAME/.vscode/extensions/ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime-2.3.3/dist/install scripts/dotnet-install.sh" -InstallDir "/Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime/.dotnet/8.0.15~arm64" -Version 8.0.15 -Verbose -Runtime dotnet -Architecture arm64
cp: /var/folders/h0/3_gqlxds3cb6x9fmb3mdz1840000gn/T//dotnet.viqi3A7Rs/\033[1;31m\033[K/var/folders/h0/3_gqlxds3cb6x9fmb3mdz1840000gn/T//dotnet.viqi3A7Rs/host/fxr/8.0.15/\033[m\033[K: No such file or directory
cp: /var/folders/h0/3_gqlxds3cb6x9fmb3mdz1840000gn/T//dotnet.viqi3A7Rs/\033[1;31m\033[K/var/folders/h0/3_gqlxds3cb6x9fmb3mdz1840000gn/T//dotnet.viqi3A7Rs/shared/Microsoft.NETCore.App/8.0.15/\033[m\033[K: No such file or directory
dotnet_install: Error: Failed to verify the version of installed `.NET Core Runtime`.
Installation source: https://builds.dotnet.microsoft.com/dotnet/Runtime/8.0.15/dotnet-runtime-8.0.15-osx-arm64.tar.gz.
Installation location: /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime/.dotnet/8.0.15~arm64.
Report the bug at https://github.com/dotnet/install-scripts/issues.
dotnet_install: Error: `.NET Core Runtime` with version = 8.0.15 failed to install with an error.
, CODE: 1, SIGNAL: null, Error: .NET install timed out.
You should change the timeout if you have a slow connection. See: https://github.com/dotnet/vscode-dotnet-runtime/blob/main/Documentation/troubleshooting-runtime.md#install-script-timeouts.
Our CDN may be blocked in China or experience significant slowdown, in which case you should install .NET manually., MESSAGE: Command failed: "/Users/USERNAME/.vscode/extensions/ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime-2.3.3/dist/install scripts/dotnet-install.sh" -InstallDir "/Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime/.dotnet/8.0.15~arm64" -Version 8.0.15 -Verbose -Runtime dotnet -Architecture arm64
cp: /var/folders/h0/3_gqlxds3cb6x9fmb3mdz1840000gn/T//dotnet.viqi3A7Rs/\033[1;31m\033[K/var/folders/h0/3_gqlxds3cb6x9fmb3mdz1840000gn/T//dotnet.viqi3A7Rs/host/fxr/8.0.15/\033[m\033[K: No such file or directory
cp: /var/folders/h0/3_gqlxds3cb6x9fmb3mdz1840000gn/T//dotnet.viqi3A7Rs/\033[1;31m\033[K/var/folders/h0/3_gqlxds3cb6x9fmb3mdz1840000gn/T//dotnet.viqi3A7Rs/shared/Microsoft.NETCore.App/8.0.15/\033[m\033[K: No such file or directory
dotnet_install: Error: Failed to verify the version of installed `.NET Core Runtime`.
Installation source: https://builds.dotnet.microsoft.com/dotnet/Runtime/8.0.15/dotnet-runtime-8.0.15-osx-arm64.tar.gz.
Installation location: /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime/.dotnet/8.0.15~arm64.
Report the bug at https://github.com/dotnet/install-scripts/issues.
dotnet_install: Error: `.NET Core Runtime` with version = 8.0.15 failed to install with an error.
, CODE: 1, SIGNAL: null
    at y.next (/Users/USERNAME/.vscode/extensions/vscode-dotnet-runtime-library/dist/Acquisition/AcquisitionInvoker.js:106:54)
    at Generator.next (<anonymous>)
    at s (/Users/USERNAME/.vscode/extensions/vscode-dotnet-runtime-library/dist/Acquisition/AcquisitionInvoker.js:5:58)


Error : (DotnetRuntimeFinalAcquisitionError)

[JanProvaznik]

Couldn't reproduce on arm mac with .net install tool version 2.3.2 . And then when I reinstalled 2.3.3 it worked too. @nagilson I see you made some changes in acquisition, while in install script nothing has happened for a while, https://github.com/dotnet/vscode-dotnet-runtime/commits/b8c8db2da749bcd31373d96130bf527e98cce0d1/vscode-dotnet-runtime-library/src/Acquisition could you take a look?

[moritzluedtke]

Thank you for the quick response.

I also tried manually installing .NET but was not able to hook it up the the plugin quickly.

[JanProvaznik]

could you clarify what you mean by: hook it up to the plugin?
have you installed in the same directory the script mentions? "/Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime/.dotnet/8.0.15~arm64" I suspect something is going wrong at the extension level or at the OS level (e.g. some antimalware blocking), not at the script level. If the extension sees the version already present it should be a no-op.

[moritzluedtke]

I am indeed on a company managed device, so some antimalware stuff could be going on here.

What I mean by "hooking it up" is that I manually installed the mentioned .NET framework (I think it was through homebrew) and tried to configure either the .NET install tool or the Bicep plugin in VS code (can't remember which one it was at the moment) to use the already installed .NET version. But I did not change the default install path. So I left it where brew put it and just tried to configure the path to it.

I can try installing .NET into the mentioned path and see if that helps.

[moritzluedtke]

So I manually downloaded the .NET runtime from Microsoft (The 8.x LTS release from here) and installed it. I had no choice over where to install it. I restarted my system and tried the plugin out in VS code and got the same error.

I also followed the logs and downloaded the runtime from here:

https://builds.dotnet.microsoft.com/dotnet/Runtime/8.0.15/dotnet-runtime-8.0.15-osx-arm64.tar.gz

And unpacked it in here:

/Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime/.dotnet/8.0.15~arm64

But the plugin seems to wipe the folder because it started to re download it and didn't respect that I already put the runtime in there.

Also the content of the folder looks rather strange to me, after the plugin failed to install the runtime:

Two of the errors in the log also have this weird kind of a folder name in the paths they mention:

cp: /var/folders/h0/3_gqlxds3cb6x9fmb3mdz1840000gn/T//dotnet.HQwnCzcMD/\033[1;31m\033[K/var/folders/h0/3_gqlxds3cb6x9fmb3mdz1840000gn/T//dotnet.HQwnCzcMD/host/fxr/8.0.15/\033[m\033[K: No such file or directory

cp: /var/folders/h0/3_gqlxds3cb6x9fmb3mdz1840000gn/T//dotnet.HQwnCzcMD/\033[1;31m\033[K/var/folders/h0/3_gqlxds3cb6x9fmb3mdz1840000gn/T//dotnet.HQwnCzcMD/shared/Microsoft.NETCore.App/8.0.15/\033[m\033[K: No such file or directory

[JanProvaznik]

what is your terminal/shell?
that looks like some colors in terminal going wrong 😮

[JanProvaznik]

also did you wipe the folder before you unpacked manually? if not, try that

[JanProvaznik]

ha, I used some chatgpt and it figured out you might try this diagnostic/resolution steps

echo $GREP_OPTIONS            # if it prints --color=always ➜ vulnerable
type grep                     # if it shows an alias with --color=always ➜ vulnerable

if that's the case unset grep coloring

Fix	One‑off	Permanent
Start VS Code without the bad variable	env -u GREP_OPTIONS code	Remove it from your shell config (.zshrc, .bash_profile, etc.).
Turn colour off for grep	export GREP_OPTIONS='--color=auto' or unset GREP_OPTIONS before launching VS Code	Replace your grep alias with grep --color=auto (only colours when writing to a TTY).
Clean up the half‑installed runtime	Quit VS Code, then delete~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime/.dotnet	─

[moritzluedtke]

OMG, your last message with the GREP_OPTIONS was exactly my problem! Thank you so much!

I turned off the coloring options for grep for now and everything installed without any issues. Never on earth would I have taken a look at my shell config.

Just to have it here, in case someone else might stumble upon this thread:

• I'm using Z shell
• I wiped the install folder and retried the installation. Got the same error.

[nagilson]

woah, that's pretty crazy, great thinking @JanProvaznik 👏
dotnet/vscode-dotnet-runtime#2269