Unable to install SQL Server (setup.exe), VS Shell installation has failed with exit code 1638.

solution

problem may be that there is an updated version of Visual C ++ Redistributable that SQL Server is trying to install, for example, from Visual Studio 2017. If you don’t need the latest C ++ Redistributable component, one way to resolve this problem is to add or remove programs and undistribute all references to Visual C ++ 2017 Redistributable. After this, the SQL Server installation should continue without error.

The problem is likely that there’s a newer version of the Visual C++ Redistributable than SQL Server is trying to install, e.g., from Visual Studio 2017. So another way to address this, if you don’t need the latest C++ redistributable, is to go to Add or Remove Programs and uninstall all references to Visual C++ 2017 Redistributable. After this, the SQL Server installation should proceed without errors.

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