Engine deployment fails: "requires Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 14.44 or higher"

Symptoms

On the Kiosk Hardened Image (version 26.05 or older), some engines fail to deploy when Core downloads or updates them. The affected engines are File Type, Archive Compression, Archive Extraction, CDR, and Country of Origin. The deployment error states that Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable must be upgraded to version 14.44 or higher.

• One or more of the following engines fail to deploy during download or update:

  • File Type
  • Archive Compression
  • Archive Extraction
  • CDR
  • Country of Origin

• Error message: "Requires Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable version 14.44 or higher."

Cause

The affected engines require Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable version 14.44 or higher. When this version is not present, the engines cannot deploy and the error is shown. On the Kiosk Hardened Image (26.05 or older), the installed Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable is version 14.40 (or older), which does not meet the engine requirement, so the deployment fails.

Affected scenarios

• Fresh install of Kiosk Hardened Image 26.05 or older
• Upgrade to Kiosk Hardened Image 26.05

Not affected

Existing customers with engines already running are not impacted - the previously deployed engine versions continue to run normally. However, it is strongly recommended to upgrade the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable to version 14.44 or higher to avoid this issue on future engine updates.

Resolution

1. Download the latest Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable (x64), version 14.44 or higher:

   • x64: https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe
   • Reference page (all architectures and current version): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist

2. Install it on the affected machine.

3. Restart the machine if prompted.

4. Re-run the engine download/update in Core.

5. Confirm the previously failing engines now deploy successfully.