Error: Microsoft Visual C++ 10.0 Is Required (Unable to Find Vcvarsall.bat)

One of the various languages used by programmers to make software in C++. Microsoft’s version of that programming language is called Visual C++. This includes the instruments used to translate (or “compile”) C++ code into “.exe,” “.dll,” and other files recognized by Windows. The Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC) compiler supports the programming languages C, C++, and C++/CX. MSVC is a piece of proprietary software that was initially sold separately before being incorporated into Visual Studio and made available as both trialware and freeware. It has tools for creating and fixing C++ code, particularly C++ code made for the Windows API, DirectX, and.NET. 

“Standard libraries” are used by programmers who create software in Microsoft Visual C++. They can avoid rewriting common code sequences by using these collections of pre-written software. Instead make use of this group of pre-written, thoroughly tested software.

As an illustration, consider a program that has a function that changes a string of characters to all upper case (“all upper case” would become “ALL UPPER CASE” by this function). The standard library already has such a function that is ready to use, so no program will have to write it from scratch to use it.

The reason they are referred to as “redistributable” is that they are Microsoft products that can be “redistributed” by others. The Visual C++ Redistributable may be available for installation during program setup if it isn’t already there. On the other hand, if five different programs all use the same Visual C++ Redistributable, only one copy needs to be set up.

Redistributable Visual C++ runtime library packages are necessary for the proper operation of many applications. These packages are frequently installed separately from the applications they support, enabling multiple applications to use the package with only a single installation. These standard libraries, which are used by numerous applications, are installed primarily for these Visual C++ redistributable and runtime packages.

The Visual C++ Redistributable has several variants. Sadly, newer ones don’t take the place of older ones. For instance, the Redistributable for Visual C++ 2015 does not take the place of the Redistributable for Visual C++ 2010. Both might be required.

What is vcvarsall.bat? 

Although the Python packaging ecosystem is one of its strongest points, improperly installed packages frequently annoy Windows users. This is one of the most typical mistakes you’ll encounter:

• The ‘Unable to find vcvarsall.bat’ error message is displayed in a console window.

Unhelpful error messages include “unable to find vcvarsall.bat”. What does this fabled batch file do? I need it, but why? How can I obtain it? How can I assist Python in locating it? When will we be relieved of this suffering? Let’s examine some solutions to these issues.

What is vcvarsall.bat, and why do you need it?

We need to look at a typical pattern in Python packages to understand why we require this tool. The ability to perform an action that would otherwise be impossible is one of the advantages of installing a separate package; in many cases, this is an action that would be completely impractical otherwise. comparable to image processing with Pillow, high-performance machine learning with Scikit-Learn, or micro-threading with Greenlet. But how do these packages enable functions that aren’t available in standard Python?

The reason is that they incorporate extension modules, also known as native modules. These are .pyd files that contain native, platform-specific code, usually written in C, unlike Python modules, which are.py files that contain Python source code.  When you encounter the error message “unable to find vcvarsall.bat,” you are installing a package that only contains the source code for an extension module. The module must be compiled using “vcvarsall.bat,” which is a component of Visual Studio’s compiler.

Because so many users won’t be able to use it, it is impossible to precompile programs and only distribute the build outputs. Therefore, only source code is distributed, and each machine is equipped with a compiler and the resources required to create extension modules upon installation. Most people don’t have (or need) compilers because Windows has a unique culture.

The culture is evolving, which is good news. A package developer can upload both the source code and wheels of their packages for Windows platforms. You do not need a compiler on the machine you are installing because the extension modules that are part of the wheels have already been compiled.

You’re probably used to downloading programs that are prepared to run if you use Windows. This is large because of Windows’ very impressive compatibility, which enables you to run programs that were created twenty years ago on Windows versions that were unimaginable at the time. However, Python originates from a very different world where every machine can be unique and incompatible.

Error: Microsoft Visual C++ 10.0 is required (Unable to find vcvarsall.bat): 

• By using the set command at a command prompt to find the current Visual Studio tools environment variable, for instance: VS140COMNTOOLS for Visual Studio Community 2015, you can resolve this issue on Windows 7 64-bit running Python 3.4.3.

• Then execute the following (replacing the variable on the right side if yours has a different name with the one listed below):

1. Change VS100COMNTOOLS to %VS140COMNTOOLS% 

• The PyCrypto module, which was previously giving me the same error as the OP, can now be installed thanks to this.

• The Control Panel’s “Edit the system environment variables” option can be used to permanently add this environment variable, though you might need to use the actual path rather than the variable substitution.

• The 2010 compiler is now used by Python 3.3 and later. Installing Visual C++ Express 2010 for free is the simplest and most effective way to fix the problem.

• You might find it simpler to use the 32-bit version for the time being. You can avoid the need to compile many modules by downloading the binary wheel file from this location: http://www.lfd.uci.edu/gohlke/pythonlibs/. This will also help you get the compiler working.

• To install a module, simply run pip install module-name .whl after downloading the necessary.whl file and select “open command window here” with the shift and right keys.

• The “Microsoft Visual C++ Compiler for Python 2.7” can be installed by those who are experiencing the (vcvarsall.bat) error with Python 2.7.

Solution 1:

There are installations for Visual Studio 11, 12, and 14, but not for 10. The aforementioned error indicated that version 10 was required. Let’s just instruct the environment to use the most recent compiler rather than searching for version 10 since a newer version should function just as well. The most recent version in this case is 14. The name for version 10 should be VS100COMNTOOLS, according to the variable names’ pattern. The following command will set the version 10 variable to version 14: set VS100COMNTOOLS=%VS140COMNTOOLS%

So, open a command window and enter the following command:

• set “VS100COMNTOOLS=%VS140COMNTOOLS%”

Solution 2:

• Install the most recent version of Python 3 using the x86 installer. (x64 is more challenging because VS doesn’t come with an x64 compiler). 
• Install Visual C++ Studio 2010 Express from Microsoft by clicking this link; the download links for Visual Studio 2010 are at the bottom of the page. To be able to download the software, you may need to register with Microsoft and download the C++ release.
• Install Ephem by typing py -3 -m pip install. If you have Python 2 installed in addition to Python 3, py -3 -m pip uses pip from your Python 3 installation.

Cannot find vcvarsall.bat when running a Python script:

Solution 1:

Python appears to be specifically searching for Visual Studio 2008. Even though vcvarsall.bat was on the path, I ran into the issue where it couldn’t find it.

1. It turns out that Visual Studio 2010 creates the following environment variable:
   • SET VS100COMNTOOLS=C:\Program Files\ Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\Tools\

1. The solution is to make a variable called VS90COMNTOOLS that points to your Visual Studio 2010 common tools folder, for example.
   • SET VS90COMNTOOLS=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\Tools\

Solution 2: 

Python is having trouble locating the C/C++ compiler you need to install what you’re trying to do. Many Python packages need to be compiled because they were written in C/C++. Pip is assuming that your computer can compile C++, which requires vcvarsall.bat.

1. Because v6.0 and higher will automatically detect a compiler, try upgrading setuptools first. Python may not be able to locate a compiler that you already have. Type pip installs —upgrade setup tools on the command line to launch it.

2. Now try installing your package once more:
   • pip install [yourpackagename]

3. You’ll need to install a compiler if that didn’t succeed because it’s certain you don’t already have one.

4. Now try:
   • pip install [yourpackagename] 

Solution 3:

1. Setting the subsequent environment variable will solve this issue: Example: 
   • set VS90COMNTOOLS=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\Tools

2. This error can be brought on by failing to restart your computer after installing Visual Studios or failing to open a new command prompt.

3. Additionally, the version of Python you are building for may affect which version of Visual Studio you can use to compile the extensions.
4. Windows – Python Pip install Error: Unable to find, 2014-12-28 It was VS 2008. I added the system variable VS90COMNTOOLS and set its value to VS120COMNTOOLS.

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