Visual C++ console apps on Windows IoT with Raspberry Pi 2

Question

I am just doing some first tests with applications developed with Visual Studio 2015 RC and Windows IoT on Raspberry Pi 2. For a first test I compiled C# Hello World, copied it to the PI via FTP and started it from a powershell. This worked out of the box. Then I tried the same with a Win32 console application (64-bit), also printing only Hello World. The error message I get in the powershell is:

Program 'HelloCpp.exe' failed to run: The operation completed successfully.
    + CategoryInfo          : ResourceUnavailable: (:) [],     ApplicationFailedException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandFailed

I thought, this is to be expected because I did not install the VC++ 2015 (140) runtime. I tried to install this from the powershell in silent mode like this:

.\vc_redist.x64.exe /q /norestart

but it fails with

Program 'vc_redist.x64.exe' failed to run: The specified executable is not a valid application for this OS platform..
    + CategoryInfo          : ResourceUnavailable: (:) [], ApplicationFailedException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandFailed

My question is: is it possible (or planned) to run C++ background processes like a simple TCP server that I can develop with Visual C++?

Answer 1

First of all ensure you have followed all of the steps in this page. Should the powers that be change that link again, you are looking for windowsondevices.com -> Get Started -> Set up PC. Once you have done that you should review the sample console app here.

I hope that helps.

Mark Radbourne [MSFT]