Exchange Service Pack Installation Issues
We've been seeing a lot of these recently.
With changed patching and servicing of Exchange component we have seen issues that are very different from those experienced in the earlier versions.
The most common errors that I have seen are:
Error I: Process execution failed with exit code -1.
and
Error II: Fatal error during installation. Error code is 1603:
Based on what is logged in the Exchange Setup log the approach to resolving the installation issues would change.
Below is a list of few Exchange Service Pack installation errors, corresponding logs and what fixed the issue:
Error I: Process execution failed with exit code -1.
This error is usually related to underlying .NET problems. We need to look at the ExchangeSetup.log file closely to determine the exact issue;
Sample ExchangeSetup.log I:
Error compiling C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin\edgetransport.exe: Access is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED))
Finished compiling assembly C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin\edgetransport.exe ...
Take a process monitor trace when the setup is configuring the Hub Transport role;
This error is due to missing permissions on the following folder:
C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v2.0.50727_64
C:\Windows\assembly is a special folder and in order to modify the permissions of that folder we need to use icacls;
C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v2.0.50727_64 inherits permissions from C:\Windows\assembly
If the permissions are missing, you can reset them using the following command:
icacls C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v2.0.50727_64 /reset
Sample Exchange Setup Log II:
Installing assembly C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin\Microsoft.Exchange.Management.SnapIn.Esm.dll
Failed to find dependencies of image C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin\Microsoft.Exchange.Management.SnapIn.Esm.dll because of the following error: Strong name validation failed. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8013141A)
Download .NET SDK and verify/ skip the DLL in question using sn.exe.
It usually is an issue with a bad image/ downloads, so before skipping the dll in question, it is always advisable to download another copy of the service pack.
Sample Exchange Setup Log III:
C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\ngen.exe arguments: install "E:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin\microsoft.Exchange.Rpc.dll" /verbose
[7/16/2010 12:58:20 AM] [2] Process standard output: Microsoft (R) CLR Native Image Generator - Version 2.0.50727.3053
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Installing assembly E:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin\microsoft.Exchange.Rpc.dll
Operation aborted (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80004004 (E_ABORT))
In order to resolve this issue, you must look closely at the event log for an event generated by ASP.NET 2.0.50727.0. This event is generated right after the setup failure event generated by MSExchangeSetup.
Event information is similar to: Exception information:
Exception type: FileNotFoundException
Exception message: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Exchange.Diagnostics, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
This is similar to the issue documented in KB: 951183: Error message when you try to uninstall Exchange Server 2007: "Process execution failed with exit code 5", where the DiagnosticCmdletController.dll file is unexpectedly unregistered.
You must search for the file in the local hard drive and re-register it, before retrying the setup.
Error II: Fatal error during installation. Error code is 1603:
This is a generic error and based on what is logged in the Exchange Setup logs, may have different resolutions.
Sample Exchange Setup Log I:
[09/01/2011 16:41:09] [1] Installing MSI package 'C:\USER\Utils\Microsoft\Exchange\SP2\exchangeserver.msi'.
[09/01/2011 16:41:09] [1] Patch file 'C:\USER\Utils\Microsoft\Exchange\SP2\Updates\Exchange2007-KB981383-x64-EN.msp' was found in the patch directory.
[09/01/2011 16:41:09] [1] Found a valid order for the available patches.
[09/01/2011 16:41:09] [1] Patch 'C:\USER\Utils\Microsoft\Exchange\SP2\Updates\Exchange2007-KB981383-x64-EN.msp' has order '0'. The status code returned was '0'.
[09/01/2011 16:41:09] [1] Patch 'C:\USER\Utils\Microsoft\Exchange\SP2\Updates\Exchange2007-KB981383-x64-EN.msp' is valid for the current .msi package. The patch order is '0'.
[09/01/2011 16:41:09] [1] The patch attribute will be set to 'C:\USER\Utils\Microsoft\Exchange\SP2\Updates\Exchange2007-KB981383-x64-EN.msp;' for the .msi package.
[09/01/2011 16:41:50] [1] [ERROR] Unexpected Error
Notice: [09/01/2011 16:41:09] [1] Patch file 'C:\USER\Utils\Microsoft\Exchange\SP2\Updates\Exchange2007-KB981383-x64-EN.msp' was found in the patch directory.
This means that there is a post service pack rollup in the Updates directory. In this case it was 981383 which is nothing but RU4 for Exchange 2007 SP2.
Note the slip streaming rollups in the service pack is not supported.
You must remove any post service pack rollups from the updates folder.
Sample Exchange Setup Log II:
[25/03/2010 17:16:29] [1] [ERROR] Installing product C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin\dw20sharedamd64.msi failed. Fatal error during installation. Error code is 1603. Last error reported by the MSI package is 'The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance.'.
[25/03/2010 17:16:29] [1] [ERROR] Fatal error during installation
Residual entries in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSIServer.
In one of the cases it was HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSIServer\WOW64 is left behind from a Service pack 2 installation.
Sample Exchange Setup Log III:
[8/12/2010 2:59:38 AM] [1] [ERROR] Unable to remove product with code 24b2c164-de66-44fe-b468-a46d9d5e6b31. Fatal error during installation. Error code is 1603. Last error reported by the .msi package is 'Could not open key: UNKNOWN\Components\C4DF6B15155640110AF18C3B9B1A1EE8\461C2B4266EDEF444B864AD6D9E5B613. Verify that you have sufficient access to that key, or contact your support personnel. '.
Missing registry permissions on:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Components\<GUID mention in the error log>.
P.S. I will continue adding more errors and solutions to this post...