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Updates for Small Business Server 2003 Fail to Install

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[Today's post comes to us courtesy Nandan Sheth]

I came across a couple issues a while back where we were failing to install updates that are specifically released for the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003. The error message received when the update fails is:

This update cannot be installed. Either it is already installed as part of an existing service pack, or it requires a more recent service pack. For more information, see the system requirements on the download page.

More information is available on the log file for the update.

Note: Every update you install on the server is associated with a Knowledge Base article. For every update that is installed on the server, you get a corresponding log file. The naming convention for the log file is KB******.log.

e.g. If you are installing the update on KB 936594, the associated log file will be KB936594.log.

The information showing the failure on the log file is:

0.625: ServicePackNumber is Not Present
0.625: Fist Condition in ChkSBSSP.Section Failed
0.625: Condition Check for Line 2 of PreRequisite returned FALSE
Cause and Remedy:

You might see the error and the corresponding information on the log file if Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Windows Small Business Server is not installed on the server. To resolve this issue, you need to install the service pack for Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003.

The download details and instructions on how to install are available on:
https://download.microsoft.com/download/e/0/f/e0fee8ce-768d-41c0-8871-9bc48e0b3fc3/ToDownloadFilesandReadInstructions.htm

To confirm if the service pack has installed successfully, you can check the registry for the following value:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SmallBusinessServer
Value Name: ServicePackNumber
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value Data: 1
Note: This value is created in the registry only when SP1 for Small Business Server 2003 has been installed. If the service pack has not been installed, this value will not be available in the registry. When we try to install the update, it parses the registry for the ServicePackNumber, and when it is not found, setup fails with the errors in the Symptoms section.

So, what is the difference between a Windows Service Pack and the Small Business Server Service Pack?

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 is a customized build of Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition. It includes the Windows 2003 Standard Edition Operating System, and Wizards that can be used to administer and manage the server. Generally, we refer to these Wizards as the SBS components. When we talk about the service pack for Windows Server 2003, we are talking about an update for the core Operating System components. On the other hand, when we talk about the service pack for SBS 2003, we are talking about the service pack that updates the wizards, or the SBS components, and the files that are used by these components.

Afterthought

Though the issue that I have chosen to discuss above is not something we see very often, we do come across users that have a slight confusion between the two service packs. My main intention in providing this information is simple. Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 is a critical update that needs to be installed on all SBS installations, because it brings about much better stability, and improves the robustness of the wizards used by the Small Business Server.