How to fix fatal error during software installation

Problem

You are unable to deploy a software and you get an error - Fatal error during installation process.

Causes

You will encounter this error due to one or more of the following reasons:

1. Prior existence of the software.
2. The application to be installed can be user or system specific. Ensure that you have deployed the right configuration type (user/computer based) accordingly.
3. If processes, files or browsers related to the software on the client machine are active during deployment.
4. User name mentioned in the 'Run As' option under Define Configuration does not have the privilege to install the software.
5. Generic machine-specific issues:
   • Not enough disk space for installation.
   • The temp directory is not clean.
   • A certain file on the machine is locked.
6. Common Windows Installer problems:
   • The Windows Installer service could not be accessed
   • Windows Installer service couldn’t be started
   • Could not start the Windows Installer service on local computer
7. Application specific errors

To resolve fatal error during software installation, follow the steps given below:

Remove files of earlier installations

Use Microsoft’s Windows Installer Cleanup utility to remove traces of previous installations. This utility does not remove files installed by the installation, which may need to be removed manually. For more information, refer to Microsoft’s knowledge base article, Description of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.

Run the installation with Administrator privileges

Ensure the user account has administrative privileges to install software.

Issues with the silent switches

Enter the silent switch manually through the command line prompt before the software deployment, to ensure that the application can be installed without any manual intervention.

To delete the contents of the Temp directory:

Choose one of the following methods to delete the contents of the Temp directory.
Note: Do not delete the Temp directory itself. Delete only the files and folders in the directory as follows:

Using a MS-DOS command

1. Click Start > Run.
2. Type deltree /y temp_directory_location\\*.*.

   For example: deltree /y C:\\Windows\\Temp\\*.*
   temp_directory_location is the location of the Temp directory.

To unlock a certain file on the machine:

1. Close all applications running in the background.
2. Reboot your computer.
3. Run the installation again.

Resolve Common Windows Installer issues

Refer to the Microsoft Knowledge Base to resolve issues related to Windows Installer.

Make sure to kill the related processes.

The processes, files or browsers associated to the software can interrupt deployment if they are active. so, it is recommended to kill them manually before deployment or perform the deployment during system startup.

Resolve application-specific errors

These are MSI application specific errors. For example, some applications require a user profile to install. If you have not specified any user in Run As option, try installing the application as a different user.

If you still cannot resolve the issue, try enhancing the logging to identify the problem. Select the "Enable Logging for troubleshooting" option while adding the package and check the logs for any msi based application specific errors. Steps to "Enable Logging for troubleshooting" would include:

1. Select the Software Deployment tab.
2. Select the package to be modified.
3. Click on Edit Package icon under Action field.
4. Enable Installer/Uninstaller settings under Advanced options.
5. Enable Logging for troubleshooting checkbox.
6. Click on Modify Package.

Learn more about software installation.

In case you are not able to troubleshoot the error, then contact support team with the following details:

1. Endpoint Central server logs.
2. Log files from Endpoint Central agent pertaining to the computer where installation has failed.
3. The software package that you were trying to install.

Applies to: Software Installation, Software Installation failure, Remote Software Distribution, Deployment Status

Keywords: Software Installation Failure, Deploy Software, Fatal Error, Deployment Status