Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2007 SP3 fails

Over this weekend I had to install Update Rollup 3v2 for Exchange 2007 SP3.  Installation went fine on our Windows 2003 Operating Systems.  When I came to applying the Rollup on our Windows 2008 R2 servers I hit a snag.

When I went to install the patch, the installation wizard would get to the point of stopping services and then roll-back.  It would then display the following message.

Setup Wizard for Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2007 (KB 935999) ended prematurely because of an error. Your system has not been modified. To install this program at a later time, please run the installation again.

Update Rollup 3v2 has some known issues (http://www.petri.co.il/exchange-2007-update-rollup-3.htm).  The first issue relates to OWA –not my problem.  The other relates to the installation which produces the same error message I received.  If the %SYSTEMDRIVE%ExchangeSetupLogs folder has been deleted, renamed, or moved from the original Exchange installation it can produce this error.  The fix is to restore this installation folder or to create a new one.  A quick check and the folder did exist in my scenario.  Never the less I tried to rename the folder and create a new once with the same name.  Unfortunately the installation once again failed produced the same error.

My next step was to enable Windows Installer Logging. This can be done via the registry or by going to Microsoft at the following URL http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=23127 and selecting the link to enable logging.  This will run a small msi installer that will make the necessary registry changes.  It can also be switched off using this same method.

Once logging was enabled I re-ran Update Rollup 3v2.  When the installation failed again I went to the command prompt and typed the following, ‘cd %temp%’. This took me to the location of the Windows Installer log file.  After some investigating through the log I noticed a line indicating that I might have insufficient permissions.

Now I was logged in as an Enterprise Administrator so that couldn’t have been my issue.  One thing that I knew could cause administrator permission issues was UAC -which was on.  So I turned it to ‘Never Notify’ which is effectively off.  This required a reboot which I performed.

Once the server was restarted with UAC off I tried the installation again and Voilà.  The installation wizard was able to stop services and perform a successful patch.  At the completion of the wizard I turned UAC back on to its default setting and performed another reboot.

Appendix

Server Specs
Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise SP1
Exchange Server 2007 SP3

Update Rollup 3-v2 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 3 (KB2530488)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=17615f50-8a56-428c-bc1a-629795692da1

How to enable Windows Installer logging
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=223300

Known Issues
http://www.petri.co.il/exchange-2007-update-rollup-3.htm

Registry Changes to enable logging
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftWindowsInstaller
Reg_SZ: Logging
Value: voicewarmupx

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *