Install Exchange Rollup Problems

Error description:

The installation runs very slowly and or the installation rolls back its actions and does not complete.

Symptoms:

When trying to install RollUp 2 for Microsoft Exchange, the installer does it's checks, starts installing and rolls back all actions. The installer could not complete the rollup installation for some reasons.

Actions:

Troubleshooting:

The first action is usefull in case you want to speed up the installation.
A common Rollup installation failure can occur on Exchange Servers that do not have internet
connectivity. In these cases, the Rollup hangs while .Net performs the Certificate Revocation
step.

Solution 1: Disable Certificate Revocation Checks
For Exchange 2007 servers with no internet connectivity you can temporarily disable the Certificate
Revocation in one of the following two ways.

A. Set the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Wintrust\TrustProviders\Software Publishing\State

REG_DWORD 0x00023c00 hex is ON
REG_DWORD 0x00023e00 hex is OFF
Turn the Certificate Revocation OFF and try installing the Update Rollup again. ( except for ForeFront users -> see solution 2 )
* It is important that Certificate Revocation is turned back ON after the install completessuccessfully

B. Another option:  turning Certificate Revocation OFF in Internet Explorer.

Go to Tools > Internet Options > Advanced tab
In the Security section uncheck the following:
“Check for publisher’s certificate revocation”
“Check for server certificate revocation”
 
Solution 2: Temporarely Disable ForeFront security

The application log won't show you a lot of information: it gives a generic error number: Error 1603
Activate logging to diagnose the problem.
The Exchange Rollup Package install can be run with switches:

Exchange2010-RollUp2-x64-EN.msp /lxv* c:\tmp\rollup_installer.log

In the installer log, search for a string like "error 3". Some lines further you can see what the actual problem is:

Unable to install because a previous Interim Update for Exchange Server 2010 has been
installed. Please use Add/Remove Programs to uninstall the Interim Update before running this setup again.

Why this error message while no rollups / hotfixes had been installed for Exchange ?
The problem is with forefront. Forefront integrates with Exchange and so it is tightly coupled with the Exchange.

If you search the internet, you'll find some advice for installing the rollup on Exchange running Forefront protection: ( source )

Note for Forefront users: For those of you running Forefront Security for Exchange, be sure you perform these important steps from the command line in the Forefront directory before and after this rollup's installation process. Without these steps, Exchange services for Information Store and Transport will not start after you apply this update. Before installing the update, disable ForeFront by using this command: fscutility /disable. After installing the update, re-enable ForeFront by running fscutility /enable.

So run a command line ( as administrator ) and execute the following:

fscutility /disable

Another very nice troubleshooting guide for Exchange Rollup installation problems:
http://exchangeshare.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/exchange-update-rollup-installation-it-is-not-nightmare/

Related links