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For some reason I can't get SQL Server 2017 installed on my Windows 10 machine.

First thing to do with this buggy installer is that I had to uninstall VCRuntime 2017 in order for the installer to work.

And now, the installer is stuck at this point exactly every time I try to install it:

SQL Server 2017 installation is stuck

What I've tried so far:

  • Killing msiexec process

  • Running the setup with additional parameter as mentioned here

    Setup.exe /SkipInstallerRunCheck

  • Restarting ... reinstalling ... turning off anti-virus ...

[Solved]

The problem was due to a background download that was taking forever especially on a low internet speed (i.e. python or R-support component).

[Solution]

  • If you really need python or R-support just wait until download is complete
  • Else, deselect python and R-support from the component list.
  • (or) kill the child process for python or R-support component downloader from task manager.
Arch Capital
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  • I have am stuck on the simular screen but I am not installing the R and Python components.Yes, I am SURE i only need the database engine services. – ThunderSpark Apr 21 '20 at 19:19

3 Answers3

5

UPDATE:

The actual problem turned out to be the R-support component(s) slowly downloading in the background locking up the installation GUI with no notification or warning show to the user as to what is actually going on.

So it seems this "locked install problem" can be caused by installing several different components, at least by Python or R-support. As mentioned below, please check any available logs or event logs for clues.

In summary, options:

  1. Maybe try to unselect such components for install if you do not need them.
  2. If you need the components, leave the setup to complete, and check progress in log files as explained below. Verify Internet access (proxy?).

Stuck Download?

UPDATE: Did you see this blog? Looks like the setup tries to download and install the Python runtime, and this can take forever. Are you behind a proxy btw? No direct connection to the Internet? If so I suppose this could also cause further problems. Probably not the cause, but worth a mention.

Apparently you can check the following log file for progress for the installation:

%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\140\Setup Bootstrap\Log\DATE_TIME\RSetup.log

DATE_TIME in the above path must be converted to your valid values. For example: 20170804_162723 (date part and time part).

See this answer as well: SQL server 2016 installation freeze. You could also try the suggestion to deselect all components you do not need to prevent any background downloads?

General Debugging

Leaving in the general purpose debugging suggestions below.

Generic Advice: From experience I would create a new local admin user and try to install using that account. This is to avoid any "unclean" or special conditions that have occurred in your user profile or registry during regular Windows use. Might not do much, but sometimes it gets the job done with surprising ease. Worth a try I think.

Some Further Things: I wrote up a little check list a while back, I'll add it and see if it inspires some new ideas that can help you. See under "Core Deployment Problems". That first "check list" was condensed from a longer and somewhat excessive first writeup - one of those answers that unintentionally turned into a blog and maybe a hard one to read.

Logging: Did you check log files and / or event logs properly for clues as to what is happening? I find the best approach for deployment to enable logging for all MSI installations. The performance hit it triggers is minuscule compared to the benefit of having a real log-file always available when you suddenly need one. You can enable logging for all MSI files as explained on installsite.org (section: "Globally for all setups on a machine"). MSI log files will then just sit in your %TEMP% folder after installation. They have a random hex name, and you can flush them all regularly if you do not need them. You sort by modify date / time to find the latest one(s) created - obviously.

Jedi trick: You will want to go home and re-think your life if you don't enable logging for all MSI files. Moral of the story: MSI log files are cool. They are very verbose, but they are beautiful. There are some hints on interpreting them here (bottom).

Stein Åsmul
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  • Thanks, I solved the problem as you explained, it was due to a background download, and in my case it wasn't the python since it was successfully installed; but rather the R-support component that was taking forever- I simply killed the child process and the setup went successfully. The odd part is that I thought the installation has all components but rather Microsoft did not put any clue that there is a background download! – Arch Capital Jul 25 '18 at 06:37
  • Great that you found a solution. I saw someone else comment on the R-support as I searched. IMHO: very common problem to see something undocumented like this. as we all know Microsoft has a tendency to be a bit "challenging" when it comes to what has changed and why. Hence my joking remarks about logging: I always use it as a first port of call for trying to work out oddities. Not at all always helpful, but generally you get a clue to help you start debugging. You can be sure you haven't seen the last deployment problem for Microsoft tools :-). – Stein Åsmul Jul 25 '18 at 11:38
  • Added a short blurb on top of the verbose answer, in order to make the actual solution (hopefully) quick to find for others. – Stein Åsmul Jul 25 '18 at 11:49
  • You won't believe me if I told you that I spent over 5 hours within the same day in order to get Management Studio installed, dozens of tries and errors and eventually it turned out that the downloaded file from Microsoft was corrupted without the dimmest clue, the only thing that helped identify the problem was checking the md5 hash of the file! I think Microsoft likes it that way. – Arch Capital Jul 25 '18 at 12:10
  • All too familiar for deployment specialists - I tell you. If I were you I might check for malware after something like that, or low disk space or over-aggressive security suites or similar. Even hardware issues such as bad drivers for cutting edge I/O components such as super fast NVMe disks. No end to grief the latter can cause you - just a heads-up and my 2-cents. Hopefully it was just a download hiccup. [**Section 2 here**](https://stackoverflow.com/a/48433935/129130). – Stein Åsmul Jul 25 '18 at 12:24
  • Well, I don't expect any MITM since it's downloaded from Microsoft https url (i.e. SSL). I do not also expect Microsoft to have a problem with their downloads. So, I guess my dear Internet download Manager has some sort of bug that leads to corruption of my downloads! – Arch Capital Jul 25 '18 at 13:14
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My 2 cents: SQL Server Installer consists of several small MSI installers. MSI installers can only be installed one after each other (as fas as I know). In my case, I launched another MSI setup while installing SQL Server. This caused SQL Server Setup to hold until I finished the concurrently running setup.

So, at least in my case the problem was self-made.

thomasgalliker
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You have to remove configuration settings for SQL Server from Windows Registry editor.

  • Sql server

  • 2017

  • VS

Muhammad Azeem
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