Issue Summary
I recently worked on an issue where a SharePoint Server patch failed unexpectedly with error “The installation of this package failed.”
Example:
Where to Look
First, always check the Windows Installer logs. The logs are written to the local user’s temp folder. You can get there by typing %temp% in the “RUN” command window.
Example:
Once opening the temp folder location, you will see a log files for each patch that was attempted to be installed.
Example:
Open the log from that failed patch and look towards the bottom and work your way up. Look for errors that may give you a hint as to why the patched failed to install.
In my case I found the following errors.
Property(S): ERRORNEEDASPNET = ASP.NET must be installed before installing this product.
Property(S): ERRORNEEDIIS6PLUS = Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 6.0 or greater must be installed before installing this product.
MSI (s) (00:40) [20:10:14:587]: Product: Microsoft SharePoint Server 2019 Core - Update 'Update for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2019 Core (KB5002246)' could not be installed. Error code 1603. Additional information is available in the log file C:\Users\spinsall\AppData\Local\Temp\sts-x-none_MSPLOG.LOG.
MSI (s) (00:40) [20:10:14:589]: Product: Microsoft SharePoint Server 2019 Core -- Configuration failed.
MSI (s) (00:40) [20:10:14:591]: Windows Installer reconfigured the product. Product Name: Microsoft SharePoint Server 2019 Core. Product Version: 16.0.10337.12109. Product Language: 0. Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation. Reconfiguration success or error status: 1603.
The main entry to focus on was “ASP.NET must be installed before installing this product.”. This is the first error that showed up in the log and is essentially saying “ASP.NET or IIS is not installed or could not be found on the server“. As this component is a requirement for SharePoint, it makes sense to fail.
Cause
In this case we found the “World Wide Web Publishing Service” was disabled on the SharePoint Server where the patch failed to install.
Example:
Resolution
To resolve this issue simply set the start mode for “World Wide Web Publishing Service” to automatic and started it, then reinstalled the previous failed SharePoint Server patch.