How to fix Error description: Invalid command line argument. Consult the Windows Installer SDK for detailed command line help.

Question

I am facing the difficulty of downloading Microsoft SQL Server. Unable to install SQL Server (setup.exe).

Exit code (Decimal): -2068052377 Error description : Invalid command line argument. Consult the Windows Installer SDK for detailed command line help. Here is the Summary.txt and Detail.txt. Please help me fix it. I have already deleted and reinstalled it again and again.

Answer 1

Hi @CELINE KUAN XIN YI
Please go to SQL Server Setup program (setup.exe) from SQL Server installation media-> Maintenance in the left-hand navigation area-> Repair.

If this doesn't work, you can uninstall it cleanly and reinstall it.

Please follow the below steps to remove all components of previous installed SQL Server completely:

• Remove all SQL Server components from 'Programs and Features'
• Backup the registry
• Delete the following keys in regedit:

--HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server

--HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSSQLServer

• Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall and delete all the sub-keys referencing SQL Server
• Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services and delete all the keys referencing SQL Server
• Reboot the machine

In addition, please use an administrator account to reinstall SQL Server on your computer (Right click->run as administrator).

You'd better disable your anti-virus software and firewall before installation. Also, it is recommended that you install in the default location.

Best regards,

Cosmog

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Answer 2

First things first: what hardware do you have? If you have an ARM processor, beware that SQL Server does not support ARM. The rest of the answer assumes that you have a regular x64 processor.

My belief is that this is an error that occurs mainly in the situation when a user tried to install SQL Server and it failed with some error. The user might have tried some random cleanup and made renewed attempts. Because the cleanup was incomplete, Setup now fails with another error than it did originally.

Here is a link to an article that can help you to clean up properly: https://www.sql-easy.com/learn/how-to-uninstall-sql-server/. I have not tried it myself, but I learnt about it from a user who was in a similar situation as yours, and who was able to install SQL Server successfully after following the article.

If you are on Windows 11, be sure to read the article Troubleshoot errors related to system disk sector size greater than 4 KB before you try again. It discusses a known issue where Windows 11 reports a disk-sector size that SQL Server chokes on. This could be the cause for your original failure. Check out this article, and if needed apply the workarounds it proposes.

If you make a new attempt after cleanup, and it still fails, you find log files in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\nnn\Setup Bootstrap\Log with one folder per attempt. (nnn is a three-digit number that depends on the version of SQL Server you are trying to install). The files of most interest are summary.txt, detail.txt and any file with ERRORLOG in the name. (The latter only appears if Setup came as far as trying to start SQL Server). Feel free to attach these to the thread here.