powershell script installs an application using msiexec and was closed

Question

We have a powershell-install script, that installs automatically our application-msi at a Windows Server 2019.

This script worked fine. For a few months, the script/powershell-session has been aborted during execution of the msiexec command. The installation with msiexec completes successfully, but the powershell-script is closed.

Here the part of the powershell-script:

try {
	Write-Host "[+] Start-Process msiexec for application-installation..."
	Start-Process "msiexec" -ArgumentList @("/i $msiFile","/passive","APPPOOL=$targetAppPool","WEBSITE=$webSiteName","WEBSITE_PORT=$webSitePort","IISROOT=$wwwrootFolder") -Wait
	# --- here, the powershell-execution was interrupted and also no exception was occured ---
	Write-Host "[:] msiexec has exited properly."
} catch {
	Write-Host "[#] An exception occured during install..."
}

The eventlog on the server:

And the warning shows:

I did not find any solutions until now.

Can anyone help me to find out, what's the reason for this issue?

Thanks,

Christoph

Answer 1

It would appear that something else is the script is opening a handle to something that the MSI restart manager wants to update, and it is terminating the Powershell process.

What does the script do before it hits the try/catch portion that you posted? Can you simplify the script to just call msiexec?

Try this, download handle.exe and put it on the server somewhere.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/handle

In the script add a transcript (start-transcript) if you haven't already added one. Then right before you call msiexec, call handle.exe. That will show all handles for the current Powershell pid.

c:\utils\handle.exe  -accepteula -p $pid

Do you see any files/folders/registry in the transcript that are related to what the MSI might update?

Answer 2

Add a logging option to msiexec and then analyze the file to see what error occurred.

Answer 3

I added the logging option as you suggested ( /l*v log.txt ). In the logfile i found the entry:

Will attempt to shut down and restart applications because the UI does not display any modal dialogs.
Successfully shut down all applications in the service's session that held files in use.
Successfully shut down all applications that held files in use.

We have already tried a server-restart (several times) - but with no success.

Here is the detailled log entry - the timestamp as the powershell-session was shutdown was 07:48:11:

Action start 07:48:07: InstallValidate.
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:07:156]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: _RemoveFilePath 
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:000]: Note: 1: 1402 2: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.ServerConfigurator 3: 2 
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:000]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Modifying CostingComplete property. Its current value is '0'. Its new value: '1'.
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:000]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: BindImage 
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:000]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: ProgId 
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:000]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: PublishComponent 
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:000]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: SelfReg 
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:000]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: Extension 
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:000]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: Font 
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:000]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: Class 
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:000]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: TypeLib 
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:000]: Note: 1: 2727 2:  
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:047]: RESTART MANAGER: Will attempt to shut down and restart applications because the UI does not display any modal dialogs.
MSI (c) (84:94) [07:48:11:047]: RESTART MANAGER: Session opened.
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:110]: RESTART MANAGER: Successfully shut down all applications in the service's session that held files in use.
MSI (c) (84:94) [07:48:11:110]: RESTART MANAGER: Successfully shut down all applications that held files in use.
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:641]: Note: 1: 2727 2:  
MSI (s) (34:6C) [07:48:11:641]: Doing action: InstallInitialize
Action ended 07:48:11: InstallValidate. Return value 1.

Any ideas?

Answer 4

Hello there,

Use Start-Process to installs the msi package from PowerShell using msiexec with the /i and/qn parameters. You can optionally test using the -wait parameter of Start-Process in case it helps in your particular case. There is also a /norestart parameter to use with msiexec.

PowerShell

$pkg = "D:\a\test\ultimate\WindowsApplicationDriver_1.2.1.msi";

Start-Process msiexec "/i $pkg /qn";

##Start-Process msiexec "/i $pkg /qn" -Wait;

##Start-Process msiexec "/i $pkg /norestart /qn" -Wait;

Hope this resolves your Query !!

--If the reply is helpful, please Upvote and Accept it as an answer–

Answer 5

I'll explain the script:

• First it will be checked, if a new version of our application was created/built
• ( because of the problem i've told, i inserted some registry-checks to know if a server restart is required )
• if a new version is available, the ZIP of the new version will extracted und the MSI-file inside will be installed with msiexec as shown before

I now tried the following steps:

• added the transcript-option in powershell
• start the handle.exe right before the msiexec is executed
• added the /norestart-parameter to the msiexec

But nothing of them helped.
(I also tried the "/qn" option, but this is not usable for us).

Here is the transcript:

**********************
nStart der Windows PowerShell-Aufzeichnung
Startzeit: 20230430113636
Benutzername: MYDOMAIN\administrator
RunAs-Benutzer: MYDOMAIN\administrator
Konfigurationsname: 
Computer: APPSRV1 (Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.17763.0)
Hostanwendung: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe C:\LC.Scripts\qstest\InstallMyApplication.ps1 C:\LC.Scripts\qstest\InstallMyApplication.config.xml
Prozess-ID: 8652
PSVersion: 5.1.17763.3770
PSEdition: Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1.17763.3770
BuildVersion: 10.0.17763.3770
CLRVersion: 4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion: 3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion: 2.3
SerializationVersion: 1.1.0.1
**********************
Die Aufzeichnung wurde gestartet. Die Ausgabedatei ist "c:\install\MyApplication\InstallMyApplication.transcript.txt".
[?] Check if a reboot is pending for this machine...
PS>TerminatingError(Get-ItemProperty): "Der ausgeführte Befehl wurde beendet, da die Einstellungsvariable "ErrorActionPreference" oder ein allgemeiner Parameter auf "Stop" festgelegt ist: Die Eigenschaft RebootInProgress ist im Pfad HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing nicht vorhanden.."
PS>TerminatingError(Get-ItemProperty): "Der ausgeführte Befehl wurde beendet, da die Einstellungsvariable "ErrorActionPreference" oder ein allgemeiner Parameter auf "Stop" festgelegt ist: Die Eigenschaft PackagesPending ist im Pfad HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing nicht vorhanden.."
HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager > PendingFileRenameOperations    ... will be ignored
PS>TerminatingError(Get-ItemProperty): "Der ausgeführte Befehl wurde beendet, da die Einstellungsvariable "ErrorActionPreference" oder ein allgemeiner Parameter auf "Stop" festgelegt ist: Die Eigenschaft PendingFileRenameOperations2 ist im Pfad HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager nicht vorhanden.."
PS>TerminatingError(Get-ItemProperty): "Der ausgeführte Befehl wurde beendet, da die Einstellungsvariable "ErrorActionPreference" oder ein allgemeiner Parameter auf "Stop" festgelegt ist: Die Eigenschaft DVDRebootSignal ist im Pfad HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce nicht vorhanden.."
PS>TerminatingError(Get-ItemProperty): "Der ausgeführte Befehl wurde beendet, da die Einstellungsvariable "ErrorActionPreference" oder ein allgemeiner Parameter auf "Stop" festgelegt ist: Die Eigenschaft JoinDomain ist im Pfad HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon nicht vorhanden.."
PS>TerminatingError(Get-ItemProperty): "Der ausgeführte Befehl wurde beendet, da die Einstellungsvariable "ErrorActionPreference" oder ein allgemeiner Parameter auf "Stop" festgelegt ist: Die Eigenschaft AvoidSpnSet ist im Pfad HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon nicht vorhanden.."
False
[?] Detect installed MyApplication version...
[i] MyApplication version 5.4.9.0 detected.

[i] Already tested versions:
--- 5.4.10.0


[+] MyApplication version 5.4.10.0 selected.

[+] Installing MyApplication 5.4.10.0 - please wait...

7-Zip [64] 16.04 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-10-04

Scanning the drive for archives:
1 file, 557262673 bytes (532 MiB)

Extracting archive: \\Fileserver\Published\Versions\MyApplication5.4.10.0.zip
--
Path = \\Fileserver\Published\Versions\MyApplication5.4.10.0.zip
Type = zip
Physical Size = 557262673

Everything is Ok

Files: 2
Size:       583786977
Compressed: 557262673


    Verzeichnis: C:\inetpub\wwwroot\MyRootFolder\Company


Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
-a----       30.04.2023     11:37              0 AutoInstall.txt
[+] Run handle.exe for debugging...
[+] Start-Process msiexec for WiX...

And the output of handle.exe:

Nthandle v5.0 - Handle viewer
Copyright (C) 1997-2022 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

   40: File  (RW-)   C:\Windows\System32
   C4: File  (R-D)   C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\de-DE\powershell.exe.mui
   CC: File  (R-D)   C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Management.Automation.Resources\v4.0_3.0.0.0_de_31bf3856ad364e35\System.Management.Automation.Resources.dll
  178: Section       \BaseNamedObjects\__ComCatalogCache__
  17C: File  (R--)   C:\Windows\Registration\R00000000000c.clb
  210: Section       \...\Cor_SxSPublic_IPCBlock
  214: Section       \BaseNamedObjects\Cor_Private_IPCBlock_v4_8652
  228: Section       \Sessions\7\BaseNamedObjects\windows_shell_global_counters
  244: Section       \BaseNamedObjects\windows_shell_global_counters
  24C: Section       \BaseNamedObjects\C:*ProgramData*Microsoft*Windows*Caches*cversions.2.ro
  250: Section       \BaseNamedObjects\C:*ProgramData*Microsoft*Windows*Caches*{6AF0698E-D558-4F6E-9B3C-3716689AF493}.2.ver0x0000000000000008.db
  254: Section       \BaseNamedObjects\C:*ProgramData*Microsoft*Windows*Caches*cversions.2.ro
  258: Section       \BaseNamedObjects\C:*ProgramData*Microsoft*Windows*Caches*{DDF571F2-BE98-426D-8288-1A9A39C3FDA2}.2.ver0x0000000000000005.db
  25C: File  (R-D)   C:\Windows\System32\de-DE\propsys.dll.mui
  448: File  (R--)   C:\Windows\assembly\pubpol95.dat
  470: Section       \BaseNamedObjects\__ComCatalogCache__
  484: Section       \RPC Control\DSEC21CC
  528: File  (R-D)   C:\Windows\System32\de-DE\winnlsres.dll.mui
  710: File  (R-D)   C:\Windows\System32\de-DE\crypt32.dll.mui
  760: File  (R-D)   C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost.Resources\v4.0_3.0.0.0_de_31bf3856ad364e35\Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost.Resources.dll
  770: File  (R-D)   C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL\mscorlib.resources\v4.0_4.0.0.0_de_b77a5c561934e089\mscorlib.resources.dll
  928: Section       \Sessions\7\BaseNamedObjects\UrlZonesSM_administrator
  940: Section       \BaseNamedObjects\NLS_CodePage_1252_3_2_0_0
  A48: File  (R-D)   C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Management.Resources\v4.0_3.0.0.0_de_31bf3856ad364e35\Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Management.Resources.dll
  A4C: File  (R-D)   C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_64\System.Transactions\v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.Transactions.dll
  A5C: Section       \BaseNamedObjects\NLS_CodePage_850_3_2_0_0
  A74: File  (R--)   C:\install\MyApplication\InstallMyApplication.transcript.txt
  B7C: File  (R-D)   C:\inetpub\wwwroot\WebServicesRoot\ServerConfigurator\bin\MyApplication.exe
  BB4: File  (R-D)   C:\Windows\System32\de-DE\KernelBase.dll.mui
  BF4: File  (R--)   C:\install\MyApplication\InstallMyApplication.handle.txt
  C24: File  (R-D)   C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.IIS.PowerShell.Provider.Resources\v4.0_10.0.0.0_de_31bf3856ad364e35\Microsoft.IIS.PowerShell.Provider.resources.dll
  C50: File  (RWD)   C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\Config\Schema
  C58: File  (RWD)   C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Config
  C5C: File  (RWD)   C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Config
  C60: File  (RWD)   C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\Config
  C64: File  (RWD)   C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\Config

The only file that could cause an "error" (in my opinion) would be "c:\inetpub\wwwroot\WebServicesRoot\ServerConfigurator\bin\MyApplication.exe". But it doesn't explain why the powershell script will be terminated.

Interestingly, the same script works on our test servers (also Windows Server 2019) but not on the application server (but it has worked for a while). On all machines we install the application with the domain-administrator, we can therefore rule out that the user has something to do with it.