Error 2203 During Installation of Custom MSI on Multiple Machines: Troubleshooting

Question

We encountered an issue while installing the MSI using the following command:

msiexec /i localMSI.msi /qn /L*V localMSI.log

The installation process displayed an error message stating:

"The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2203.">

Upon investigation, we found that the msiexec process was running and had created a file named "inprogressinstallinfo.ipi" which it was unable to delete. Killing the msiexec task allowed the installation to proceed successfully. This issue was encountered on multiple machines. It's important to note that the MSI was created by us using C# code, and we are attempting to install it on different machines. Here is a snippet from the localMSI.log:

MSI (s) (C0:94) [23:59:22:166]: Server not locked: locking for product {186ADC86-B01C-4320-8850-AF1EB2322259}> MSI (s) (C0:94) [23:59:22:166]: Note: 1: 2203 2: C:\Windows\Installer\inprogressinstallinfo.ipi 3: -2147287008> MSI (s) (C0:94) [23:59:22:166]: Note: 1: 2262 2: Error 3: -2147287038> > Action start 23:59:22: InstallInitialize.> DEBUG: Error 2203: Database: C:\Windows\Installer\inprogressinstallinfo.ipi. Cannot open database file. System error -2147287008> MSI (s) (C0:94) [23:59:22:182]: Note: 1: 2262 2: Error 3: -2147287038> > MSI (s) (C0:94) [23:59:22:182]: Product: localMSI -- The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2203. The arguments are: C:\Windows\Installer\inprogressinstallinfo.ipi, -2147287008.

The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2203. The arguments are: C:\Windows\Installer\inprogressinstallinfo.ipi, -2147287008. Action ended 23:59:22: InstallInitialize. Return value 3. Action ended 23:59:22: INSTALL. Return value 3.

Answer 1

Hello, It seems the error you encountered is "The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2203." This error appears if you don’t have admin rights for the directory that contains the installation or the temporary folder when installing the software. Please try run the Installer with Admin Privileges Right-click the Windows Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator. Then retry run the command msiexec /i localMSI.msi /qn /L*V localMSI.log again.