I can not install sql server 2019

Question

Error description: Invalid command line argument. Consult the Windows Installer SDK for detailed command line help.
what can I do for it?

Answer 1

Indeed you did:

MSI Error: 1402 Could not open key: UNKNOWN\Components\7510101DCAB8C8242AEC21AE1F4B9D4A\E0DECD7172B5A3542B4B4E788B962BA8. Verify that you have sufficient access to that key, or contact your support personnel.

Fun, isn't it? :--( No, it is not!

Again, I turned to Google to look for MSI Error: 1402 Could not open key: UNKNOWN Verify that you have sufficient access to that key, or contact your support personnel. What is interesting is that this time, I get related to all sorts of products: Visual Studio, VMWare, CivilGEO, but also SQL Server. Again Pinal Dave has a blog post: https://blog.sqlauthority.com/2018/04/21/sql-server-fix-error-1402-could-not-open-key-unknowncomponents-system-error-5-another-solution/.

The common thread is that are some permissions issues in the registry.

I don't really have much choice but to leave you to explore these post and try to make as much out them as you can. But two questions:

1) What sort of computer is this? That is, is it your private machine, or is a corporate machine?
2) Are you running any antivirus different from Windows Defender?

Answer 2

I found this:

MSI (s) (30:74) [19:25:55:852]: Specified instance {A60B3D8E-5311-4BF1-AF7A-D1AC15F9152E} via transform :InstID01.mst;:InstName01.mst is already installed. MSINEWINSTANCE requires a new instance that is not installed.

I googled on specified instance via transform is already installed and found some hits. A common thread is that there is a previous failed installation that you need to clean up. For instance this blog from Pinal Dave: https://blog.sqlauthority.com/2018/12/31/sql-server-installation-failure-specified-instance-via-transform-is-already-installed-msinewinstance-requires-a-new-instance-that-is-not-installed/.

However, I ask myself: I assume that you made a number of attempts before you posted to the forums. As I mentioned, there are three stack dumps in the log. What if this is error is a consequence of the previous failures, and the root cause is something else? I think you need to go back to your first set of log files to see what the error was in that case. The other error messages I se in your details.txt are:

The MOF compiler could not connect with the WMI server. This is either because of a semantic error such as an incompatibility with the existing WMI repository or an actual error such as the failure of the WMI server to start.

and

PerfLib 2.0 counter removal failed with exit code 2. Command line: C:\Windows\system32\unlodctr.exe /m:hkengperfctr.xml from directory C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\150\Shared.

If any of these is the first error in your first log, you know that in addition to having clean up the registry to overcome the MSI issue, you also need to find out how to fix the other error. All of this is very time-consuming, assuming that you know as little as I do about these things.

Alternative? Flatten the machine and reinstall Windows, I guess. (Personally, not a step I would take lightly. I just built a new machine, and setting up Windows and installing all programs took me days.)