How to: Read a SQL Server 2005 Setup Log File

SQL Server 2005 Setup creates log files for each SQL Server component during installation; logging starts as soon as Setup.exe is launched.

To read a SQL Server Setup log file

Open Windows Explorer and navigate to:

%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\LOG
Open the Summary.txt file. Look through it for error messages.
If you do not find information in the Summary.txt file that tells you what failed, open the SQLSetup*[xxxx]*.cab file in the same root directory.
If this .cab file does not exist, open up the CORE log file from:

%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\LOG\Files

Look at the most recently modified core log: SQLSetup*[xxxx]_[ComputerName]*_Core.log.
If an error was displayed in the user interface during Setup, look for this log: SQLSetup*[xxxx][s]_[ComputerName]*_WI.log.
When parsing a SQLSetup_[xxxx] log file, search the file for 'UE 3'. This is short for 'Return Value 3'.
If a component failed during the installation progress dialog, open the log file SQLSetup*[xxxx]_[ComputerName]*_SQL.log, and perform the 'UE 3' search to scan for errors.