Failing to upgrade: unable to properly install altiris_ns_7_5_sp1

Products

IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

During an upgrade from ITMS 7.5 HF6 to ITMS 7.5 SP1, the installation process fails when trying to install "altiris_ns_7_5_sp1_x64.msi" (during the Platform Core 7.5 SP1 component installation in SIM)

After that failure, SIM reverts back but the previous installation stays incomplete and non-functional.

Failed to configure NS.
Failed to run managed install.

Looking at Altiris.NS.Setup.instlog (under C:\ProgramData\Symantec\SMP\Logs\Setup), you can noticed the following:

An exception occurred during the Install phase.
System.ApplicationException: Failed to set permissions. Directory C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\ does not exist
   at Altiris.NS.Setup.NSInstaller.InstallFolderPermissions()
   at Altiris.NS.Setup.NSInstaller.Install(IDictionary stateSaver)
   at System.Configuration.Install.Installer.Install(IDictionary stateSaver)
   at System.Configuration.Install.AssemblyInstaller.Install(IDictionary savedState)
   at System.Configuration.Install.Installer.Install(IDictionary stateSaver)
   at System.Configuration.Install.TransactedInstaller.Install(IDictionary savedState)

The Rollback phase of the installation is beginning.

In this particular instance, the SMP is installed under F:\ drive rather than C:\

Cause

Unknown. For some reasin during the MSI install the drive letter switches from F to C somehow (from Altiris.NS.Setup.instlog (under C:\ProgramData\Symantec\SMP\Logs\Setup)):

MSI (s) (E0:68) [15:47:11:833]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding TARGETDIR property.
Its value is 'F:\'.
MSI (s) (E0:68) [15:47:11:848]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding ALTIRIS property.
Its value is 'C:\Program Files\Altiris\'.
MSI (s) (E0:68) [15:47:11:848]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding INSTALLDIR property.
Its value is 'C:\Program Files\Altiris\'.

Resolution

This issue has been reported to Symantec Development team. This issue may be fixed in a later release.

Based on the information gather from the Altiris.NS.Setup.msi.instlog and Altiris.NS.Setup.instlog, "altiris_ns_7_5_sp1_x64.msi" is trying to set permissions to the following folders for example:

Action: PurgeAccessRules. Protection: . Setting permissions on C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\ for $WorldSid.
Action: Default. Protection: default. Setting permissions on C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Help\ for IIS_IUSRS.
Action: Default. Protection: default. Setting permissions on C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\RootWeb\ for IIS_IUSRS.
Action: Default. Protection: default. Setting permissions on C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\AgentWeb\Agent\ for IIS_IUSRS.
Action: Default. Protection: default. Setting permissions on C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\AgentWeb\Root\ for $IUSR_MACHINE.
...

The current workaround is:

Try to save below code in .bat file and execute it BEFORE upgrade. It should create all needed directories:
mkdir "C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\Web\"
mkdir "C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\AgentWeb\"
mkdir "C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\RootWeb\"
mkdir "C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Help\"
mkdir "C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\AgentWeb\Agent\"
mkdir "C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\AgentWeb\Root\"
Run the upgrade process one more time. Creating these dummy folders doesn't cause issues with the actual installation drive previously assigned.