Apache server fails to start during Endpoint Protection Manager installation

Products

• Endpoint Protection

Issue/Introduction

Apache server fails to start during Endpoint Protection Manager installation. At end of MSCW (Management Server Configuration Wizard), error pop-up appears, describing Apache (httpd.exe) start failure.

Example entries in event log around the failure:

Error 1000:

"Faulting application name: httpd.exe, version: 2.4.6.258, time stamp: 0x55f691f9
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.3.9600.18233, time stamp: 0x56bb4e1d
Exception code: 0xc000007b
Fault offset: 0x0009d3c2
Faulting process id: 0x2124
Faulting application start time: 0x01d1f32a89698ea6
Faulting application path: D:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\apache\bin\httpd.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: c75da15e-5f1d-11e6-8122-065d2171f3f9
Faulting package full name: 
Faulting package-relative application ID:"

Error 1005:

"Windows cannot access the file  for one of the following reasons: there is a problem with the network connection, the disk that the file is stored on, or the storage drivers installed on this computer; or the disk is missing. Windows closed the program Apache HTTP Server because of this error.

Program: Apache HTTP Server
File: 

The error value is listed in the Additional Data section.
User Action
1. Open the file again. This situation might be a temporary problem that corrects itself when the program runs again.
2. If the file still cannot be accessed and
    - It is on the network,
your network administrator should verify that there is not a problem with the network and that the server can be contacted.
    - It is on a removable disk, for example, a floppy disk or CD-ROM, verify that the disk is fully inserted into the computer.
3. Check and repair the file system by running CHKDSK. To run CHKDSK, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the command prompt, type CHKDSK /F, and then press ENTER.
4. If the problem persists, restore the file from a backup copy.
5. Determine whether other files on the same disk can be opened. If not, the disk might be damaged. If it is a hard disk, contact your administrator or computer hardware vendor for
further assistance.

Additional Data
Error value: 00000000
Disk type: 0"

 

Cause

Gathering ProcMon logging during the installation may help in determining the problem. Look in the log for "QueryOpen" actions by httpd.exe. The process may not be finding satisfactory versions of required DLLs. For example, there may be successful QueryOpen actions that find DLLs in the usual places (System32 or SysWOW64) but then the process continues to look unsuccessfully for the same DLLs in unconventional locations. 

In one case, MSVCR100.DLL was present and had an up-to-date version number, but the filesizes and datestamp did not match when compared to the same version on other systems.

Resolution

If missing/corrupt DLLs are suspect, delete any existing DLLs and replace them by running the appropriate installed, e.g. Microsoft's Visual C++ resdistributable installers.