VMware Tools installation fails with "Setup wizard ended prematurely" due to VGAuth log permissions

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• When attempting to upgrade or install VMware Tools, the installation fails and rolls back with the message: "VMware Tools setup wizard ended prematurely." This issue typically occurs during the VM_SecureVGAuthDirs custom action.
  
  
• The installation wizard triggers an automatic rollback, leaving the virtual machine with no VMware Tools installed.
  
  
• Sample error in the Windows virtual machine %temp%/vmmsi.log :
  
  MSI (s) (EC:C4) [##:##:##:###]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL: C:\Windows\Installer\MSI4395.tmp, Entrypoint: VMCreateSecureProgramDataDirectories 
MSI (s) (EC:1C) [##:##:##:###]: Executing op: ActionStart(Name=VM_SecureVGAuthDirs.#######_####_####_####_########,,) operation ##:##:##:###: VM_SecureVGAuthDirs.#####_####_####_####_########。 
MSI (s) (EC:14) [##:##:##:###]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL: C:\Windows\Installer\MSI43B5.tmp, Entrypoint: VMCreateSecureProgramDataDirectories 
MSI (s) (EC:30) [##:##:##:###]: Generating random cookie. 
MSI (s) (EC:30) [##:##:##:###]: Created Custom Action Server with PID 4432 (0x1150). 
MSI (s) (EC:9C) [##:##:##:###]: Running as a service. 
MSI (s) (EC:9C) [##:##:##:###]: Hello, I'm your 32bit Elevated Non-remapped custom action server. CustomAction VM_SecureVGAuthDirs.6C78E07E_###_####_####_###### returned actual error code 1603 (note this may not be 100% accurate if translation happened inside sandbox) operation end ##:##:##:###: InstallFinalize。return value 3。</pre> YYYY-MM-TTTT:MM:##:##:##:###| BootStrapper-build-25218885| I0: CurrentLocation "C:\Users\#######\AppData\Local\Temp\1\{#######-####-####-####-#######}~setup\"
YYYY-MM-TTTT:MM:17.721-04:00| BootStrapper-build-25218885| I2: Util_IsDirectory: Not a directory: C:\Users\#######\AppData\Local\Temp\1\{#######-####-####-####-#######}~setup\| winerror code 2 (The system cannot find the file specified.)
YYYY-MM-TTTT:MM:17.721-04:00| BootStrapper-build-25218885| I2: Util_CreateFullPath: Creating directory 'C:\Users\#######\AppData\Local\Temp\1\{#######-####-####-####-#######}~setup\'
YYYY-MM-TTTT:MM:17.721-04:00| BootStrapper-build-25218885| I0: Selecting "C:\Users\#######\AppData\Local\Temp\1\{#######-####-####-####-#######}~setup\" for unpacking temp files
YYYY-MM-TTTT:MM:17.721-04:00| BootStrapper-build-25218885| I0: Extracting setup files to "C:\Users\#######\AppData\Local\Temp\1\{#######-####-####-####-#######}~setup\"
YYYY-MM-TTTT:MM:17.721-04:00| BootStrapper-build-25218885| I0:   --> VMware Tools.msi [99778560]

Environment

• VMware Tools 13.1.x
  
  
• VMware Tools 13.0.x
  
  
• Windows Guest Operating Systems

Cause

The VMware Tools installation failure is caused by a locked or inaccessible log file (logfile.txt.0) located in the C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VGAuth\ directory. This VGAuth log file lacks required Access Control Lists (ACLs), preventing the installer from securing the directory during the VM_SecureVGAuthDirs custom action.

Resolution

1. Log into the affected Windows VM with Administrator privileges.
   
   
2. Stop the VMware Alias Manager and Ticket Service (VGAuthService) via the Services console.
   
   
3. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VGAuth\.
   
   
4. Locate the file logfile.txt.0.
   
   
5. Rename logfile.txt.0 to logfile.txt.0.old or move it to the Desktop.
   
   
6. Execute the VMware Tools installer again.

Additional Information

• Execute the following PowerShell command to check the related directory:

(Get-ChildItem 'C:\ProgramData\VMware\' -Recurse -Directory ) | Get-ACL | Format-List -Property PsPath, Owner, AccessToString

• • Example of denied access output:

Get-ChildItem : Access to the path 'C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VGAuth' is denied.
At line:1 char:2
+ (Get-ChildItem 'C:\ProgramData\VMware\' -Recurse -Directory ) | Get-A ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  + CategoryInfo     : PermissionDenied: (C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VGAuth:String) [Get-ChildItem], UnauthorizedAccessException
  + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DirUnauthorizedAccessError,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetChildItemCommand

• • In a successful installation virtual machine, the correct output is shown below:

PSPath         : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VGAuth
Owner          : NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
AccessToString : Everyone Allow  ReadAndExecute, Synchronize
                 NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Allow  FullControl
                 BUILTIN\Administrators Allow  FullControl

• For more information on similar installation failures, refer to article: A VMware product fails to install with the error 1603
  
  
• When installing or uninstalling a VMware product, an error 1603 may occur. Consult the Microsoft Knowledge Base article Error 1603 when you try to install a Windows Installer package: A fatal error occurred during installation.