The VMware Tools Service is not created after a successful installation

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• After a seemingly successful installation (VMware Tools -- Installation operation completed successfully is logged at the end of the vmmsi.log), the VMware Tools Service is not created and no VMware tray icon is visible.
• The registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VMTools to register vmtoolsd.exe with the Service Control Manager is missing
• The Virtual Machine Summary shows the VMware Tools as Not installed
• The %temp%\vmmsi.log file contains:
• • MSI (s) (40:00) [16:25:55:140]: User policy value 'DisableRollback' is 1
    
    Or
    
    
  • MSI (s) (40:00) [16:25:55:140]: Machine policy value 'DisableRollback' is 1

Environment

VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESX 4.1.x

Resolution

This issue is caused by an active DisableRollback system policy that suppresses commit custom actions on which the installer depends.

To resolve this issue, remove the system policy by either setting it to 0 or deleting the key at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer

When the policy is no longer active, do a repair installation of the VMware Tools. If this is set via a logon or startup policy in Active Directory, make sure to remove it there as well.

Additional Information

For more information about DisableRollback, see the Microsoft article http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa368307%28v=vs.85%29.aspx.