Installation of component VCSServiceManager failed with error code '1603'

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• When upgrading the external PSC as a part of upgrading from vCenter Server 6.5 GA to 6.5 U1g, in the vminst.log file, you see entries similar to:

wWinMain: MSI result of install of "E:\vCenter-Server\Packages\vcsservicemanager.msi" may have failed: 1603 (0x00000643) 
LaunchPkgMgr: Operation on vcsservicemanager.msi appears to have failed: 1603 (0x00000643) 
PitCA_MessageBox: Displaying message: "Installation of component VCSServiceManager failed with error code '1603'. Check the logs for more details." 
 

• In the pkgmgr-comp-msi.log file, you see entries similar to:
  
  MSI (s) (AC:74) [10:28:40:831]: RESTART MANAGER: Session closed.
  MSI (s) (AC:74) [10:28:40:831]: RESTART MANAGER: Session closed. 
  MSI (s) (AC:98) [10:28:40:831]: MainEngineThread is returning 1603 
  MSI (s) (AC:98) [10:28:40:831]: Deferring clean up of packages/files, if any exist 
  
  MSI (s) (AC:98) [10:28:40:831]: Windows Installer installed the product. Product Name: VCSServiceManager. Product Version: 6.5.0.63250. Product Language: 1033. Manufacturer: VMware, Inc.. Installation success or error status: 1603. 
  
  MSI (s) (AC:98) [10:28:40:831]: Product: VCSServiceManager -- Installation failed. 
  MSI (s) (AC:98) [10:28:40:831]: Note: 1: 2228 2: 3: Error 4: SELECT `Message` FROM `Error` WHERE `Error` = 1709 
  MSI (s) (AC:98) [10:28:40:831]: Note: 1: 2205 2: 3: Error 
  MSI (s) (AC:98) [10:28:40:831]: Note: 1: 2228 2: 3: Error 4: SELECT `Message` FROM `Error` WHERE `Error` = 1708 
  MSI (s) (AC:98) [10:28:40:831]: Note: 1: 2205 2: 3: Error 
  MSI (s) (AC:98) [10:28:40:831]: Note: 1: 1708 
  Action ended 10:28:40: INSTALL. Return value 3. 
  MSI (s) (AC:98) [10:28:40:831]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Deleting UpdateStarted property. Its current value is '1'. 

• Installer stops as a result
• PSC-client service fails to start

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 6.5.x

Cause

Certain licensing information is added to the wrapper.conf file, but is not updated by the installer if the file already exists. The missing information causes the Platform Services Client to fail to start and the vCenter Server installer stops after the service fails.

Resolution

To resolve this issue,

1. Stop all VMware services relating to vCenter Server. Stopping VMware vCenter Configuration Service stops all other dependent services.
2. Rename or remove the file:

C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\runtime\vmware-psc-client\conf\wrapper.conf

3. Start all the VMware services after removing the file
   • Open the command prompt as administrator
   • Type cd C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\bin
   • Run this command service-control --start --all
4. Run the upgrade installation. The installer replaces the file we removed with an updated copy.