vCenter Server installation might fail due to insufficient permissions on the root directory or registry

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

If you are installing vCenter Server, you may experience the following issues:

• vCenter Server installation fails
• vCenter Server installation fails when the installer attempts to install the VMware Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) instance

Note: The Network Service account inherits permissions from the Everyone account. You do not need to modify permissions for the Network Service account if the Everyone account has Read permissions.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x

Resolution

This issue occurs because the Windows Network Service account does not have Read permission on the root drive of the directory where you are installing vCenter Server.

To add the Network Service account with Read permission:

1. Right-click the root drive and click Properties.
2. Click the Security tab.
3. Under Group and user names, click Add.
4. Type NETWORK SERVICE and click OK.
5. Select Allow for the Read permission for the Network Service account in the Permissions for Administrators pane.
6. Click Apply and then click OK.

To update permissions on the VMware VirtualCenter registry key:

Note: This procedure modifies the Windows registry. Before making any registry modifications, ensure that you have a current and valid backup of the registry and the virtual machine. For more information on backing up and restoring the registry, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 136393.

The preceding link was correct as of December 12, 2013. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

1. Select Start > Run, type regedit, and click OK. The Registry Editor window opens.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware,Inc.\VMware VirtualCenter.
3. Right-click VMware VirtualCenter and click Permissions.
4. Click Add.
5. Type NETWORK SERVICE in the text box and click OK.
6. In the Permissions for VMware VirtualCenter dialog, select the NETWORK SERVICE account.
7. Select Allow for the Read permission for the NETWORK SERVICE account, and click OK.

If the above steps do not resolve the issue, rename or remove the ADAM folder:

1. Remove the host from the domain.
2. Rename or remove the %SystemRoot%\ADAM folder.
3. Re-join the host to the domain.
4. Re-install vCenter Server.

For related information, see:

• Upgrading to vCenter Server 4.x fails with the error: Setup cannot create vCenter Server Directory Services (1015887)
• Install process of vCenter Server 4.0 and 4.0 Update 1 might not be completed on Windows Server 2008 (1013822)