A VMware product fails to install or uninstall with the error 1603

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)
• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware Live Recovery
• VMware Cloud Director
• VMware NSX

Issue/Introduction

When installing or uninstalling a VMware product, an error 1603 may occur.

• Unable to install or uninstall the VMware product
• Installation or uninstallation of VMware product fails
• The following error appears in C:\ProgramData\VMware\logs\vmmsi.log_#:
  
  Error 1603: A fatal error occurred during installation.

Environment

ESXi 7.x

ESXi 8.x

 

Cause

Missing permissions for the C:\ProgramData\VMware folder for the local administrator and SYSTEM account

Resolution

1. Navigate to the C:\ProgramData\VMware folder
2. Adjust Permissions of the folder to ensure SYSTEM and Administrators account have "Full Control".
   
   • 
3. Run the VMware Tools installer again

Additional Information

Consult the Microsoft Knowledge Base article Error 1603 when you try to install a Windows Installer package: A fatal error occurred during installation.