VMware Tools upgrade to 12.5.1 fails with error vix error code = 21009 - The Microsoft Runtime DLL installer failed to complete installation

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• Upgrading VMware Tools to 12.5.1 fails with vix error code = 21009
• Installation log file "vminst.log" will show similar to below entries :
  
  %temp%/vminst.log

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| BootStrapper-build-24649672| I0: Installing VMware Tools 12.5.1.52451 (build-24649672)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| BootStrapper-build-24649672| I0: ** InstallVCRedist [vcredist_x64.exe][ /Q /norestart]
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| BootStrapper-build-24649672| I2: Util_FileExists: Found "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\{E62D92F6-9ED0-42E8-AC49-CC3EC93FCCEA}~setup\vcredist_x64.exe"
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| BootStrapper-build-24649672| I1: Util_Launch: Attempting to launch ""C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\{E62D92F6-9ED0-42E8-AC49-CC3EC93FCCEA}~setup\vcredist_x64.exe"  /Q /norestart"
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| BootStrapper-build-24649672| I1: Util_Launch: Child exited with code 1603
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| BootStrapper-build-24649672| I1: Util_Launch: Process returned 1603
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| BootStrapper-build-24649672| I0: Launching VC dll installer failed with 1603.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| BootStrapper-build-24649672| I0: DisplayMessageBox: "VMware Product Installation" - "Setup cannot continue.  The Microsoft Runtime DLL installer failed to complete installation."

Environment

VMware Tools 12.5.1

Cause

• The issue was caused due to registry permission issues while installing Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable packaged with the VMware Tools version.
• VMware Tools 12.5.1 has the "Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-22 Redistributable (x64)" version 14.40.33816 and manually installing it using the setup "vcredist_x64.exe" extracted by VMware Tools shows Permission Denied error message on certain registry keys.
  
  Setup file extracted by tools (this patch will change depending on the %temp% location):
  C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\{E62D92F6-9ED0-42E8-AC49-CC3EC93FCCEA}~setup\vcredist_x64.exe
  
  Registry Key where permission issues are observed:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Components
  
  Error message:
  Could not open key: UNKNOWN\Components\<keyID>. Verify that you have sufficient access to that key, or contact your support personnel.
  
  

Resolution

• Grant Full Control permission to Administrators group and SYSTEM account to the registry keys displayed in the error message.
• Retry the vcredist_x64.exe installation.
• Retry VMware Tools installation after successfully installing the Visual C++ Redistributable.

Notes:

• Server might needs to be restarted after performing the installation steps of Visual C++ redistributable.
• If the permission error message is still not resolved, it is recommended to contact Microsoft Support to fix the registry permission issues while installing MS Visual C++ Redistributable.