How to Research AppFabric Installation Errors

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The Windows Server AppFabric installation log file includes entries for any errors that might have occurred during installation. It will not include errors that are not associated with AppFabric installation, so you do not need to distinguish between AppFabric installation errors and other errors. The error codes are those returned by the Windows Installer.

Also included in this article is information about the configuration error log and update errors.

Displaying the Installation Error Log

The name of the AppFabric installation log file will be of the form: “AppServerSetup(yyyy-MM-dd H-mm-ss).log. The datetime represents the date and time that the file was created. A new log file will be created every time AppFabric setup.exe is run, with the files distinguished by the datetime value in the file name. The log file is saved to the %temp% folder.

There are three ways to display the error log:

·         Click the link in the last page of the AppFabric Installation Wizard.

·         Open the log file manually in the %temp% folder.

·         When running an automated setup, you can specify that a log file is created by the automated setup process by including “/logfile” or “/l” to “setup.exe” on the command line. The value of the command switch /logfile or /l is a string indicating the file path where the log should be created.

Researching an Installation Error

To determine which error occurred during AppFabric installation, proceed as follows:

1.       In Windows Explorer, open the %temp% folder, and find the AppFabric installation log with the latest datetime value. (To determine the temp folder, type “%temp%” into  the path text box at the top of Windows Explorer, and then click Enter.)

2.       In Notepad, open the Windows Server AppFabric log file.

3.       Search for “, error”, and note the numerical value of the error code and the associated message.

4.       Open the Error Codes topic of the Windows Installer Reference at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa368542(VS.85).aspx.

5.       Search on the error code and identify the issue from the description.

Configuration Error Log

Configuration errors are logged in a file in the %temp% folder with the following name: Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Configuration (yyyy-MM-dd H-mm-ss) <process code>.log.

Configuration may return any of the general system error codes documented at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms681381(v=VS.85).aspx. Additionally, since configuration may deal with other subsystems like Windows Firewall or SQL Server, error codes from those sub systems may be returned. The error messages logged by Windows Server AppFabric should be descriptive enough that in many cases, additional information should not be required. However, bear in mind that unexpected errors can occur during configuration, and since they are unexpected, they are difficult to document.

Update Errors

Error codes for the AppFabric update process are not included in an AppFabric installation log, but are included in the CBS (Component Based Servicing) log file, which is located in C:\windows\logs\cbs as cbs.log. A record of new update events is appended to the existing cbs.log file, rather than to a new cbs.log file created for each update process (unlike the installation log file). You will have to open Notepad as an administrator to open cbs.log.