Introduction
Microsoft® Web Platform Installer (Web PI) 2.0 makes it simple to download and install the latest Microsoft® Web Platform components, including Internet Information Services 7 (IIS 7), Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Express, Microsoft® ASP.NET Model View Controller (MVC) and Microsoft® Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition. Web PI also installs popular Web applications such as WordPress, DasBlog, or Silverstripe. This article presents some troubleshooting advice for issues that may arise with Microsoft Web PI.
Web PI runs on the following operating systems:
- Windows Server® 2008 and Windows Server® 2008 R2
- Windows® XP Professional Edition Service Pack 2 (SP2) or SP3
- Windows Server® 2003 SP1 or SP2
- Windows Vista® and Windows Vista® SP 1
- Windows® 7
Note that while it is possible to install Web PI 2.0 on Windows® XP Home Edition, this operating system version does not include IIS; Web PI is therefore not supported on Windows XP Home Edition.
Web PI tasks can be divided into three phases:
- Launch phase.
Web PI retrieves the most current product catalog and compares the catalog components with the currently installed products.
- Product selection phase.
Web PI checks dependencies of the products selected to install and builds the list of dependent products that need to be installed.
- Installation phase.
Web PI installs products using one of three technologies:
- To install Windows® operating system components (for example, IIS), Web PI uses Windows operating system tools and interfaces such as SYSOCMGR or PKGMGR.
- To install non-operating system platform components, (for example, SQL Server 2008 Express) Web PI uses the Windows® Installer technology (also known as MSI).
- To install Web applications (for example, WordPress, Silverstripe, or DasBlog), Web PI uses the Microsoft® Web Deployment Tool.
Troubleshooting During the Launch Phase
The most common issues during the Web PI launch phase involve connectivity. Web PI downloads the newest product catalog from a Microsoft Web site. If this fails, an error message such as the following appears:
Figure 1: Unable to download Web Platform error message
To troubleshoot this problem, enter the URL shown in the error message into a Web browser. It should be possible to fix the problem by following the steps described in How to troubleshoot network connectivity problems in Internet Explorer.
If the URL can be accessed in Windows® Internet Explorer® but not via Web PI, use Fiddler, a Web debugger that monitors which HTTP requests are made from a computer. Fiddler can be downloaded from Introducing Fiddler.
Troubleshooting During Component Selection
Once the product catalog is downloaded, Web PI displays the available components. When a component is selected, Web PI checks if there are dependent components that must be installed first and attempts to add the dependent components to the installation list. If some of the dependencies cannot be resolved, Web PI instructs the user to install these manually. For example, MySQL is required for some Web applications in the Windows Web App Gallery. If a dependency is missing, the following error message appears:
Figure 2: External Dependency Is Not Installed error message
To resolve this issue, install MySQL from the MySQL Web site.
Troubleshooting During the Installation Phase
Web PI installs components and applications “silently” (without displaying a user interface), and install failures are written to log files. There are many log files because of the large number of supported setup technologies and platforms.
The setup technologies can be categorized as:
- Operating system components
- Products installed with the Windows Installer (MSI) technology
- Web applications using the Microsoft Web Deployment Tool deployment technology
Operating system components
Operating system components, such as IIS, are installed with Windows setup technologies. The locations for the setup log files are described in the following paragraphs.
Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2
Operating system components on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2 use component-based setup. The log file for operating system components is stored in the %windir%\logs\cbs directory. You can open it with the command:
notepad %windir%\logs\cbs\cbs.log
For more information, see Optional Component Setup Log Diagnoser.
IIS 7.0 (Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008) and IIS 7.5 (Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2) setup generates a separate setup log file, located in the %windir% directory. You can open this log file with the command:
notepad %windir%\iis7.log
Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 setup log files are stored in the %systemroot% directory. You can open the Windows setup log file with the name setuperr.log with the command:
notepad %systemroot%\setuperr.log.
The IIS setup log file is called iis6.log or iis51.log. You can open it with the command:
notepad %wsystemroot%\iis6.log.
Products installed using Windows Installer (MSI) technology
You can use the Windows Installer technology for Web platform components such as Microsoft® SQL Server® and Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition. To look at the logs, open Windows® Internet Explorer® and type the following into the address bar:
%localappdata%\Microsoft\Web Platform Installer\logs
Web PI also displays a link to the log file that failed in the summary screen; see the detailed description of Windows Installer error codes.
Products installed using the Microsoft Web Deployment Tool technology
The Web Deployment Tool offers a way for Web applications to join the Web PI ecosystem by adding a few manifest files to an existing compressed file (Zip) package. Web PI calls the Web Deployment Tool and installs the Web application on an IIS Web site. The Web Deployment Tool technology is used for all Web applications found in the Windows Web App Gallery. Note that the Web Deployment Tool logs all its information into a file named x86_msdeploy.txt (32-bit system) or x64_msdeploy.txt (64-bit system).
Known Issues
Following are some known issues:
Web PI cannot install additional IIS components if shared configuration is enabled.
If IIS 7 is configured for “Shared Configuration,” Web PI cannot install most additional IIS components. For more information, see the support article “You cannot install or uninstall a component in IIS 7.0.”
Issues during application installation using Web PI:
- Web PI does not automatically create physical directories when an application is installed to a new site.
Create the directory manually or use the ‘...’ button next to the physical path text box to create a new folder.
- Web PI requires password fields to be filled in and does not allow them to be empty.
If an application allows an empty password, the password does not work when the application is installed in Web PI.
Issues with Microsoft SQL Server during application installation:
- Applications do not work without SQL “Mixed mode authentication.”
For most Web applications, SQL Server user accounts are required in order to access a database. If only integrated or Windows authentication for SQL Server are selected, you cannot install some of the applications in the gallery.
- SQL Server passwords are not accepted if they do not meet strength requirements.
However, Web PI does not validate passwords for strength or for other criteria. The failure to create an account with a weak password occurs during application installation, and the installation fails. Use a strong password according to the SQL Server policy.
- SQL Server user names cannot be longer than 16 characters.
However, Web PI does not validate user fields for length or other criteria. The failure to create an account with a user name that is more than 16-characters long happens during application installation, and the installation fails. Use a user name that is no more than 16-characters long.
- Using the sa account when you choose “Existing db” will fail.
The sa account cannot be used when you choose “Existing db” because the script that is run tries to add sa to the database. Sa is a special account that cannot be used in certain operations. Use an existing user name that is not sa.
- Other Microsoft SQL Server issues.
Check the SQL Server log files in the following directory for more information:
%programfiles%\microsoft sql server\100\setup bootstrap\log
Application-Specific Issues:
- DasBlog
DasBlog requires the user to set an application URL, such as http://localhost/dasblog. If it is not set correctly, none of the images or cascading style sheets (CSS) appear correctly. For example, if the application is installed to a site running on port 81, the user must type http://localhost:81/dasblog as the URL.
- Subtext
The Subtext admin menu does not appear when using Windows® Internet Explorer 6. This issue is likely to occur on Windows Server 2003 or other operating systems where the Web browser is not updated. Upgrade to Windows® Internet Explorer® 7 or Windows® Internet Explorer® 8 to see the admin menu.
- Umbraco
Umbraco can only be installed into the root of a site, not in a subdirectory under the site.
Additional Troubleshooting Tools, Tips, and Tricks
The following information contains some additional useful tips and tricks for solving problems you might encounter when installing parts of the Microsoft Web Platform stack with Web PI.
Fiddler
Web PI downloads its product catalog and the product packages through HTTP requests. Fiddler is a Web debugger that can help determine if these requests succeed and if the requested resources are still available. Fiddler monitors all HTTP requests that are made from the Windows-based computer that runs Web PI.
Process Monitor
Process Monitor is an advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time file system, registry, and process/thread activity. In the Web PI case Process Monitor can be used to monitor the activity of install programs.
Windows Event Log
Windows has a central repository for errors, informational messages, and warnings called the Windows Event Log. Though sometimes overlooked, Event Log often provides the solution to many problems and is worth exploring. To open the Windows Event Log, type the following at the command prompt or in the Run menu:
eventvwr.msc
Web PI Tracing
Web PI has an additional built-in tracing mechanism. It can be activated by saving the following configuration file as webplatforminstaller.exe.config in the %programfiles%\Microsoft\Web Platform Installer directory.
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' ?>
<configuration>
<system.diagnostics>
<trace autoflush='true' />
<sources>
<source name='DownloadManager'>
<listeners>
<add name='TextFile'/>
</listeners>
</source>
</sources>
<sharedListeners>
<add name="TextFile"
type="System.Diagnostics.TextWriterTraceListener"
initializeData="WebPI.log"/>
</sharedListeners>
<switches>
<add name='mySwitch' value='Verbose' />
</switches>
</system.diagnostics>
</configuration>
The trace file called WebPI.log file is also written to the %programfiles%\Microsoft\Web Platform Installer directory.
Cleaning the Web PI Cache
Web PI is caching the product catalog and other files to optimize startup time. If the product catalog seems to be outdated or if incorrect data is displayed in Web PI, delete the cache with:
del /q "%localappdata%\Microsoft\web platform installer\*"
Additional Help
If you have exhausted the troubleshooting tips and tricks in this article and are still having problems, visit the Web Platform Installer forum at http://forums.iis.net/1155.aspx.
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