Long path names to files on sql server installation media как исправить

My product has been installing SQL Express with InstallAware for about 5 years now. Today I saw an error that I’ve never seen before. I’ve recently switched from IA15 to X2, and a custom SQL Server 2014 Express runtime to the one included with X2.

SQL Server installation media on a network share or in a custom folder can cause installation failure if the total length of the path exceeds 260 characters. To correct this issue, utilize Net Use functionality or shorten the path name to the SQL Server setup.exe file.

It seems the temp path being created for the setup is too long.

The PC in question looks to be Windows 7 x86

Dear rev23dev,

thanks for reporting it … but I really don’t know if we can include a similar fix, which it appears to be caused by a limitation of the MS SQL installer itself.

Anyway, thanks once again for reporting it!

Regards

Hello,

we are hitting the same problem. We delivered SQL Server Express 2008 R2 for several years now.
Now we switched to InstallAware X3 and decided to deliver SQL Server Express 2014 instead of the 2008R2.
On two mashines we got the same error when installing the SQL Server (Windows 8.1 and 10 (both x64)).
It seams like it doesnt matter if we run it from network path or from desktop.
How may we shorten the path used here or can do something else to provide getting this error?

Thanks in advance,
Martin

Dear Martin,

I have just completed to run some tests and I don’t see any problem with installing the «SQL Server Express 2014 RTMs» on Win 8.1 / 10 (both x64).

Regards

Hmm,
«runs on my mashine» was not what i expected to hear…
We have the Problem on two of our testing virtual mashines now and we are afraid that many users out there will get the error too.
So again my question: How can we get rid of this?

Greetings,
Martin

Dear Martin,

I should first understand what really happens, otherwise it’s difficult to suggest you a workaround or a possible solution.

Can you give me some more details about the Virtual Systems you used to replicate the issue?

Regards

Hi Francesco,

we have the error now on 3 VMs. We host them via Microsoft Hyper-V:

Windows 8 Pro:
— Intel(R)Core(TM) i7 CPU 960 @3.20GHz 3.20GHz (virtual quadcore)
— 3 GB RAM
— x64 processor
— 50GB HDD

Windows 8.1 Pro:
— Intel(R)Core(TM) i7 CPU 960 @3.20GHz 3.20GHz (virtual quadcore)
— 3 GB RAM
— x64 processor
— 50GB HDD

Windows 10 Enterprise:
— Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2640 v2 @ 2.00GHz 2.00GHz
— 3 GB RAM
— x64 processor
— 50GB HDD

If you want to know more about the Host-System we use I will have to ask our Administrator to give me the information.
Is there something more you need to know?

Thanks for the help Francesco.
There was something wrong with my commandline parameters, it had nothing to do with InstallAware

*closed*

Hmm… ran into this again today with X6

It’s telling me SQL Server installation media on a network share or in a custom folder can cause installation failure if the total length of the path exceeds 260 characters. To correct this issue, utilize Net Use functionality or shorten the path name to the SQL Server setup.exe file

The path it went to was:
C:UsersCounterAppDataLocal{1B8A640C-2546-4DFD-A192-1FEFC6825891}Microsoft SQL Server Express 2014 SP2 (x64)mFileBagIDE.dllDD914CECx64setup
Not 260 (I guess some of the files it extracts might be?). Kind of goes back to what I was saying in a previous post about these web media names being excessively long

Dear Rev23dev,

honestly, I don’t see any problem when installing «SQL Server Express 2014 SP2 (x64)» RTMs on Win 10 x64.

Regards

If you sign in with a Windows account your user profile directory is limited to 5 characters. So C:usersxxxxxAppData… so maybe this one, since it’s a local account with a longer user name is causing the issues?

I think these paths and .7zip filenames should be shortened though.

For example, if I set my webmediablock url to use sql2014sp2x64.zip, IA should use this filename when generating that .7zip file (currently it uses the full name of the web media block), additionally, that would shorten this temp path.

Dear Rev23dev,

for test purpose, you may try to copy the extracted SQL setup files to a different directory and then to run the <sql-setup> from there.

For example, in the «setupsql2014sp2_x64» script the variable «MSSQL2014_FILEBAG_X64» holds the path the extracted SQL setup files. You may modify this script and you could use the «Copy/Move Local Files» command to copy these files on a different directory (eg. c:test) of the target machine target. Finally, you should also update accordingly the path used to run the <sql-setup> («Run Program» Command).

The «Copy/Move Local Files» is a Windows Installer command (PURPLE COMMAND) and to execute it immediately, you need to temporarily switch native engine ON.

Set Variable NATIVE_ENGINE to TRUE
Copy Local Files to
Set Variable NATIVE_ENGINE to FALSE

Regards

I’ve tried for days and cannot get an installer for SQL Server Express 2014 SP2 x64. I have added it as a prerequisite. The SQL Express log says

SQL Server installation media on a network share or in a custom folder can cause installation failure if the total length of the path exceeds 260 characters. To correct this issue, utilize Net Use functionality or shorten the path name to the SQL Server setup.exe file.

The path that is too long is

C:UserssoftwrightAppDataRoamingWeaselSoftTestingSqlServerExpressprerequisitesSQL Server Express 2014 SP2SQLEXPR_x64_ENUx64setup

I’m not even sure *WHY* it is extracting into AppData, or how to change that.

Ultimately, I want to run setup with the /QS flag and a configuration file that I’ve created. This does work from a command line.

I’ve attached my project. Maybe I did something obvious.

I’d appreciate either a working example installer or help in figuring out how to fix what I’ve got.

Thanks.

Hello and welcome to our forum,

The maximum path length supported by Windows is 260 characters. The behaviour you encounter is triggered by a limitation of the SQL Server installation. Because it uses some long paths to install, the setup needs to be located in a path with a shorter length to keep all the paths necessary for the installation under 260 characters.

You could avoid this error by choosing another extraction folder for the SQL Server Express prerequisite. To achieve this go to «Prerequisites» page, select «SQL Server Express 2014 SP2 x64» prerequisite from the «Predefined Prerequisites» list and edit the «Download/extraction» folder from «Global Prerequisite Options». You could, for example use a short path like «c:Prerequisites».

Best regards,
Sorin

Thanks for your reply. I knew about the path limit. I was asking about how to change the extract folder, which you answered. It seems to me to be less than optimal for your pre-packaged prerequisite to not just work without changing this. No matter. I’m beyond that.

Can you please explain this prerequisite installation progress. It looks like AI knows that SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe is the self-extracting archive containing SQL Server Express. So AI knows to run that to extract the SQL Server Express installation package. Then it seems that it knows to run the «setup.exe» file to do the installation. Is that correct? Where in AI do I put the command line arguments to setup.exe?

Is there a benefit / drawback to unzipping SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe and including those files explicitly in my installer?

Is a working example available? Even a different version of SQL Server Express would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I knew about the path limit. I was asking about how to change the extract folder, which you answered. It seems to me to be less than optimal for your pre-packaged prerequisite to not just work without changing this. No matter. I’m beyond that.

We will consider your suggestion, thank you.

Can you please explain this prerequisite installation progress. It looks like AI knows that SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe is the self-extracting archive containing SQL Server Express. So AI knows to run that to extract the SQL Server Express installation package. Then it seems that it knows to run the «setup.exe» file to do the installation. Is that correct? Where in AI do I put the command line arguments to setup.exe?

It is not Advanced Installer that knows everything about the SQL Server Express installation, the «SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe» package does that. Advanced Installer only launches that package and waits for a return value from it. In case a command line is sent to that package, it sends it further to the «setup.exe» file.

Is there a benefit / drawback to unzipping SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe and including those files explicitly in my installer?

I’m not aware of an benefit/drawback to unzipping the «SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe» package and including the files in your installer, but since that package does all the job, it is recommended to keep it as it is.

Is a working example available? Even a different version of SQL Server Express would be appreciated.

Unfortunately, I do not have an example project where the files are extracted from the «SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe» package, but you can test this in a new project.

Let me know if you have other questions.

Best regards,
Eusebiu

I have spent 5 days trying to get SQL Server Express to install by including the prerequisite. No joy.

After hardwiring the extract package, I get past that. Then it would hang up executing the SQL Server Express’s install .NET action. I got around that by adding .NET as a prerequisite. Then it would hang up executing the SQL Server Express’s install VC++ 2010 redistributable action. I got around that by adding both the 32-bit and 64-bit redistributables as prerequisites. At this point, it hangs running the install action for something like «SQL Tools»; I don’t remember the exact string.

It just doesn’t work. I tried the /SkipInstallerRunCheck flag. That doesn’t help.

I’d be interested to know if *anyone* has gotten SQL Server Express 2014 to install with AI. I can’t make it happen.

Hi,

I’m not sure why you encounter these issues. SQL Server Express was installed as a prerequisites many times from Advanced Installers without problems. Can you reproduce the problems on multiple clean machines?

Since the prerequisite is added in the «pre-install» section, the «/SkipInstallerRunCheck» is not needed. If you want to install it as a feature-based or post-install prerequisite you need, indeed, to use that flag as described in the «How can I install the SQL Server as a feature-based prerequisite» FAQ. Also, you can download this sample which installs the SQL Server Express 2014 SP1 as a prerequisite using a configuration file.

Best regards,
Eusebiu

This example installer also fails for me. I’m testing in a virtual machine running Windows 7 Home x64. I have a clean VM which consists of just the install from an original DVD years ago. I simply copy it to create a new, clean operating system, so I’m able to test repeatedly from a machine with nothing other than what came with the OS.

It also hangs on the action that tries to install the x64 .NET framework.

I am working on reimaging a computer, rather than using a VM.

Hi,

In order to see the reason why SQL installation fails on your test machine, you can read the following log file:
C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft SQL Server120Setup BootstrapLogSummary.txt

Indeed, I noticed that the SQL installation fails with my INI file because the password from it is to simple. I changed it to «SimpleSQLTest1234.» and it worked as expected.

Also, please try to send the «/SkipInstallerRunCheck» command line argument to the prerequisite, not the «/SKIPINSTALLERRUNCHECK=1» one that seems to cause problems.

Can you test the above configurations and see if the prerequisites installation works?

Best regards,
Eusebiu

Ok thank you, this is working for me.

But how can I do this that the files will be automatically extracted? Actually he is asking where to extract the SQL Express files.

thx

Hi,

In order for the files to be automatically extracted, you can install the prerequisite fully silent by sending the «/q» switch to it.

Best regards,
Eusebiu

Thank you, Eusebiu!

I tried both of your suggestions. At least one of them fixed the installation.

I appreciate your help!

-reilly.

Eusebiu wrote:Hi,

In order for the files to be automatically extracted, you can install the prerequisite fully silent by sending the «/q» switch to it.

Best regards,
Eusebiu

When I put the SQL Express install in the «Pre-Install» I get a error with /q
How to solve this?
Errormessage: SQL Server Express 2014 SP1 x86 mandotory prerequisite was not correctly installed.

«Feature-based» it is working but he is asking me the Install Type «Server» or «Client». How can I set it that he should use the «Server»?

thanks

Hi

When I put the SQL Express install in the «Pre-Install» I get a error with /q
How to solve this?
Errormessage: SQL Server Express 2014 SP1 x86 mandotory prerequisite was not correctly installed.

This error message appears if the prerequisite cannot be installed correctly. Can you send me your project, so I can take a look of the prerequisite configuration?

«Feature-based» it is working but he is asking me the Install Type «Server» or «Client». How can I set it that he should use the «Server»?

Is this a prerequisite dialog or a dialog from the main package? Can you please give me more details (maybe a screenshot with the dialog)?

Best regards,
Eusebiu