SQL SERVER 2019 – Installation Failure – Invalid Command Line Argument. Consult the Windows Installer SDK for Detailed Command Line Help

Recently I tried installing SQL Server 2019 on my virtual machine. I encountered an interesting error which I have not seen earlier. In this blog, I would share the solution of error: Invalid command-line argument. Consult the Windows Installer SDK for detailed command-line help. Let us see the error about Installation Failure.

First, I looked into SQL Setup Summary.txt file and found the failure.

Feature: Java connector for HDFS data sources
Status: Failed
Reason for failure: An error occurred during the setup process of the feature.
Next Step: Use the following information to resolve the error, and then try the setup process again.
Component name: SQL PolyBase Java
Component error code: 1639
Component log file: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\150\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20190726_144242\sql_polybase_java_inst_Cpu64_1.log
Error description: Invalid command line argument. Consult the Windows Installer SDK for detailed command line help.

In the log mentioned in Summary.txt, I found below:

MSI (s) (E4:80) [14:47:36:551]: Machine policy value ‘TransformsSecure’ is 0
MSI (s) (E4:80) [14:47:36:552]: User policy value ‘TransformsAtSource’ is 0
MSI (s) (E4:80) [14:47:36:552]: Machine policy value ‘DisableUserInstalls’ is 0
MSI (s) (E4:80) [14:47:36:552]: Specified instance {7E0C055D-520F-474C-A7ED-755405FBA017} via transform :InstID01.mst;:InstName01.mst is already installed. MSINEWINSTANCE requires a new instance that is not installed.
MSI (s) (E4:80) [14:47:36:552]: MainEngineThread is returning 1639
MSI (s) (E4:BC) [14:47:36:553]: User policy value ‘DisableRollback’ is 0
MSI (s) (E4:BC) [14:47:36:553]: Machine policy value ‘DisableRollback’ is 0
MSI (s) (E4:BC) [14:47:36:553]: Incrementing counter to disable shutdown. Counter after increment: 0
MSI (s) (E4:BC) [14:47:36:553]: Note: 1: 1402 2: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\Rollback\Scripts 3: 2
MSI (s) (E4:BC) [14:47:36:555]: Note: 1: 1402 2: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\Rollback\Scripts 3: 2
MSI (s) (E4:BC) [14:47:36:555]: Decrementing counter to disable shutdown. If counter >= 0, shutdown will be denied. Counter after decrement: -1
MSI (c) (00:A8) [14:47:36:557]: Decrementing counter to disable shutdown. If counter >= 0, shutdown will be denied. Counter after decrement: -1
MSI (c) (00:A8) [14:47:36:557]: MainEngineThread is returning 1639

If we try to decode error number 1639 using windows net helpmsg command, we see same error what was reported in Summary.txt

Invalid command line argument. Consult the Windows Installer SDK for detailed command line help.

Below is the line just before the failure

Specified instance {7E0C055D-520F-474C-A7ED-755405FBA017} via transform :InstID01.mst;:InstName01.mst is already installed. MSINEWINSTANCE requires a new instance that is not installed.

When I searched on the internet, I found that this is due to the MSI incomplete install. I recalled that earlier I was installing SQL Server my Virtual machine was stopped (it is on my laptop and I did shutdown my laptop). Due to incomplete setup, I uninstall SQL completely but looks like this component didn’t remove properly. I found on the internet that I can use below command to uninstall MSI and fix such error.

msiexec /x {GUID}

In my case the GUID is in the error message i.e. {7E0C055D-520F-474C-A7ED-755405FBA017}

Here is the command I executed from the command prompt.

msiexec /x {7E0C055D-520F-474C-A7ED-755405FBA017}

As soon as I clicked Yes, it uninstalled the component. Then, I started to install again and it worked fine. Have you ever seen such an error? Did you find any other method to fix Installation Failure?

Reference: Pinal Dave (https://blog.sqlauthority.com)