Setup failed while installing sub-component Exchange ActiveSync with error code 0xC0070643

In the process of set­ting up a new 2003 Exchange Server, we were con­fronted with the fol­low­ing error while installing Ser­vice Pack 2.

Setup failed while installing sub-component Exchange ActiveSync with error code 0xC0070643 (please con­sult the instal­la­toin logs for a detailed descrip­tion). You may can­cel the instal­la­tion or try the failed setup again.

Dig­ging into the instal­la­tion logs we see that the setup is fail­ing while attempt­ing to install MSXML:

[18:52:22] Call­ing MSXML installer with com­mand line: “msiexec /i msxml3.msi /q reboot=“ReallySuppress”“
[18:52:22] Process cre­ated … wait­ing (-1)
[18:52:23] Process has exited with 0x000643
[18:52:23] The command

msiexec /i msxml3.msi /q reboot=“ReallySuppress”

failed, return­ing error code 1603 (Fatal error dur­ing instal­la­tion.). — ID:31136 — ScCre­ateProcess (f:\tisp2\admin\src\libs\exsetup\hiddenw1.cxx:1821)
Error code 0XC0070643 (1603): Fatal error dur­ing installation.

The event logs sub­se­quently tells us:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Msi­In­staller
Event ID: 1013
Descrip­tion:
Prod­uct: Microsoft XML Parser — Your sys­tem has newer ver­sion of MSXML3 SP5 than the ver­sion you are attempt­ing to install. Setup will quit.

(more…)

Nov 22, 2008 | Server 2003 | 12 Comments »