RAM prereq fails with Windows Server 2019 on VMware Workstation

[BillM]

I have a setup that I've been using for years. It has a Prereq check for physical memory of 4 GB minimum. I have several testing virtual machines running on VMware Workstation 15.0.2. Each VM has 4 GB RAM allotted to them. Setup has worked with Windows Server 2008 - 2016 without any problems. With Windows Server 2019, the prereq RAM check fails, telling me I need a minimum of 4096KB. The VM has 4096KB of RAM. Why does this check specifically fail under Windows Server 2019??

[Catalin]

Hello Bill,

I have tested your scenario but I was unable to reproduce the described behavior. The setup could be correctly installed without any problems (the launch condition description was not spawned).

In order for me to further investigate this, could you please send me a copy of your AIP (project file) and a verbose log by e-mail at support at advancedinstaller dot com?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,
Catalin

[BillM]

My mistake. It wasn't a Prerequisite, it was a Launch Condition. You can check this by creating a simple setup that installs nothing. Make a mixed 32/64 setup. Add nothing to it. Add a Launch Condition of Physical Memory 4096 MB. Save & compile. Setup will run on Windows Server 2012R2 VM with 4 GB RAM, but not on Windows Server 2016 VM.

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[Catalin]

Hello Bill,

You can check this by creating a simple setup that installs nothing. Make a mixed 32/64 setup. Add nothing to it. Add a Launch Condition of Physical Memory 4096 MB. Save & compile. Setup will run on Windows Server 2012R2 VM with 4 GB RAM, but not on Windows Server 2016 VM.

This is exactly what I have done in my first test, beside the "Mixed 32/64-bit matching the platform" package type. I have tested this once again now and I was still not able to reproduce the behavior. Also, I have one question here. Does the package not work on Windows Server 2019 or on Windows Server 2016? I have tested this on a clean Windows Server 2019 VM, but now I see that you have said that it does not work on Windows Server 2016 (and also I could have seen that you test on a Windows Server 2016 VM from your screenshot).

Below are some screenshots from my tests on Windows Server 2019:

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Since now you have said that it fails on Windows Server 2016, I have tested on it as well just to make sure. Once again, the launch condition was correctly evaluated (no message was spawned). I think that there might be something you have omitted to tell me here.

So, in order for me to further investigate this, could you please send me the .AIP file (project file) and a verbose log of the installation process that fails by e-mail at support at advancedinstaller dt com?

All the best,
Catalin

[BillM]

The problem happens with both Windows Server 2016 and 2019. I was specifically talking about VMware Workstation 15. When I saw your screen, I recognized the vSphere client, and it works with WS2016/2019 when running under ESXi. It only fails under VMware Workstation.

[BillM]

Bump

[Catalin]

Hello Bill,

Indeed, you are right. This seems to be an issue related only to the 15.0.0 version of VMWare Workstation (this does not seem to be reproducible on lower versions of VMWare Workstation - e.g. 14.x.x).

The reason behind this seems to be the fact that our property which stores the physical memory is wrongly set, thus resulting in the launch condition failing. On a machine which has "16384" MB, the "AI_DETECTED_PHYSICAL_MEMORY" property is set to "16383" MB (1 MB less than the actual physical memory). The reason why this happens is still unknown as this is still under our investigations.

As a workaround, you can do the following:

- create a verbose log for the failed installation.

- in the log, please look for the "AI_DETECTED_PHYSICAL_MEMORY" property and check its value.

- adjust the "Minimum Physical Memory" (from the "Launch Conditions" page) field based on the above property.

Quick example: If your machine has 4096 MB memory and in the log file the "AI_DETECTED_PHYSICAL_MEMORY" property is (wrongly) set to "4095" (1 MB less than the actual memory), please go to "Launch Conditions" page and change the value from the "Minimum Physical Memory" field from "4096" to "4097" (1 MB more).

Hope this helps.

All the best,
Catalin

[BillM]

Thank you for confirming this issue and the suggested workaround.

[Catalin]

You are always welcome, Bill.

Glad I could help.

All the best,
Catalin