SQL Server 2008 R2 – [Error Message]The INSTALLSHAREDWOWDIR command line value is not valid
I recently had the pleasure of encountering the following error while installing MS SQL Server 2008 R2 x64 on a Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 server in preparation for a Microsoft Dynamics SL install. I would later find out this issue will occur when installing SQL 2008 or 2008 R2 x64 on any Windows x64 operating system.
[Error Message]The INSTALLSHAREDWOWDIR command line value is not valid. Please ensure the specified path is valid and different than the INSTALLSHAREDDIR path.
I searched the internet and came up with many references to this issue but none of the resolutions seemed to work.
I logged in locally to the server as a local administrator rather than logging in under a domain administrator account. I then started the installation using command line (per a kb article and blog post below). By simply changing to a local login and running the command line I was able to get past the issue and complete the installation.
Microsoft has acknowledge this is a bug with the SQL Server install package.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955458
Microsoft Connect forum discussion on this issue.
The following is the command line I used to initiate the SQL install and redirect the installation to the E: drive.
D:setup.exe /INSTALLSHAREDWOWDIR=”E:Program Files (x86)Microsoft SQL Server” /INSTALLSHAREDDIR=”E:Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server” /ACTION=install
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