BUG: SP5 Setup Fails if Folder Containing Setup.exe Has a Space in its Name

ID: Q217117

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

When running the SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5 Setup.exe from a directory that contains a space in the directory name (for example, from a directory named "\Big Directory"), the Copying Files phase completes successfully but the following error is received shortly thereafter:

Setup initialization could not be successfully completed. cfgchar.exe could not be executed. Please check the relevant .OUT file.
The only option is to exit to Windows NT. Searching the entire drive reveals one .out file (Chkmast.out). Within this file, there are no errors and the Return Value is 0.


WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, remove any spaces from the name of the directory that contains the Service Pack 5 Setup.exe file and run the service pack setup program again.


STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in SQL Server version 6.5 Service Pack 5.


MORE INFORMATION

This problem is documented in the Readme.txt file that comes with Service Pack 5. The following text is from the Readme.txt in Service Pack 5 for SQL Server 6.5:

Verify that the PATH variable used to display or set the search path for executable files does not contain quotation marks. If it does, remove them. To verify your PATH variable, type PATH <CR> in the command prompt of the systems on which you plan to install Service Pack 5. Running the service pack installation may fail with the following message if this is not corrected:
Setup initialization could not be successfully completed. cfgchar.exe could not be executed. Please check the relevant .out file.


You can rename the installation directories; however, you need to make sure that the directory name does not contain space characters.

Additional query words: installation path sp sp5 


Keywords          : SSrvInst kbSQLServ650 
Version           : winnt:6.5
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: March 29, 1999