Error: "... cannot be installed without 32-bit application support" on Windows Server
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Error: "... cannot be installed without 32-bit application support" on Windows Server

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Article ID: 156183

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Updated On:

Products

Endpoint Protection Endpoint Security Complete

Issue/Introduction

While installing the Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) client on Windows 2008 R2 Core or Win 2012/R2, the following error is received:

"Symantec Endpoint Protection cannot be installed without 32-bit application support"

   

Cause

  • The 32-bit subsystem support has been removed from the system, either manually or through an automated build process.
    Note: 32-bit application support is optional on Windows 2008 R2 Core only.
  • Custom Action Server is incorrectly registered

Resolution

Solution 1:

Check if the 32-bit subsystem is Enabled or Disabled on the target system:

This can be confirmed by running the following command: 

"dism /online /get-features /format:table " 

              

 

Use this command for Enabling the 32-bit subsystem 

"dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:ServerCore-WOW64"

Reference : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/974727

Solution 2:
Review the Endpoint Protection client install log (SEP_INST.log) for the following error:

%TEMP%\SEP_INST.log shows the following error:
MSI (s) (4C:F4) [13:09:36:240]: Running ExecuteSequence
MSI (s) (4C:F4) [13:09:36:240]: Doing action: Check32BitSupport
MSI (s) (4C:68) [13:09:36:313]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL: C:\WINDOWS\Installer\MSI4D1.tmp, Entrypoint: Check32BitSupport
MSI (s) (4C:68) [13:09:36:313]: Generating random cookie.
MSI (s) (4C:68) [13:09:36:313]: Created Custom Action Server with PID 7040 (0x1B80).
MSI (s) (4C:74) [13:09:36:333]: Running as a service.
MSI (s) (4C:74) [13:09:36:333]: Custom Action Server rejected - Wrong Context
MSI (s) (4C:68) [13:09:36:333]: CA Server Process has terminated.
Action start 13:09:36: Check32BitSupport.
MSI (s) (4C:F4) [13:09:36:344]: Doing action: No32BitSupportError
Action ended 13:09:36: Check32BitSupport. Return value 1.
Action start 13:09:36: No32BitSupportError.
MSI (s) (4C:F4) [13:09:36:344]: Product: Symantec Endpoint Protection -- Symantec Endpoint Protection cannot be installed without 32-bit application support
Symantec Endpoint Protection cannot be installed without 32-bit application support
Action ended 13:09:36: No32BitSupportError. Return value 3.
 

This error indicates that the server may have an incorrectly registered custom action server. This log entry will be preceded by the log entry, "Hello, I'm your 64bit Elevated custom action server.."  This can be caused by the 32 bit custom action server incorrectly being registered as the 64 bit custom action server.
 
Check the following registry values on the server to see if they are pointing to the same file path location:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer ! MsiExecCA32
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer ! MsiExecCA64

 
If the file paths are identical, then you have a misregistered custom action server as, normally, the MsiExecCA32 should reference the syswow64 location.  This can be fixed by running the following from the command line:

"c:\windows\syswow64\msiexec.exe /regserver"

This should repair the file paths and the msi registration to allow the installation to complete.

Additional Information

Related issue: Error: "Symantec Endpoint Protection cannot be installed without 32-bit application support" on non-core Windows Servers. (broadcom.com)