VMtools upgrade Error - Setup failed to install the VMCI Virtual Machine Communication Interface driver automatically. This driver will have to installed manually

 

CU was getting below error 

 " Setup failed to install the VMCI Virtual Machine Communication Interface driver automatically. This driver will have to installed manually "

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We ruled out the issue related to 

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/74745 

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changed the value Registry from 1 to 0  
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DeviceInstall\Parameters\DeviceInstallDisabled 
Rebooted the VM

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Removed AV in this case, none of the above helped with the situation

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We enabled verbose logging for the installer 

 

We checked the installation log and can see 30 min difference between VMCI installation and next log line.

MSI (s) (6C:50) [16:14:02:694]: Creating MSIHANDLE (63) of type 790536 for thread 3920

MSI (s) (6C:0C) [16:14:02:725]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL: C:\Windows\Installer\MSICAB6.tmp, Entrypoint: VMInstallVMCIDriver

MSI (s) (6C!FC) [16:44:19:741]: Creating MSIHANDLE (64) of type 790531 for thread 4860

 and Finally failing with

=== Logging stopped: 21/11/2022 17:04:37 ===

MSI (c) (88:30) [17:04:37:955]: Note: 1: 1708

MSI (c) (88:30) [17:04:37:955]: Product: VMware Tools -- Installation failed.

MSI (c) (88:30) [17:04:37:955]: Windows Installer installed the product. Product Name: VMware Tools. Product Version: 11.3.5.18557794. Product Language: 1033. Manufacturer: VMware, Inc.. Installation success or error status: 1603.

MSI (c) (88:30) [17:04:37:970]: Grabbed execution mutex.

MSI (c) (88:30) [17:04:37:970]: Cleaning up uninstalled install packages, if any exist

MSI (c) (88:30) [17:04:37:970]: MainEngineThread is returning 1603

=== Verbose logging stopped: 21/11/2022 17:04:37 ===

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Finally, found the issue and provided the workaround for the issue to change registry change in below path.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Device Installer\DebugInstall value on the IISDIV3DAB machine and it was set to 2.

Since the value set was “2”, the operation was running in debug mode under a user content, This was causing it to take more time than usual and consequently timing out.

Once the set the value to ‘”0”, Effectively turned off the debug mode, the operation ran normally and successful VMware tools upgrade with 12.1.0.