Object reference not set to an instance of an object. Unable to finish the SQL 2012 installation on a VM Machine

Question

Hi, My name is Leonard and I am studying SQL. I have downloaded the newest MS SQL 2012 and also MS 2012 Hyper-V. I have set a MS 2012 Hyper-V on a laptop with AMD Turion 64 X2 and 3G of RAM (Planing to add more to max at 8G).

Following the instructions in the free online Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases” Training Kit, I have set 6 virtual machines as instructed in the Training Kit. While the installation of the MS Server Core 2008 R2 SP1 completed with no problem, the same cannot be said for the SQL Server 2012 installation. I have encountered an error that I have not seen anyone address in any of the SQL web forums.

After running the unattended setup instruction (Setup.exe /qs /ACTION=Install /FEATURES=SQLEngine /INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER /SQLSVCACCOUNT="Njowa\Pa$$worD>" /SQLSVCPASSWORD=" Pa$$worD” /SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS="Njowa\lenny#4!@" /AGTSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\Network Service"  /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS) this is what I get after a series SQL setup  initiation windows popups then disappears.

The following error occurred:

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Error result: -2147467261

Result facility Code: 0

Result error Code: 16387

Please review the summary.txt log for further details

My question is: What instance of an object is not properly initialize in the Setup instructions

Answer 1

Hello,

Please note that SQL Server requires at least 1 GB of RAM. The operating system (Windows Server) requires 2 GB of RAM (recommended) or 512 MB (minimum). This means any virtual machine that will receive the installation of a SQL Server instance requires 1.5 or 2 GB at least.

The behavior of SQL Server setup tells me that the virtual machine does not have enough memory assigned or .NET Framework 3.5 was not enable on Control Panel->Program and Features before trying to install SQL Server.

The following thread is about another possible cause of this error:

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/mr-IN/sqlsetupandupgrade/thread/575d3025-69f5-4152-a473-44496b008811

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Alberto Morillo
SQLCoffee.com

Answer 2

Hi Leonard,

"While the installation of the MS Server Core 2008 R2 SP1 completed with no problem, the same cannot be said for the SQL Server 2012 installation"

you mean MS Server Core 2012 core installation. Are you maintaining snapshots ! easy to go the old state if things go wrong. Try to do a attended installation if it work then you can try with command prompt or scheduled etc..

Alberto was rite. Make sure you run one or two servers at a time not 6 at onec your system may stop responding.

I have four virtual windows 2012 servers installed and run all at once on a 4GB RAM with windows 7 base operating system. Very slow. It was ok with three servers as one domain controller and two nodes...

good luck

If you need any assistance any time happy to help you...

kumar

Answer 3

FIX: Error message when you install SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1

Error: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. when installing sqlserver 2008 along side of Sqlserver 2005

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Please use Marked as Answer if my post solved your problem and use Vote As Helpful, if a post was useful to help other user's find a solution quicker.

Answer 4

Would you please share/upload SQL Server setup log files.

See below "FAQ" about how to locate/upload SQL Server logs.

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FAQ
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Regards,
Ahmed Ibrahim
SQL Server Setup Team
My Blog
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" and "Vote as Helpful" on posts that help you.
This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Answer 5

I'm working through the training key, too, and this issue vexed me for several days.  Finally, I came across a forum post that suggested checking the permissions on registry key HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Uninstall .  I ran regedit.exe and found that the key did *not* exist.  I created the key; then, I reran setup.exe and it worked!

Answer 6

Had exactly the same problem - SQL Server 2012 on Windows Server Core 2008 R2

The answer in my case was to run the .NET4 installer that comes with the SQL Server disk:

d:\redist\DotNETFrameworks\dotNetFx40_Full_x86_x64_SC.exe

restarted the server and the install ran OK

CMR

Answer 7

Thank you, Chris, this is what worked for me.

Answer 8

Worked for me too, installing the .net40 as described by crm2112. Seems to me to be a lot less trickier than editing the registry.

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Rudolf Swiers

Answer 9

Why does this appear with a blue check icon like it is Marked as Answer? The link it provides is about SQL Server 2008; nothing to do with the original poster's question. It is a waste of time and should be removed, or at least unmarked as answer.

The easiest correct solution is to install the 4.0 .NET Framework from the SQL Server media as described by CMR2112 in a subsequent reply.

Answer 10

Had exactly the same problem - SQL Server 2012 on Windows Server Core 2008 R2

The answer in my case was to run the .NET4 installer that comes with the SQL Server disk:

d:\redist\DotNETFrameworks\dotNetFx40_Full_x86_x64_SC.exe

restarted the server and the install ran OK

CMR

Fantastic!

This was definitely the correct answer for my scenario. I had Windows Server Core 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 SP1.

Thanks,
Shamon

Answer 11

I had this problem too; You can check the setup logs in :

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Setup Bootstrap\Log\Detail_ComponentUpdate

(01) 2014-09-08 13:58:20 Slp: Sco: Attempting to open registry subkey Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
(01) 2014-09-08 13:58:20 Slp: Error: Action "Microsoft.SqlServer.Configuration.MsiExtension.SetPatchInstallStateAction" threw an exception during execution.

So I went for the create registry key solution using Regedit. It installed with no problems after this.

Answer 12

Thank you  Denis N. Larin.

You comment helped me.

and thanks for the port owner:)

Answer 13

I ran into the same problem while installing SQL 2012 SP1 on Win 2008 R2 SP1 server core. The registry fix worked for me. I saw this as a better solution than installing .NET 4 as a separate install from SQL. Thanks to all who contributed to this thread - you folks are awesome!

Add'l tip for people who are working through the SQL 2012 70-462 study guide and are limited to only 8Gb of RAM on your Hyper-V server like I am...To make your SQL installs run more quickly, temporarily increase the RAM of the VM (say to 4Gb) - this should cut your install time in half! Be sure that other VMs are powered down before you make the change, and more importantly, be sure to reduce the RAM on your VM to the recommended 1Gb once your install has completed.

Thanks all!

Answer 14

Great! It worked for me.

Answer 15

I check it all the solutions:

- Change regedit

- Install .net 4 (It was already intalled)

- The server's name have 8 c.

I have Windows 2012 R2 Standard and Sql 2012 spi

And I have the same problem :(

"The installer starts goes through some checks and then fails with the message 'Object reference not set to an instance of an object.' It happens while the small 'wait while...' dialog box is showing, another window pops up briefly (I think the feature selection window - can't really tell as it doesn't draw before disappearing). Then the ‘Object reference not set’ message comes up."

Any idea?

Thanks

Answer 16

Exactly what I needed!  Once I added registry key "HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Uninstall" the "Object reference not set ..." error was gone and the SQL Server 2012 (11.00.2100.60) install completed just fine!  The install was on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Server-Core.  Thanks again!

ps.  regarding the registry key addition, it was just a quick add of a new key "Uninstall" taking all defaults for the name, type, and data fields.  Default permission (from the parent) as well.  Once the SQL Server install was done, the new "Uninstall" node now had 26 new items/children!