OS X 10.5.8 problem resolved
N.B. * Resolved *
Problem; When installing OS X Server 10.5.8 update, the update fails. The error message reads;
“The installer encountered an unknown error that failed the install. Contact the software manufacturer for assistance.”
I did a bit of Bing’ing for solutions (Ouch, that was horrible! Bing is such an ugly verb…) and most of the advice I gleaned from the webs advised me to reinstall the OS. On a corporate server, this was an ugly option, to say the very least. So, I delved in to the log files, and discovered the culprit …
The shares on the server were accessible to all the staff in one form or another. A staff member who’s workstation had already been updated to 10.5.8 decided in their infinite wisdom that they were going to install one of the 10.5 apps on to a workmates 10.4 workstation. (Yes, I know, eyes roll towards the ceiling) The staff member copied the “.app” file to a public share to facilitate this. When the server 10.5.8 update attempted to install, it considered the “.app” file in the public share to be an installed application! The log files reflected the fact that the app was NOT considered a candidate for upgrade at this time, and this was suficcent to bring the entire bundled update to a halt.
Solution; I logged on to the server in person, and deleted the “.app” file from the public share. I then restarted the 10.5.8 update process, which completed sucessfully.
Remember; Always perform a permissions fix before installing a bundled update.
Tags:10.5.8, OS X, problem, resolved, server