MSI-file works fine when run locally, but not when pushed from group policy

The MSI are to install a small program and an Outlook add-in.

Both are installed correctly when the MSI is run locally, but when I install it with group policys from AD the program is installed but not the Outlook add-in.

The files for the add-in are there but the registry haven't been changed.

Why won't the installation write in the registry remotely? And how do I get it to?

Thanks in advance!

Solution 1:

Unfortunately, AD GPO software pushes are hard to troubleshoot. Your best bet is to turn on install logging and reviewing the file for what went wrong. Interpreting that file can be tricky and well beyond the scope of this question.

Turning logging on is described in KB314852, which describes how to turn on Windows Installer logging via GPO.

1. Open the Group Policy
2. Navigate to Computer Config -> Admin Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Installer
3. Double click on Logging, change setting as appropriate.

There may already be logs stashed in the system Temp directory, it'll start with 'msi' and end in '.log'; use time-stamps to figure out which is the one you're looking for.

Solution 2:

Keep in mind that GPO installs run as SYSTEM. This causes unexpected behavior in some poorly written installers. If you really want to simulate a GPO installation, you'll grab a copy of psexec and run psexec -s msiexec -i path\to\msi /qb

Chances are that the add-in requires a user to be logged in. You might be able to work around this by using the GPO Software Installation's "Publish" feature, and instructing the users that need it to install it through add/remove programs once it's published.