Trouble installing Exchange 2010 Enterprise

Some more notes to add: I created one vm base, installed all the updates, ran sysprep, set it to generalize, and shutdown. Once VM was shutdown, I made copies of all the files so that I can create the additional machines. Once all the copies were made, I then right click on the vmx file, select add to inventory so that it creates an entry for a new VM. I then powered on the newly created VM.

Have you checked the ISO you have downloaded is not corrupted?

see my EE Articles


HOW TO: Create an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image (*.iso), and MD5 checksum signature, for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)

HOW TO: Upload an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image to a VMware datastore for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) using the vSphere Client, and checking its MD5 checksum signature is correct.

Have you installed tried installing Exchange before installing any updates?

I have tried multiple ISO files...same issue. I am currently creating a new VM from scratch (not using a cloned vmdk), then I will try installing without the updates.

Update: I created a new VM, did not install any updates, I got the same error as before, grrrrr.

Did you check your iso?

I really appreciate your input, however, you asked me that in a prior post to which I already answered. I have checked and tried multiple ISO files. I even downloaded it directly to the vm machine so I can run it as an exe and not an attached ISO. I going to try and run it in Hyper-V and see what happens. I really don't want to bog my laptop down by building a hyper-v environment. Running esxi is more resource efficient, especially when running multiple vms at a time.

Ditch the ISO. That will be Exchange 2010 SP1, which is really old and you will have to update it immediately.
Download Exchange 2010 SP3 from the Microsoft public web site and try installing from that instead. It contains everything you need but the UM language packs. If you also download Exchange 2010 Sp3 Rollup 1 and put it in the updates directory then it will install that for you at the same time.

Simon.

Oddly, it IS the 2010 sp3 iso that I am having trouble with. When it all started, I was using the 2010 sp1 iso, then I figured I would try with the most recent version, that too was causing trouble. I have now switched from VMware to Hyper-V and all is well, (and that's using the same "troubled" iso). I want to think it maybe an issue with something with my vmware. I may just start from scratch and reinstall esxi 5. I did an update from esxi 5 to 5.1, and that may have caused the issue. I will also do a fresh install with 5.1 rather than upgrading to it to see if that helps. Running all those vms in Hyper-V on my Windows 8 laptop is starting to bog it down, even though they are setup with dynamic memory. I will keep the thread open for a bit in case of more suggestions.

OK, so I redid the environment by installing ESXI 5.1 (rather than an upgrade from 5.0). I used a different ISO to install 2008R2, did not install ANY updates, , tried to install Exchange 2010, same issue. As soon as it completes copying the files, it craps out. I attached a screenshot to the comment.
exchange-setup-error.PNG

I applied my own solution.