Endpoint Security Threat Prevention will not uninstall nor can I upgrade it

[dwatmough]

All Endpoint Security products will not uninstall let alone I can not upgrade to newer version.

[Former Member]

Hi @dwatmough

What do you see when you try to uninstall the software locally? Either via add/remove programs or via msi string (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432\Network Associates\ePolicy Orchestrator\Application Pluggins\END_??_10XX  >> there is a value for uninstall string)

Similarly do you know what the installation fails with when you try to upgrade to a newer version?

Are you performing the upgrade via a regular product deployment task or via our EUA (Endpoint Upgrade Assistant)? In case you are unaware of our EUA Tool - This assistant will help you with your upgrade. It analyses the endpoints in your ePO environment, detects the supported McAfee products that are installed, and determines the minimum requirements for upgrading to current versions of the products. With this information, you can plan and implement product upgrades efficiently throughout your environment. With EUA Package Creator you can create a custom deployment package that includes all products that need to be upgraded in a single, one-click deployment task via EUA Upgrade Automation. For more details you can see: https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=KB88141
It also has the capability to repair corrupt installations - so may be of use to yourself.

[dwatmough]

Unistall pops a dialogue box saying configuring McAfee and then just disappears. A registry example for the Web Control is "C:\Program Files (x86)\McAfee\Endpoint Security\Web Control\RepairCache\SetupWC.exe" /x /removeespsynchronously.

The error it gives in ePo when pushing outthe installl is Run now task ENS 10.6.1.1068 successful<br/>Details: Deployment/Update task failed..

[Former Member]

The failure message in ePO doesn't provide enough information for us to see why the installation is failing. We would need to look at the installation logs locally.

To troubleshoot installation failures, we would need to look at the installation logs and see why the installation is failing. You can also do this yourself - here is a short troubleshooting guide: 

1. Open the installation log location (see below) and sort files by date and time > look when installation was first attempted
   
   
2. Open the first installation related log i.e. ThreatPreventionInstall.log and scroll to bottom, you will see the installation failure code i.e. “return code: 1603” (all MSI installation error codes are listed here, https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa372835(v=vs.85).aspx)
   
   
3. If you do see 1603, then scroll back up to the top of the log file and search for “value 3” (the word value may be different depending on log language). The first entry you find shows you point of failure. With the error seen here you can search our knowledge base for known issues.

The installation logs can be found here:
C:/Windows/Temp/McAfeeLogs
%Temp%/McAfeeLogs

If you need assistance, please gather a MER from the machine in question and upload it to a new service request for review. 

MER tool (please run as administrator): https://support.mcafee.com/ServicePortal/faces/tools/toolsWebMER

One thing you may want to try - if this is only happening on one machine - is using our Endpoint Removal Tool to help you clean up the system. You can find this in your product downloads under "Utilities and Connectors".

In regards to this tool, we'd like to make you aware of the following KB and advise you to read it in full: https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=KB90895

McAfee does not recommend using the Endpoint Product Removal (EPR) tool as your primary method for uninstalling our products nor as a step in your upgrade process. The EPR tool is intended as a last resort tool. 

[harris_s]

Hi,

Did you ever get anywhere with this? I'm having same issue and can't update Endpoint Protection from ePO. Have been trying on and off for 2-3 months but now it's critical as we need the new version to support Windows 10 1809. The thing that confuses me is the product deployment task says completed, then when you expand it it says:-

Run now task McAfee Agent > Product Deployment successful<br/>Details: Deployment/Update task failed..

Unfortunatley when I go to the logs folder there isn't a ThreatPreventionInstall.log

[akatt · Accepted solution]

The absence of installation logs would indicate that the installer for ENS is never executing.  A local installation attempt is a good method to help isolate fault, in that it removes the McAfee Agent (invoking the assigned task), and ePO from the picture.  Generally speaking, if the local installation is a success, we then direct the troubleshooting towards MA and ePO.

A recommendation would be to log a support case so we can assist with isolation and then data collection (provided the issue is not configuration-related), and then open an engineering defect where appropriate.

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