SQL Server 2005 decommissioning failed!

The support for SQL Server 2005 is no more available, so we are migrating all the latest databases running under SQL Server 2005 to SQL server 2012 or higher!
Last time, I had to uninstall an old SQL Server 2005 clustered instance in a 64 bits architecture on Windows Server 2008R2.
In fact, this clustered environment contains many other instances (either SQL Server 2005 or 2008 R2).

But during the uninstallation, an error happened….
First, the event viewer informed me about this error:

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (64-bit) — Error 29530. Failed to set registry settings for server network libraries. The action is SetShilohRoot. The error is 2 (The system cannot find the file specified).

As many people, I “googled” the error 29530 and saw this discussion on the msdn forum here

I tried these solutions to resolve my issue but I still had the same error… ☹
Then I analyzed the summary.txt from the uninstallation in the folder C:Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server90Setup BootstrapLOG to see if I had more information about the uninstallation problem.
In the file, I read this error:

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 9.00.5000.00
==============================
OS Version      : Server 4.0, Enterprise Edition Service Pack 1 (Build 7601)
Time            : Tue May 03 21:34:59 2016
Node01: Failed to find the ASP.Net Version Registration with Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS).
Machine         : Node01
Product         : SQL Server Database Services
Error           : The setup has encountered an unexpected error while Completing Commit. The error is: The cluster resource could not be found.
——————————————————————————–
Machine         : Node01
Product         : SQL Server Database Services
Error           : Failed to set registry settings for server network libraries. The action is SetShilohRoot. The error is 2 (The system cannot find the file specified.)
——————————————————————————–
Machine         :Node01
Product         : Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (64-bit)
Product Version : 9.00.1399.06
Uninstall       : Failed
Log File        : \Node02C$Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server90Setup BootstrapLOGFilesSQLSetup0016_node01_SQL.log
Last Action     : InstallFinalize
Error String    : The setup has encountered an unexpected error while Completing Commit. The error is: The cluster resource could not be found.
Error Number    : 29528
——————————————————————————–
SQL Server Setup failed. For more information, review the Setup log file in %ProgramFiles%Microsoft SQL Server90Setup BootstrapLOGSummary.txt.
Time            : Tue May 03 21:37:14 2016
List of log files:
C:Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server90Setup BootstrapLOGFilesSQLSetup0016_node02_Core(Local).log
C:Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server90Setup BootstrapLOGFilesSQLSetup0016_node02_Datastore.xml
C:Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server90Setup BootstrapLOGFilesSQLSetup0016_node02_.NET Framework 2.0.log
C:Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server90Setup BootstrapLOGSummary.txt
C:Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server90Setup BootstrapLOGFilesSQLSetup0016_node02_SCC.log
C:Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server90Setup BootstrapLOGFilesSQLSetup0016_node02_WI.log
\node02C$Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server90Setup BootstrapLOGFilesSQLSetup0016_node01_Logs.cab

The important information was this log:

Node01: Failed to find the ASP.Net Version Registration with Microsoft Internet Information Services

It was very strange, Reporting Services was not installed but IIS had to be installed to continue the uninstallation process.
Perhaps, we needed to reactivate IIS or register again the component on both nodes:
http://www.windowstechupdates.com/asp-net-version-registration-requirement-during-installation/

And it was the only way to do the uninstall… NO!

Finally, the problem was totally different… A simple permission problem!
The login was “domain admin” and also “local admin” on both nodes but apparently it is not enough…
On Windows Server 2008R2, the “Control Panel > Programs and Features” needed to be run as administrator!

The solution is very simple but hard to find 😉 :
1. Run the command prompt as Administrator
2. Enter appwiz.cpl (Programs and Features command)
3. Run the uninstall of SQL Server 2005

Et voilà! To conclude, this is one the most experience for a decommissioning of SQL Server 2005.
Don’t hesitate to come to dbi services to help you to migrate to SQL Server 2012, 2014 and soon 2016!