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Troubleshooting Windows app install error
Hexnode provides easy distribution and management of applications on Windows devices. However, sometimes the installation of applications pushed through the MDM portal might fail on Windows devices. This can prove to be challenging for the users as well as admins. This documentation helps you identify the reasons for app install failure and fix them easily.
File formats other than MSI and APPX are not currently supported. Make sure that you convert apps to either of these formats before distribution.
Reasons for app install failure
| Reason | Description |
|---|---|
| EXE file not supported | The file format is not currently supported on Hexnode. Convert to MSI or APPX. |
| Installation overlap | The application is already installed on the device. |
| Version mismatch | The application is not compatible with the Windows version installed on the device.
|
| Missing Agent App | Hexnode UEM app must be installed on the device before distributing MSI apps. |
| App installation success in the portal but not visible on the device | The MSI package file is initially built to specify its installation directory to a user-specific location. If such apps are deployed via Hexnode, they will install on the system user (root user) account. Hence, the application installation status will be shown as ‘Success’ on the MDM console.
However, such apps will not install on other user accounts present on the device. Here, a ‘Scan Device’ action pushed to the device cannot detect the presence of such apps. So, these apps will not be listed on Manage > Devices > click on the required device to open the device details page > Applications. |
| MSI (Enterprise) app installation stays in the “Pending” state when multiple MSI apps are pushed to a device simultaneously. |
When multiple MSI apps are pushed to a device, the installation of the applications will only take place one after the other since the Windows Installer allows only a single MSI file to be installed at a time. Hence, until the first MSI app gets installed on the device, the subsequent MSI apps will remain in the “Pending” state.
You can specify an Installation Timeout period so that if the installation of the first app does not complete within the specified duration, the process will be forcefully terminated. This will allow the next app installation in the queue to proceed. |
| Issues with Package signing |
Package signing issues can be broadly classified into the following:
You can try re-signing the package by considering the above-mentioned points and re-install the application. |
| The Enterprise application was in use when the app update was initiated from the portal. |
When the user tried to update the application from the portal, the app was currently running on the device, and hence the app update failed. You can close the Enterprise application and try re-initiating the action from the portal again. |
| Not enough space in the disk | There is insufficient space in the device for the application to get installed. Once you clear some space by removing unwanted applications/files from your device, you can try re-installing the application. |
| Network issues | If there is a network issue during the app installation, it might not get downloaded successfully and will result in installation failure. You can try connecting to a different network and re-initiate the install application action. |
| App package mismatch when an application is being updated |
The app update will fail if the app package being installed does not match the installed package. It can arise due to the following reasons as well:
|
| Dependent files of the application are missing | When an application is pushed to a device, you need to make sure all the dependent files associated with the application are included. Missing dependent files can hamper app installation and updates. |
