Server 2016 - does dism /restorehealth ever work?!

[Sheridan]

Another day, another Windows 10/Server 2016 (they're the same thing these days) has self destructed

 

This server's 2016 Server Manager doesn't work, shows the 'Cannot get role and feature data' with the 'Unable to obtain feature list':

 

Error

Role and feature refresh failed with the following error: The request to list features available on the specified server failed. Unable to obtain the feature list. The specified package is not valid Windows package. Error: 0x800f0805

 

This is a common issue, and also means no updates will install, no features can be added or removed and so on. MS only suggest the usual dism /restorehealth or the hilarious 'sfc /scannow' (which has never fixed anything - ever)

 

So it seems I now have another server where a complete reinstall is the only option - thanks to borked updates again it seems.

 

Has anyone ever got the dism option to ever fix a borked install?

[3s-gtech]

Will it let you in-place upgrade to 2019?

[Sheridan]

Will it let you in-place upgrade to 2019?

 

I'm scared to try - as this server has an SQL Server installation on it as well - just a basic one for logging but in place upgrades don't tend to go well - and if the server is already borked I may end up destroying it completely.

[3s-gtech]

True. Can you snapshot it or is it physical? When I upgraded our SIMS server last year (I think) in-place I snapshotted it - the upgrade broke (because it had uninstalled .NET 4.7.2 it turned out) so I just rolled back to the snapshot and all was well in minutes.

 

I have fixed some pretty monumentally broken Windows installs by installing Windows onto them. Insert Xzibit meme.

[Sheridan]

Yeah I can snapshot it, and have a full backup as well - so destroying it is an option!

 

This is happening far too often these days - my last 2008/2012 servers were rock solid until replaced. 2016 is a mess and 2019 isn't a whole lot better yet

 

Edit: in place upgrade failed anyway - no options now other than build a whole new server

Edited August 4, 2020 by Sheridan

[3s-gtech]

I have Exchange sitting on 2016 - a service that I know all too well can be fickle, complex and a bit wobbly. Stability has been good (touch wood). Also got a couple of Hyper-V hosts on 2016 - apart from the known glacial Windows Update issue they're alright.

[Sheridan]

I've had loads of issues with Server 2016 - and I hate the fact that this one has self destructed for no reason

 

Even updating isn't an option - this is why I would never have W10 in my home again.

 

Edit: Lots of poking around and I've this error in the CBS.log:

 

"Failed to find a matching version for servicing stack: C:\WINDOWS\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-servicingstack_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.3561_none_7ef6ec6421f9a10c\ [hrESULT = 0x80070490 - ERROR_NOT_FOUND]"

 

This suggests the last SSU borked and that's why nothing will update and nothing will work with dism

 

Of course you can't uninstall an SSU or reinstall an SSU so that's the end of the trail

Edited August 4, 2020 by Sheridan

[Sheridan]

Well I managed to fix this without having to build a new server - didn't want to as I felt it was a challenge I had to win lol!

 

- In place 'upgrade' to the same version of Server 2016 and keep Apps and Settings (which only partially worked)

- Update to get rid of the old CredSSL error

- In place upgrade to Server 2019

- Reinstall SQL Server and repair a couple of missing apps

 

So far so good, but what a PITA caused by MS's own updates, especially as you can't roll back an SSU