Fix SCCM Management Point Uninstall Error 1603

I’ll discuss the fix for SCCM Management Point uninstall error 1603 in this post. The error code 1603 is displayed in SCCM when you attempt to uninstall the MP role. Fortunately, there is a fix, and we can see how to resolve this problem.

In Configuration Manager, a management point is a site system role which provides policy and service location information for clients, and it also receives configuration data from clients. Take a look at this useful guide that shows how to install management point in SCCM.

When you encounter issues with the MP role in ConfigMgr, the best solution is to uninstall the management point role and install it back. This process is also known as “repairing the management point.” However, during the installation or uninstallation of MP role in SCCM, you may encounter error code 1603.

Background

The organization where I work recently switched Configuration Manager from HTTPS to HTTP. Let me tell you, this was not a good experience. After the protocol switch, the management point started reporting a lot of errors. After hours of troubleshooting, I finally decided to uninstall management point role and planned to install it back. However, I discovered SCCM management point uninstall error 1603.

Although it is simple to uninstall the management point role, I encountered the error 1603. When I opened the SCCM Console, I noticed a red alert icon next to the Management Point under Monitoring > System Status > Site Status. The error 1603 is most frequently encountered during the installation or removal of the management point role.

Fix SCCM Management Point Uninstall Error 1603

The primary reason why you get the error 1603 during management point uninstall is due to the SCCM client agent. By preventing the mp.msi from running, the client uninstallation on the management point prevents the uninstallation of the MP role and generates error code 1603. Error 1603 is fixed by uninstalling the ConfigMgr client from the MP server.

In general, the error 1603 translates to fatal error that occurs during installation or uninstallation of a program on Windows computer. Error code 1603 (Exit code 1603) is a generic error and often related to MSI installation failures. However, in my case, the SCCM client was installed on the management point, but it was blocking the mp.msi install.

To resolve this issue, run the command ccmsetup.exe /uninstall on the server running management point role. This command will completely remove the ConfigMgr client from the management point server. Reboot the server once, and you can now uninstall the management point role. You can also use multiple methods to remove or uninstall SCCM client from a computer.

If you get error 1603 when installing or uninstalling the SCCM management point role, you should first review the management point log files. The two important log files that you need to examine are:

• mpMSI.log: Records details about the management point installation.
• MPSetup.log: Records the management point installation wrapper process.

The below screenshot is of the MPSetup.log located on the management point, and we see two errors: “mp.msi exited with return code: 1603” and “Fatal MSI Error – mp.msi could not be installed.” This means the management point failed to uninstall.

Installing the SMSMP
Enabling MSI logging. mp.msi will log to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\logs\mpMSI.log
mp.msi exited with return code: 1603
Backing up C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\logs\mpMSI.log to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\logs\mpMSI.log.LastError
Fatal MSI Error - mp.msi could not be installed.
~RoleSetup().

The error code 1603 is also visible in the second log file, mpMSI.log. We see the error “Product: ConfigMgr Management Point–Installation operation failed.“

Remove ConfigMgr Agent Traces using WMI

It is important that the client agent has to be removed completely from the server before you install or uninstall MP role. In some cases, the client agent doesn’t get uninstalled properly leaving its components in WMI that further prevents the MP install or uninstall. You can run the below PowerShell command on the server to remove all the leftover traces of CCM in WMI.

Get-WMIObject -namespace "root" -query "SELECT * FROM __Namespace where name = 'ccm'" | remove-wmiobject