Plesk Installation fails on Windows Server: MSI: Error! The IIS 7.0 CoreWebEngine and W3SVC features must be installed to use IIS URL Rewrite Module 2.

Symptoms

• Plesk installation on Windows Sever fails when IIS URL Rewrite Module is selected to be installed, with the following error found on the installation logs:

  MSI: Error! The IIS 7.0 CoreWebEngine and W3SVC features must be installed to use IIS URL Rewrite Module 2.
  Failed to install 'C:\ProgramData\Plesk\Installer\cache\pool\release\PLESK-WIN_18.0.64_15680\thirdparty-windows-x86_64\rewrite_7.2.1993_x64.msi': Fatal error during installation. (Error code 1603)

   

• Additional errors may be found on the installation log indicating issues with Plesk version information:

  Cannot read Plesk version information. PRODUCT_ROOT_D value does not exist.

Cause

Missing or improperly configured Internet Information Services (IIS) components.

On this case, the CoreWebEngine and W3SVC (World Wide Web Publishing Service) features must be installed first for the IIS URL Rewrite Module 2 installation to complete and operate correctly afterwards.

Resolution

Install and configure the necessary IIS components before reattempting the Plesk installation:

1. Follow this Microsoft IIS configuration guide to ensure IIS is correctly installed.

2. Under Server Manager navigate to Manage Add Roles and Features and ensure the next required IIS features are selected:

   • Web Server (IIS) Web Server Common HTTP Features Static Content
   • Web Server (IIS) Web Server Application Development ASP.NET, ISAPI Extensions, and ISAPI Filters
   • Enable CoreWebEngine and W3SVC features as required by the IIS URL Rewrite Module.

3. Restart the Server to apply the changes before re-attempting the Plesk installation.