How to: Read a SQL Server 2008 Setup Log File

SQL Server Setup creates log files for each SQL Server component during installation; logging starts as soon as Setup.exe is launched.

Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the following location:

<drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\LOG
Open the Summary.txt file. Look through it for error messages.
If you do not find information in the Summary.txt file that tells you what failed, open the SQLSetup[xxxx].cab file in the same root directory.
If this .cab file does not exist, open up the CORE log file from:

<drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\LOG\Files

Look at the most recently modified core log: SQLSetup[xxxx]_[ComputerName]_Core.log.
If an error was shown in the user interface during Setup, look for this log: SQLSetup[xxxx][s]_[ComputerName]_WI.log.
When parsing a SQLSetup_[xxxx] log file, search the file for 'UE 3'. This is short for 'Return Value 3'.
If a component failed during installation, open the log file SQLSetup[xxxx]_[ComputerName]_SQL.log, and perform the 'UE 3' search to scan for errors.

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