miktexsetup fails -- how to advance?

[DrTwonky]

Problem

Trying to install MiKTeX on Win10 from a local mirror. In admin command shell, the command

\\server\miktex\miktexsetup.exe --verbose ^
  --local-package-repository=\\server\miktex --modify-path ^
  --package-set=essential --shared --use-registry  install

fails after extracting several lzma files:

updating package manifests ("C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex/config\package-manifests.ini")...
installed 3706 package manifests
visiting repository \\server\miktex...
repository type: local package repository
loading package repository manifest...
MiKTeX encountered an internal error.
Info:
Source: Libraries\MiKTeX\Core\Session\config.cpp
Line: 577
Sorry, but "MiKTeX Configuration Utility" did not succeed.
initexmf: MiKTeX encountered an internal error.

but does not leave a log file which might further explain what went wrong. Is there any chance what probably silly mistake I created without analyzing the source code?

Attachments

miktex-report.txt:

Date: 2019-11-19 16:32:41
MiKTeX: 2.9.7250
OS: Windows 10 Enterprise, 64-bit, build 18362
SharedSetup: yes
LinkTargetDirectory: C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex\bin\x64
PathOkay: yes
LastUpdateCheckAdmin: not yet
LastUpdateAdmin: not yet
SystemAdmin: yes
RootPrivileges: yes
AdminMode: yes
Root0: C:\ProgramData\MiKTeX\2.9
Root1: C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9
CommonInstall: C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9
CommonConfig: C:\ProgramData\MiKTeX\2.9
CommonData: C:\ProgramData\MiKTeX\2.9

Warning: the following problems were detected:
  1: Never checked for system-wide updates.

[edocevoli]

Please attach a Zip archive containing all log files (see C:\ProgramData\MiKTeX\2.9\miktex\log).

[DrTwonky]

Thanks for asking! Please note the attached logs.
log.zip

[edocevoli]

Sorry for the delay. In order to diagnose the issue, it would help to get debug log. So please download and install DebugView: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/debugview

Then:

1. open a command-prompt window (as Administrator)
2. start DebugView
3. start miktexsetup with an additional option: --trace
4. in DebugView save the log: File -> Save As...

[DrTwonky]

I know that this is very unsatisfying, but apparently, the problem faded into thin air.

After having left the computer unused since reporting, I tried again just now with DebugView running -- and miktexsetup worked as expected. Verified this with a similar machine. Could not reproduce the problem, sorry. Creeps me out if problems solve themselves. Makes me feel obsolete.

However, I noticed a minor oddity when calling miktexinstall install twice. The second call fails with a somewhat misleading message:

...
going to install 500 file(s) (97 package(s))
unregistering C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex\bin\x64\MiKTeX209-core-PS.dll
unregistering C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex\bin\x64\MiKTeX209-core.dll
miktexsetup.exe: Windows API error 126: Das angegebene Modul wurde nicht gefunden.
miktexsetup.exe: Data: dllName="C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex/bin/x64\MiKTeX209-core.dll"

DebugView output for your convenience: miktexsetup_log.zip

[DrTwonky]

Getting closer to the problem since I was able to reproduce it. Command succeeds when provided manually at cmd prompt. Command fails when called from batch script.

Attached are diff-able DebugView logfiles from success and failure as well as the calling batch script. I'm a bit clueless.

miktexsetup.zip

To be able to identify what goes wrong in line 577: I'm using MiKTeX Setup Utility (Standalone) 2.9.6942 (MiKTeX 2.9.6930 64-bit). I find it difficult to identify the proper revision of the mentioned file config.cpp. Would I have to check out tag 2.9.6930 since there is no tag .6942?

[DrTwonky]

Not sure if it is still the same problem, but after updating the repository today, the error message changed to:

Configuration error: cannot convert '--verbose' to boolean.
Info: s="--verbose"
Source: Libraries\MiKTeX\Core\Session\config.cpp
Line: 574

which is considerably more helpful. Removing the --verbose option did the trick. No error anymore.

[edocevoli]

Thank you, The configuration utility (initexmf) reads the environment variable VERBOSE and expects it to be a boolean value. If you set VERBOSE=--verbose (see batch script), it breaks initexmf. I will fix this.

[albert-github]

Is this problem also fixed by means of the fix for #443?

[edocevoli]

No, this issue will be fixed with release of the next milestone.

[edocevoli]

This has been fixed.