SQL Server Unattended Install through SSH

Question

I'm trying to install SQL Server from the command line through Cygwin open-ssh. The install works when I log onto the server as Administrator and execute the script through a Cygwin shell, but the install doesn't work when I SSH into the machine using Administrator's credentials and run the exact same command.

I've already verified that the SSHD process is running as the Admistrator, and I've verified that the install script is indeed starting under Administrator.

Is there something different with the terminal in SSH vs. the Cygwin terminal on the machine that would cause this problem?

Specifically what's failing is Sql Server install runs for a while then hangs with a MSI error 1622. "Error opening installation log file. Verify that the specified log file location exists and is writable." If I run both installs, I've noticed that they have different authentication id's in ProcMon, but they have the exact same command line parameters.

There has to be something in SSH that is causing permissions issues... Any ideas?

Answer 1

It turns out that the environment variables that I was getting through SSH were vastly different from the ones when I start a Cygwin shell from the desktop. The problem is described nicely here. The confusing bit is that the SQL Server installation wasn't obvious about what the issue was. After adding a bunch of Windows-specific environment variables to my Cygwin .bash_profile file I was able to run the installer without error.