I am at a loss to get workflow 2013 to work with SharePoint 2013. I am astonished that workflow (other than the broken and buggy 2010 version) is not part of SharePoint 2013. What on earth were they thinking. as if that is not bad enough they have managed to break the installation of WorkFlow 2013. This has been reported numerous times by numerous people and needless to say the response from Microsoft has been complete silence.

In desperation I have just created a virtual machine with 2012R2 standard edition. I have installed (using the SharePoint 2013 +sp1 disk) the SharePoint Prerequisites. Next I follow the link they have provided to "optional software" where it lists workflow manager. Instead of running an MSI or EXE they run the Web Platform Installer 5.0. After a bit of downloading and installing it tells me: "We're sorry. The following products have failed to install.

Microsoft Windows Fabric V1 RTM

This product did not install successfully: Invalid command line argument"

So SharePoint 2013 doesn't have workflow and this bug has been present since it came out and the web is filled with people asking about it.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

> What on earth were they thinking

They were thinking that Workflow Foundation is being used by a dozen different Microsoft server products and platforms (SharePoint, Project Server, Exchange Server, Service Manager, Azure, TFS, etc)... and that an externally managed system can become its own resource farm that is SHARED by these systems, and SCALES based on need.

In contrast to the 2010 workflow engine, which is so tightly embedded that half the time it runs in IIS, and the other half in the Timer, which can be VERY problematic.

Additionally, as a separate platform, it can be more easily used by developers to build their own system independent workflows.

> failed to install

It sure seems to work for a lot of us out in the field, given all of the organizations that are using it.

I would recommend that you very specifically follow the directions... with phrases like "In desparation", it sounds like you're trying to whiz through things with the "click next, next, next" mentality, instead of paying attention.

Last week I managed to successfully installed this without issue.  Here is a guide to what I did if you want to follow it step by step:

http://www.adventuresinsharepoint.co.uk/index.php/2015/03/11/sharepoint-2013-configuring-the-workflow-service/

It's possibly worth noting that I already had CU5 for AppFabric V1.1 installed (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2932678?wa=wsignin1.0)

• Edited by Dai Webb 10 hours 52 minutes ago

Last week I managed to successfully installed this without issue.  Here is a guide to what I did if you want to follow it step by step:

http://www.adventuresinsharepoint.co.uk/index.php/2015/03/11/sharepoint-2013-configuring-the-workflow-service/

It's possibly worth noting that I already had CU5 for AppFabric V1.1 installed (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2932678?wa=wsignin1.0)

• Edited by Dai Webb Friday, March 20, 2015 8:41 PM

Thank you for that. You missed my point. I don't care whether it is embedded in SharePoint or a separate system. What I care about is that the installation/configuration is not included in the SharePoint installation. It is an optional extra. We don't have to create the individual tables and databases in SQL and that is also a separate system. We don't have to configure IIS and that is a separate system so why is the installation and configuration of workflow not treated in the same way? That is what I was getting at.

I most certainly have followed their instructions. Lets be honest they are very straight forward.

Microsoft's instructions are clear:

1. Download and run the Microsoft Web Platform Installer

2. Type "workflow" in the search box.

3. Click "Add" for the Workflow Manager V1 RTM

4. Click "Install"

Even if you download the workflowmanager.msi that just runs the web platform installer and searches for "workflow". Regardless of which you choose; now all you have to do is wait for the error message which comes shortly after this. I have just typed this from memory after several hours in the pub so it is not that difficult. If you would care to point out where I have not "specifically follow[ed] the directions" I would be most grateful.

Now let me tell you what I have found. If I create a virtual machine with Windows 2012R2 and follow the instructions as outlined above it installs perfectly well. If I create another machine and install the SharePoint pre-requisites and then follow the instructions as outlined above it does not install at all. Do you think this is because I am not running the web platform installer correctly? My latest experiment is to install it first and then install SharePoint. That seems to hold some promise of actually working but if that works then the Microsoft installation instructions are wrong because they don't mention any of this until after SharePoint is installed.

Looking at the response from Dai Webb below it would seem that there is quite a lot that needs to be done that isn't mentioned in any Microsoft instructions or anywhere else that I have found. Perhaps that is the problem but if it is how come all those organizations you mentioned have installed it? Did they know about this or is there yet another way of installing it?

Thanks for the helpful reply. It looks like there is a bit that needs to be done before running the installer so that will probably be the solution. One question though. Did you install it on a web front end or a separate application server?

Best wishes...

Colin

I installed on one of my web front end servers (I can't justify a separate server).

Possibly also worth noting that the WFE is a member of my distributed cache cluster, hence already having the latest CU installed (I had major issues with this cache cluster host until I installed the CU).

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately nothing works. When I try that link you suggested I get exactly the same terror. That is it won't install the Windows Fabric V1 RTM. Without that or something similar I can't install the update. I suspect Microsoft have updated things and completely broken it. I did contact Microsoft a week ago but they have not got back to me. Presumably they imagine that if they ignore it, it will go away. I have attached the error that I get and many other people also get.

The error seems to suggest that the installer is broken so I don't understand how anyone has managed to install it.

I don't know what the cache cluster is sadly so I have no idea if that is something that I need to install. I have not seen it mentioned anywhere.

Best wishes.....

Colin

You're dealing with software that is normally installed by experts rather than people who walk through the wizard. The wizards are aimed at the lowest common denominator and sometimes they do a poor job, either because they aim too high, too low or just because MS drop the ball, it happens.

You're not the only one who experiences irritation when something fails to work because of an undocumented 'feature'. On the other hand your tone here isn't helping much. You are coming across as stroppy, entitled and slightly ignorant. Get over it, wind your neck in and try to fix the problem rather than throw a tantrum.

Now, to your problem:

Is there anything in the log that tells you why it failed? There should be an error code, bonus points if it's 1603

Are you installing on a SharePoint server or a separate WF server?

I presume that you've done the obligatory reboot to ensure that previous components have completed their installation.

• Edited by Alex BrassingtonMicrosoft community contributor Sunday, March 22, 2015 9:19 AM

Thanks for that. Just so you know. I have worked in this industry for around 30 years. I have installed SharePoint 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013 many times. I am an MCSE for what that is worth and I work for a Microsoft Gold Partner as it happens. I am not an expert but I am not a beginner either. I did not install SharePoint, find an error and write to this forum. I installed this SharePoint site about 2 years ago and it has been running perfectly well ever since. There was no need for the 2013 version of Workflow at that time but now there is. I did note the error over a year ago and have been periodically checking to see if the problem has been fixed from time to time. I started looking in earnest just over 2 weeks ago as they want to use the 2013 workflow now.

I have checked the logs and yes there is a 1603 error but that just says the MSI returned an error (which I have mentioned several times and included a screen shot to Dai). There is also a 1603 error that says there is a more recent version already installed which is the problem I think. However, SharePoint installed that more recent version. I have done multiple reboots and I have built new servers over and over again so that there is no possibility of some historic change or mistake I have made that is causing the problem. Essentially this is the problem:

1. Build a server (2012R2) from scratch. Install Workflow Manager using the Web platform installer. It works
2. Build a server (2012R2) from scratch. Install SharePoint 2013 pre-requisites. Install Workflow Manager using the Web platform installer. It fails every time.

I would love to not use a wizard but so far that seems to be the only way to install workflow manager. The file workflowmanager.exe is just the web platform installer with the search for "workflow" included so it seems there is no way to get away from it.

Interesting, it bombs on a SharePoint server but works with a non-SharePoint server. I'm assuming you need to get it working on the SharePoint box?

Can you get the version of App Fabric in both cases and is the server fully patched before you start the process?

I don't know if it's a good idea but you could try installing WFM before SharePoint.

Yes that is what is happening. However, you have hit the nail on the head I think. Each time I tried it, the server was fully patched before and after SharePoint was installed. However, I found a cumulative update for SharePoint for March 2015 and, having applied that and the CU5 update that Dai mentioned lo and behold workflow manager installed successfully. Now I am kicking myself that I applied both these updates without trying the workflow manager installation after I did one but to be honest I didn't think it would work anyway and it was about 2:30 AM.

Before installing either I tried to install the February CU for SharePoint and it said there was nothing to update then I noticed the March one (I had assumed that the most recent would be February's) and it did have things to update so I suspect there is something in the latest CU that fixes something.

Before all that I did have a go at installing the workflow manager first and then installing sharepoint. I was half expecting SharePoint to not install or not work but it worked fine. Sadly the workflow manager didn't:-(

Anyway, thanks for your help and sorry if I came over all aggressive. I didn't mean to offend people here.

Hi Colin,

From your last reply, it seems that your issue has been resolved by installing March 2015 CU for SharePoint and CU5 for AppFabric 1.1.

Am I correct?

If your issue still exists, please feel free to let me know.

Best regards.

Victoria