Failed Sitecore Installation Clean Up Checklist

The Sitecore installation scripts error out before completion – what now? In this post I will walk you through what needs to be done before re-running the scripts.
You need to go through and delete the bits that were installed up until the point of failure. If you don’t clean out these bits, you may run into even more issues when you re-run the install. Below is a checklist of areas you must clean up before you can safely run through the install process again.

SQL Databases

You will need to delete the databases associated with the partially-installed Sitecore instance. These databases will be named with the prefix you used in your install script.
Here is the list of databases that may have been created that you will need to delete:

• $sitePrefix_Core
• $sitePrefix_EXM.Master
• $sitePrefix_ExperienceForms
• $sitePrefix_MarketingAutomation
• $sitePrefix_Master
• $sitePrefix_Messaging
• $sitePrefix_Processing.Pools
• $sitePrefix_Processing.Tasks
• $sitePrefix_ReferenceData
• $sitePrefix_Reporting
• $sitePrefix_Web
• $sitePrefix_Xdb.Collection.Shard0
• $sitePrefix_Xdb.Collection.Shard1
• $sitePrefix_Xdb.Collection.ShardMapManager

Solr Cores

Just like the SQL Databases, you will need to go through and delete the Solr cores that were created during the failed installation process. But first, you need to stop the Solr service. You can do this through PowerShell with the Stop-Service <service-name> command. I am currently using Solr 6.6.3, so the command Stop-Service solr-6.6.3 works for me. If this isn’t the case for you, you can also go to the Windows Services window by doing a Windows Search forServices on your Windows machine and manually stop it there.
Once you have stopped your Solr service, you can safely delete the cores that were created through the installation process. Navigate to C:\solr\solr-6.6.3\server\solr and find the cores that were created.
Here is the list of Solr cores that may have been created and need to deleted:

• $sitePrefix_core_index
• $sitePrefix_fxm_master_index
• $sitePrefix_fxm_web_index
• $sitePrefix_marketing_asset_index_master
• $sitePrefix_marketing_asset_index_web
• $sitePrefix_marketingdefinitions_master
• $sitePrefix_marketingdefinitions_web
• $sitePrefix_master_index
• $sitePrefix_suggested_test_index
• $sitePrefix_testing_index
• $sitePrefix_web_index
• $sitePrefix_xdb
• $sitePrefix_xdb_rebuild

IIS Site Listing and Hosts File Entries

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Navigate to your Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager and delete the site nodes that may have been created. The two possible site nodes that could have been created will be your <site name> and your <xConnect site name>. Be sure to also remove the listings found in your hosts file found in this pathway: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc.

Files Created in Your inetpub

Navigate to C:\inetpub\wwwroot and look for folders that may have been created. The names of these folders will match the names of site nodes created in the IIS Manager.

Certificates

Navigate to C:\certificates and delete the certificates that may have been created. There will be a SitecoreRootCert.crt and a $sitePrefix.xconnect_client.crt waiting for you to delete.
If you forgot to set your PowerShell ExecutionPolicy to Unrestricted when running the installation scripts, there will be certificates created titled DO_NOT_TRUST_SitecoreFundamentalsRoot and DO_NOT_TRUST_SitecoreRootCert. You will need to manually delete those yourself before running the installation scripts again as well. To do this, do a Windows Search on your machine for Manage User Certificates. There will be DO_NOT_TRUST certificates found in these locations:

• Personal/Certificates
• Trusted Root Certification Authorities/Certificates
• Intermediate Certification Authorities/Certificates

Conclusion

Before running the installation scripts again, be sure to verify that you have the correct versions of Sitecore dependencies properly configured for the version of Sitecore you are installing. For example, you cannot use SIF 2.0.0 to install Sitecore 9.0.1. Sitecore 9.0.1 requires SIF 1.2.1.
To avoid creating DO_NOT_TRUST certificates, be sure to run this command in your PowerShell: Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted before running installation scripts again.
On top of all of this, be sure you have run through the checklist above and cleaned out your machine of partially installed Sitecore bits. Once you have completed all of these steps, you will be safe to retry installing a Sitecore instance on your machine.