VMM 2012 R2: error 410 / 0x80070001 when adding a new Hyper-V host. VMM Agent won't install automatically (status 1603)

Question

I have several Windows Server 2012 R2 hosts. The OS is freshly installed, no roles/3d party software besides Hyper-V role). I also have a freshly installed VMM 2012 R2 server. They all are in the same AD domain. I want to manage those Hyper-V hosts
with this VMM instance, but I have troubles connecting those hosts to VMM.
Whenever I try to add a Hyper-V host in the VMM console, the process is stopped almost immediately after it starts. The failing step is "1.2 Install Virtual Machine Manager Agent". The final error message is as follows:
Error (410)
Agent installation failed on XXX.
Incorrect function (0x80070001)
Recommended Action
Try the operation again. If the problem persists, install the agent locally and then add the managed computer.
If I try to install the agent manually copied from the VMM host (C:\Program Files\Microsoft System Center 2012 R2\Virtual Machine Manager\agents\amd64\3.2.7634.0
as of now) by just clicking on its MSI file in Windows Explorer (and agreeing to the Windows prompt to run it with elevated privileges), the installation fails as well with "Installation success or error status: 1603." in the
server Application log.
The only way I found to install the agent is to run the installation from command prompt with elevated privileges. In this case the installation finishes successfully, and I can add the host to VMM by marking the "Reassociate the host" checkbox
in the VMM wizard.
Why is it so? Isn't the agent supposed to install without manual intervention? As I recall, I had no such problem with previous versions of Windows Server and VMM.
Evgeniy Lotosh
MSCE: Server infractructire, MCSE: Messaging

Answer 1

I brought up the share because it is off by default with Hyper-V Server as well as a Core installation.  Regardless of the Firewall policy involved.
Maybe, but I don't work with pure Hyper-V and Core servers. I have a full-fledged Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter.
You're correct that File Server role is not enabled by default, this is my mistake. I open SMB-IN port manually (with the help of a group policy), and Windows considers it to be am equivalent of the enabled File Server role. Nonetheless, ADMIN$ share is
always accessible in my environment (and without it, for example, I wouldn't be able to remotely install things like SCOM Agent which installs without a glitch). Just in case I manually installed the File Server role, and it didn't help.
What you say about multihomed servers is interesting. The servers in question do have multiple network interfaces, but at the time I tried to install the VMM Agent only one of them (a designated host management / network access interface) had a real IP address.
Two other interfaces were non-configured (I apply a virtual switch configuration after the VMM Agent is installed). Just in case I disabled them when tried to install the VMM Agent remotely on the last host, and the installation still failed immediately
after start. Anyways, after the VMM Agent is installed manually the host can be normally re-associated with VMM, so it's doubtful that I have a network issue.
And, of course, there is no 3d-party software on the hosts (no antiviruses/firewalls in particular) except the EMC Unisphere Host Agent (a piece of software necessary for connecting a host to an EMC storage system) and networking drivers. Actually,
this is a pure Microsoft environment.
So I still believe that is has something to do with the Windows Installer inability to configure Windows Firewall policy after being invoked from Windows Explorer with a double-click on a MSI file. But I don't know how to strictly confirm it.
Evgeniy Lotosh
MSCE: Server infractructire, MCSE: Messaging