Troubleshooting TIA Portal V15.1 SQL Server Installation Failure

1. Problem Overview

Siemens TIA Portal V15.1 (released as an update to V15 in early 2019, engineering package order number 6ES7822-1AA05-0YA5 for STEP 7 Professional / 6ES7822-1AE05-0YA5 for the floating combo license) ships with a prerequisite installer chain that calls Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Express and the SQL Server 2012 Native Client. On machines where the operating system drive or the targeted installation path is enabled for NTFS compression, the bundled SQL 2014 setup exits with a fatal error before the TIA Portal main installer is allowed to proceed. The TIA Portal bootstrap records the failure inside its own log directory and the wizard simply rolls back, leaving the workstation with a partially installed TIA environment and a non-functional SQL instance.

The exact symptom reported by engineers is a TIA Portal V15.1 setup that:

• Stops during the "Install prerequisites" phase with no dialog, or returns a generic "Installation of SQL Server 2014 failed" message.
• Leaves behind an MSI log under %ProgramFiles%\Siemens\Automation\Setup\Logs referencing the SQL chain.
• Does not reappear as a usable TIA Portal shortcut in the Start menu, even though partial files are deployed to C:\Program Files\Siemens\Automation.
• Reproduces 100% of the time on the same hardware image until the compression attribute is removed or the SQL components are pre-installed manually on an uncompressed volume.

This is not a Siemens bug, it is a documented Microsoft SQL Server setup limitation: the SQL Server 2014 setup wrapper refuses to populate system databases on a volume whose root or any path under C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server carries the NTFS Compressed attribute, because compressed clusters are non-sparse and break the internal page-allocation logic used by sqlservr.exe during instance initialization.

2. Symptoms and Installer Log Entries

When the failure is triggered, three log files are the most informative:

The most diagnostic text string is the SQL detail log entry:

SQL Server Setup has encountered the following error:
The directory C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL12.TIA\MSSQL\DATA
is on a compressed volume. Installation cannot proceed.

If that line (or the equivalent for the MSSQL12.<instance> instance folder) is present, the NTFS-compression root cause is confirmed and the fix in Section 6 is authoritative.

3. Root Cause: NTFS Compression Conflicts with SQL Server 2014

NTFS compression is implemented at the cluster level using the LZNT1 algorithm. Each 16-cluster compression unit is a virtual block that is decompressed on every read and recompressed on every write. Microsoft SQL Server uses direct, unbuffered I/O patterns to read and write its .mdf, .ndf, and .ldf files. The behavior conflicts with NTFS compression in three concrete ways:

1. Sparse file support is disabled. SQL Server relies on sparse allocation for TempDB growth and for some internal page tracking. NTFS compression and sparse attributes are mutually exclusive on the same cluster run.
2. Flush-on-write is mandatory for ACID guarantees. Compressed clusters are flushed through the system cache rather than written straight to disk. SQL Server 2014's SqlWriter thread detects this behavior, raises an ESE-level error (event ID 9001, source MSSQLSERVER), and refuses to start the instance.
3. Setup-time validation rejects the volume. Even if the engine could start, the SQL Server 2014 setup wrapper calls FSCTL_GET_COMPRESSION on the target folder during the Install_SQLFiles_Cpu64 action and aborts with error code 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED) mapped to setup text "compressed directory is not supported".

Siemens documents this dependency in the TIA Portal V15.1 release notes (Siemens support entry 109751706) and in the V15.1 readme under "Installation prerequisites → Microsoft SQL Server 2014 SP2". The compressed-drive case is a known blocking condition that the TIA bootstrap does not auto-correct; the engineer must remove the compression attribute before retrying.

4. Affected Versions and Compatibility Matrix

Any TIA Portal V15.1 product that stores archives in the SQL Express instance (STEP 7, WinCC Professional, WinCC Unified, PLCSIM Advanced shared workspace) is impacted. Standalone tools without a SQL backend (Startdrive, S7-PLCSIM classic, Primary Setup Tool) install cleanly even on a compressed drive.

5. Pre-Installation Verification Checklist

Before re-running the TIA Portal V15.1 installer, confirm the following items on the target workstation. Each row should resolve to Pass; if any row resolves to Fail, fix it first.

1. Open an elevated command prompt and run compact /C C:\. Expected output for an uncompressed root: 1 files within 1 directories were compressed. 0 files within 1 directories were NOT compressed. — but if you ran /C (compress), reverse with compact /U /S C:\ /I to undo.
2. Run fsutil behavior query disablecompression. If the result is 1, the system-wide compression filter is disabled; if it is 0, the volume-level behavior is the more relevant setting.
3. Check the specific TIA program folder: compact "C:\Program Files\Siemens\Automation". None of the listed files should show a C in the attribute column.
4. Check the SQL program folder: compact "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server". All entries should be uncompressed.
5. Confirm no third-party encryption product (BitLocker with used-space only, Sophos SafeGuard, Symantec Endpoint Encryption) is providing a virtualized compressed volume underneath C:. Such products expose the volume as compressed to FSCTL_GET_COMPRESSION even when native NTFS compression is off.
6. Verify Windows version. TIA V15.1 supports Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit, KB3033929), Windows 10 1709 / 1803 / 1809 (64-bit Pro/Enterprise), and Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016. Windows 10 1903 is the highest build that V15.1 supports; later builds cause a separate "Operating system not supported" error documented in Siemens 109757434.
7. Confirm 12 GB of free disk space on the system drive and that the user account has local Administrator rights.

6. Step-by-Step Resolution Procedure

Follow the procedure in order. Skipping any step returns the workstation to the same broken state on the next TIA setup attempt.

1. Stop the TIA Portal bootstrap. If the TIA installer is still running, cancel it. Open Task Manager and end the processes Setup.exe, TiaSetup.exe, and Siemens.Automation.Setup.exe if they remain.
2. Remove the compression attribute on the system drive.
   Open an elevated PowerShell and execute:

   fsutil behavior set disablecompression 1
   compact /U /S:C:\ /I /Q
   

   The first command disables the system-wide filter (reversible with 0). The second command removes the compressed attribute from every file and folder under C:\ in quiet mode. The operation can take 20 to 90 minutes on a 500 GB drive with 60% utilization.
3. Remove residual SQL components from the failed install. Open Control Panel → Programs and Features and uninstall, in this exact order:
   (a) Microsoft SQL Server 2014 (64-bit) for the TIA instance (named TIA by default).
   (b) Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Native Client (this is the legacy 11.x client that the V15.1 setup will then try to reinstall).
   (c) Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Setup Support Files.
   (d) Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable (x86 and x64) if the TIA bootstrap indicates the version conflict (event ID 1033 with return code 0x80070659).
4. Clean the TIA setup cache. Delete the following directories if they exist:
   C:\ProgramData\Siemens\Automation\Setup
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp\Siemens.Setup
C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Siemens
5. Clean the SQL setup cache. Delete:
   C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\120\Setup Bootstrap
C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Microsoft_Corporation folder LandingPage.exe_Url_*
6. Reboot the workstation. Required so that the volume-level compression change is re-evaluated by the Windows I/O manager.
7. Re-run the TIA Portal V15.1 setup as Administrator. Right-click the Setup.exe from the DVD_1 folder (or the extracted ISO mount point) and choose Run as administrator. The TIA bootstrap will now re-invoke the SQL 2014 chain, the Install_SQLFiles_Cpu64 action will pass the FSCTL_GET_COMPRESSION check, and the install will reach the "TIA Portal V15.1" component installation phase.
8. Confirm the SQL instance starts. After the TIA setup completes, open SQL Server Configuration Manager → SQL Server Services and confirm the service SQL Server (TIA) is running. Open a command prompt and run sqlcmd -S .\TIA -E -Q "SELECT @@VERSION". The expected result is the SQL 2014 build string ending in 12.0.6024.0.

7. Verification Steps After Repair

Run the four checks below to prove that the install is sound and to detect any partial state from the failed first attempt.

If step 2 or 3 fails, the TIA project database is corrupted; rerun Section 6 starting at step 3 and re-create any lost project. If step 4 reports a SQL block failure, capture the Summary.txt plus the Detail_ComponentUpdate.txt from the same folder and cross-reference with the table in Section 8.

8. Alternative Causes of TIA Portal V15.1 Installation Failure

The NTFS-compression case is the most reported, but the same TIA V15.1 setup can fail for other reasons that produce similar surface symptoms. Use this matrix to triage when the compression fix does not apply.

9. SQL Server Component Cleanup Reference

When a TIA V15.1 install fails mid-SQL-chain, multiple SQL-related components can be left in a half-installed state. Use the following PowerShell sequence to detect and remove them before retrying. Run the snippet in an elevated PowerShell ISE window.

$products = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product `
  -Filter "Name LIKE '%SQL Server%' OR Name LIKE '%SQL%Native%' OR Name LIKE '%SQL%Setup%'"

$products | Select-Object Name, Version, IdentifyingNumber | Format-Table -AutoSize

# Targeted removal of the TIA-bound components
$removeList = @(
  "Microsoft SQL Server 2014 (64-bit)",
  "Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Native Client",
  "Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Setup (English)",
  "Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Transact-SQL ScriptDom",
  "Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Management Objects",
  "Microsoft SQL Server System CLR Types"
)

foreach ($p in $products) {
  if ($removeList -contains $p.Name) {
    Write-Host "Uninstalling: $($p.Name) ($($p.Version))"
    $p.Uninstall() | Out-Null
  }
}

After this script completes, also remove the SQL residual folders and the SQL_TIA registry key:

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\SQL Server" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL12.TIA" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

10. NTFS Compression Decision Matrix for Engineering Workstations

Once the immediate install is repaired, decide whether to re-enable compression on C: or move engineering data to a separate uncompressed volume. The matrix below is field-validated on Windows 10 1809 + TIA V15.1.

11. Field-Commissioned Notes and Edge Cases

Reinstalling a single compressed folder inside an otherwise uncompressed drive. Some IT policies compress C:\Users as a whole to save disk. The SQL setup respects the inheritance, so the compression reaches C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Microsoft_Corporation and the setup fails. The fix is to break inheritance on the AppData branch with compact /U /S:"C:\Users\<user>\AppData" /I rather than decompressing the entire Users tree.

SQL 2014 setup logged success but the TIA portal reports "Database not found". This happens when the SQL instance was installed to a non-default folder during a previous attempt. Verify the instance folder with sqlcmd -S .\TIA -E -Q "SELECT physical_name FROM sys.master_files". If the returned path is not under C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL12.TIA\MSSQL\DATA, either move the data files back, or run the TIA portal repair from Control Panel → TIA Portal V15.1 → Repair after a fresh SQL install.

Anti-virus or EDR returning a "compressed" view. A small number of EDR products report the protected folder as compressed to FSCTL_GET_COMPRESSION in order to fingerprint files. The SQL setup cannot distinguish this from real NTFS compression and aborts. The remediation is to add the SQL data folder and the TIA install folder to the EDR allow list, or to whitelist the Siemens.Automation.Setup.exe and setup.exe binaries.

TIA V15.1 setup succeeds but WinCC Professional does not. WinCC Professional carries its own SQL Server 2014 instance registration and uses a separate setup. Run the WinCC Professional V15.1 Setup from the same media after the TIA Portal setup, with the same administrator elevation, and repeat the compression check on the WinCC path C:\Program Files\Siemens\WinCC\Professional.

Reverting to a fresh Windows image is not required. The compressed-drive case does not corrupt the Windows image. After removing the compression attribute and clearing the SQL residual, the TIA V15.1 install will proceed normally; a wipe-and-reload is unnecessary and unsupported by Siemens for this symptom.