msp NOT uninstallable

Question

Solarwinds publishes the support of msp uninstall to rollback patches. This is a feature inherent to Windows installer msp files. According to:

Uninstallable Patches (Windows) ​

The patches from Solarwinds catalogs are supposed to be uninstallable by nature of its msp/msi extension. Now, digging a little bit more I came across:

1. the uninstallable column in the packages view in the Patch Manager console shows up as False for each and every patch of my interest, not cool.

2. I went into AcroRdrDCUpd1502320070.msp and edited the metadata, and the AllowRemoval byte in MsiPatchMetadata table is set to 1

.

3. I edited this particular byte to no luck. Even manually the OS doesn't let me uninstall it, as opposed to office patches which has this capability.

Has anyone find a way to mark a patch, any, as uninstallable and really make this useful feature really "useful"?

Thanks.

rodri · Answer

I doubt it, as long as the patch doesn't even uninstall from the endpoint. Windows marks it as uninstallable and msiexec complains about it or UI option is not available. On the other hand, I have PM integrated to SCCM. I believe update management is only applicable when PM server has direct connection to the endpoint. Necwrtheless, this seems to be a Microsoft Windows Installer problem altogether.

frgpugs · Answer

It does uninstall through update management.  Not sure what you are trying to accomplish here but that could be one option for you

rodri · Answer

kellytice I understand and agree with you. However, I was trying to manipulate the actual msp, with no luck. I actually modified the uninstallable regkey and I was able to uninstall adobe reader DC. Which is like forcing something without knowning the consequences. I read the msi+msp in orca.exe and it seems that the msp breaks three or four rules for uninstallation. Therefore, it seems mission impossible. I have contacted Adobe and waiting for an answer. So far, the only rollback strategy in my env will be added testing overhead and DR through uninstalling the whole app and reinstalling it with the latest stable patch. Pretty cumbersome.