Update Issue with Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent on Windows 11

Question

Update Issue with Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent on Windows 11

Breno Takase Gomes 20

I’d like to report an issue we've encountered during the update of the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent (MARS). When attempting to update the agent, the process fails with the following error message: "Error: Failed to install the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent. Problem: 1624 – Error applying transforms. Verify that the specified transform paths are valid."

The installation wizard shows that all prerequisites, including Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 and Windows PowerShell, are available. However, the update does not complete and displays the mentioned error at the final stage.

User's image

What’s particularly interesting is that this issue appears to affect machines running Windows 11 specifically. We’ve successfully updated the agent on other operating systems, such as Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019, without any problems.

We also observed the same error on a Windows 11 machine that had never had MARS installed before, which rules out the possibility of leftover files or configuration issues from previous installations.

In our case, we’re updating from version 2.0.9274.0 to version 2.0.9415.0. It’s worth mentioning that the version 2.0.9274.0 does not appear listed as a preview release on the official Microsoft MARS download page.

https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/azure/backup/backup-support-matrix-mars-agent

We hope this report can help others experiencing similar issues and contribute to further investigation into the problem.

Suchitra Suregaunkar 1,880 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-15T13:27:22.0766667+00:00

Hello Breno,

We have reached out to you in Private message for few of the details, could you please look into it and share us the details if you are still able to repro this issue.

Thanks,

Suchitra.
Bharath Y P 1,350 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-17T00:25:45.12+00:00

Hello Breno, we're currently investigating this and will keep you updated as soon as possible. Thanks
Suchitra Suregaunkar 1,880 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-25T16:50:44.3+00:00

Hello Breno, Kindly let us know if the solution provided worked for you. If you need any further assistance, please feel free to reach out.

Thanks,

Suchitra.
Breno Takase Gomes 20 Reputation points

2025-09-25T21:25:40.4666667+00:00

Hello @Bharath Y P and @Suchitra Suregaunkar ,

Thank you for the support and for sharing the workaround.

Just to confirm, we followed the steps, and everything is working now. We're able to update and install MARS on our machines successfully.

Really appreciate your help!

Best regards,
Breno
Bharath Y P 1,350 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-25T21:53:16.99+00:00

Hello Breno, Thanks for the update.
Breno Takase Gomes 20 Reputation points

2025-10-15T16:18:45.7033333+00:00

Hello @Bharath Y P and @Suchitra Suregaunkar ,

We followed the steps previously suggested in this thread to install the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent. This workaround worked perfectly on three of our machines.

However, we had to wait about two weeks to perform the same procedure on another machine, as the assigned user was on vacation. When we finally attempted the same steps on that machine, using the same "MARSAgentInstaller", it now consistently fails with the following error message when we execute the "msiexec /i <path>\obsagent.msi" command:

"There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor."

Even after re-downloading and re-extracting a fresh copy of the installer ".exe", the issue persists. We've ensured the installation is run with administrative privileges and confirmed that the environment is consistent with the other machines where the installation was successful.

Do you know what might be causing this issue? If possible, could you also provide the already-extracted version of the MARS installer files? That would be very helpful.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Suchitra Suregaunkar 1,880 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-17T01:25:25.7733333+00:00

Hello Breno,

Could you please try to download from the below shared document link and let us know if you are still seeing same issue?

Link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/update-for-azure-backup-for-microsoft-azure-recovery-services-agent-989341a6-3ffe-41a1-95c5-dbb9ba52c43e

Thanks,

Suchitra.
Breno Takase Gomes 20 Reputation points

2025-10-17T13:48:06.71+00:00

Hello @Suchitra Suregaunkar ,

Thank you for sharing the link.

Yes, the download worked this time. The issue has been resolved.

Interestingly, during the failed attempts, we were being redirected to the same page but under the Microsoft/en-gb domain instead of en-us. For some reason, that version of the page was throwing an error during the msiexec.

Thanks again for your support!

Best regards, Breno

Answer accepted by question author

1 additional answer

Your answer

Suchitra Suregaunkar 1,880 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-15T13:27:22.0766667+00:00

Hello Breno,

We have reached out to you in Private message for few of the details, could you please look into it and share us the details if you are still able to repro this issue.

Thanks,

Suchitra.
Bharath Y P 1,350 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-17T00:25:45.12+00:00

Hello Breno, we're currently investigating this and will keep you updated as soon as possible. Thanks
Suchitra Suregaunkar 1,880 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-25T16:50:44.3+00:00

Hello Breno, Kindly let us know if the solution provided worked for you. If you need any further assistance, please feel free to reach out.

Thanks,

Suchitra.
Breno Takase Gomes 20 Reputation points

2025-09-25T21:25:40.4666667+00:00

Hello @Bharath Y P and @Suchitra Suregaunkar ,

Thank you for the support and for sharing the workaround.

Just to confirm, we followed the steps, and everything is working now. We're able to update and install MARS on our machines successfully.

Really appreciate your help!

Best regards,
Breno
Bharath Y P 1,350 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-25T21:53:16.99+00:00

Hello Breno, Thanks for the update.
Breno Takase Gomes 20 Reputation points

2025-10-15T16:18:45.7033333+00:00

Hello @Bharath Y P and @Suchitra Suregaunkar ,

We followed the steps previously suggested in this thread to install the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent. This workaround worked perfectly on three of our machines.

However, we had to wait about two weeks to perform the same procedure on another machine, as the assigned user was on vacation. When we finally attempted the same steps on that machine, using the same "MARSAgentInstaller", it now consistently fails with the following error message when we execute the "msiexec /i <path>\obsagent.msi" command:

"There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor."

Even after re-downloading and re-extracting a fresh copy of the installer ".exe", the issue persists. We've ensured the installation is run with administrative privileges and confirmed that the environment is consistent with the other machines where the installation was successful.

Do you know what might be causing this issue? If possible, could you also provide the already-extracted version of the MARS installer files? That would be very helpful.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Suchitra Suregaunkar 1,880 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-17T01:25:25.7733333+00:00

Hello Breno,

Could you please try to download from the below shared document link and let us know if you are still seeing same issue?

Link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/update-for-azure-backup-for-microsoft-azure-recovery-services-agent-989341a6-3ffe-41a1-95c5-dbb9ba52c43e

Thanks,

Suchitra.
Breno Takase Gomes 20 Reputation points

2025-10-17T13:48:06.71+00:00

Hello @Suchitra Suregaunkar ,

Thank you for sharing the link.

Yes, the download worked this time. The issue has been resolved.

Interestingly, during the failed attempts, we were being redirected to the same page but under the Microsoft/en-gb domain instead of en-us. For some reason, that version of the page was throwing an error during the msiexec.

Thanks again for your support!

Best regards, Breno

Answer 1

Bharath Y P 1,350 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Breno, Apologies for the delay, as per the recent update from the PG team, currently this is a known issue. we have the below workaround to resolve this your issue.

Please follow these instructions to install the 9415 version of the MARS Agent:

Get the installer exe from https://aka.ms/azurebackup_agent (9415)
Use tool to extract the exe manually (e.g. 7zip), you'll able to get "obsagent.msi" under path "\MARSAgentInstaller\installers"
Run via command "msiexec /i C:\Users\Administrator\Downloads\obsagent.msi" //use you local path of file obsagent.msi

To install 9415, please Run "MARSAgentInstaller.exe"

Hope this helps. and please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.

Suchitra Suregaunkar 1,880 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-26T05:53:19.7433333+00:00

Hello Breno,

As the shared solution addressed your query please click "Accept the answer" which might be beneficial to other community members reading this thread. And, if you have any further query, please do let us know.

Thanks,

Suchitra.

Answer 2

Hello Breno Takase Gomes,

You’re trying to update the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services (MARS) Agent from version 2.0.9274.0 to 2.0.9415.0 On Windows 11, the installer fails with the error the final stage. but the same update works fine on Windows Server 2016/2019.

This error may typically point to a problem with Windows Installer transform files (.mst) either missing, corrupted, or incompatible.

You can try below steps for a clean installation:

Uninstall Existing Agent: On the Windows 11 machine, go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps (or Add or Remove Programs on older Windows versions), find the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent, and uninstall it.
Download the Latest Installer:

Go to your Azure Portal,
navigate to your Recovery Services vault, > under the Backup section > select Prepare infrastructure.
Follow the prompts to download the latest agent installer and vault credentials file.

Perform a Clean Install: Run the newly downloaded MARSAgentInstaller.exe on the Windows 11 machine. Follow the installation wizard. Since there is no previous version to upgrade, the installer will perform a fresh installation, avoiding the "Error applying transforms" issue.
Register the Server: After the installation, the registration wizard will launch. Use the vault credentials file you downloaded in step 2 to register the server with your Recovery Services vault.

Also the Workarounds you can try: Run Installer with Logging. Use the belkow command to generate a detailed log:

msiexec /i "MARSAgentInstaller_x64.msi" /L*V mars-install.log

This will show which MST transform path fails.

Thank You.

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Update Issue with Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent on Windows 11

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