NetWorker: NMC Installation or Upgrade Fails with Error 0x80070643 Due to Missing Symbolic Link Privileges

During an NMC upgrade or new installation, the installation fails and rolls back.

The %LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp\NetWorker_[number]_NMC.log contains errors similar to:

Product: NetWorker Management Console -- Installation failed.
...Installation success or error status: 1603

The %LOCALAPPDATA%\TempNetWorker_[number].log contains errors similar to:

... Error 0x80070643: Failed to execute MSI package.

The %LOCALAPPDATA%\Tempnmcdll.log shows that the installation fails while attempting to create the postgres_latest symbolic link:

Symlink Creation Failed, GetLastError: 1314
Postgres_latest symlink creation failed!

This shows the SYSTEM account does not have privileges to create symbolic links.

Verify Symbolic Link Permissions for the SYSTEM Account:

Because Windows does not allow you to log in directly as the SYSTEM account, you can use PsExec from Microsoft Sysinternals to run commands under the SYSTEM security context and verify that it can create symbolic links.

1. Create a Test Folder

Open an elevated Command Prompt and run: mkdir C:\foldersystem

2. Download PsExec

Download PsExec (included in PSTools) from: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/psexec 

3. Extract PSTools

Extract the contents of PSTools.zip to: C:\PSTools

4. Test Symbolic Link Creation as SYSTEM

cd C:\PSTools 
psexec -i -s cmd.exe /c "mklink /D C:\foldersystemlink C:\foldersystem"

A successful test returns output similar to:

PsExec v2.43 - Execute processes remotely
.
.
cmd.exe exited on WIN-CLIENT03 with error code 0.

5. Verify the Symbolic Link Was Created

From the root of the C: drive, run:
 
cd \
dir foldersystem*.*

Expected output:

08/13/2026  01:21 PM    <DIR>          foldersystem
08/13/2026  01:31 PM    <SYMLINKD>     foldersystemlink [C:\foldersystem]

Results

Success: If foldersystemlink appears as <SYMLINKD>, the SYSTEM account has permission to create symbolic links.
Failure: If the mklink command fails with an error such as 1314 (ERROR_PRIVILEGE_NOT_HELD), the SYSTEM account does not have the Create symbolic links (SeCreateSymbolicLinkPrivilege) permission. Grant the permission at the OS level and repeat the test.