The Installer Was Unable To Find Required Root Certificates Exclusive: Kepware

Introduction: The Certificate Conundrum

Kepware is the gold standard for industrial connectivity, acting as the bridge between diverse automation devices and IT/OT systems (OPC, MQTT, REST, etc.). However, even the most robust software can be stopped in its tracks by a seemingly obscure operating system error.

One of the most frustrating errors encountered during the installation or upgrade of Kepware products (including KEPServerEX, ThingWorx Kepware Edition, or LinkMaster) is:

"The installer was unable to find required root certificates."

This error halts the installation process immediately, leaving engineers and IT professionals confused. This article provides an exhaustive deep dive into why this error occurs and, more importantly, the exact step-by-step solutions to resolve it. Introduction: The Certificate Conundrum Kepware is the gold

Maintain a folder on your industrial network containing the .CER files of the top 20 Global Root CAs. This saves hours of troubleshooting during future installations.

For legacy systems where security validation is not critical, you can disable root certificate verification using a command-line switch (if supported by the Kepware installer version):

KepwareInstaller.exe /SkipRootCheck

Note: This switch is not officially documented for all versions and should be used only in isolated, trusted OT environments.

Method A: Update via Windows Update

Method B: Manual update (if offline or no Windows Update)

  • Run the installer manually

    • Install Windows Root Certificate Update (even on Windows 10/11/Server 2019+):

    Download from Microsoft:

    Then:

    certutil -syncWithWU

    This forces Windows to download all trusted roots from Microsoft Update.

    If the issue persists, reply with:

    I’ll help you identify the specific missing root CA.