Unexpected error refreshing Server Manager: Exception from HRESULT:0x800F0818

I was attempting to install VMware vCenter Server in one of my test environments where the install would fail upon attempting to configure and install the pre-requisites required.

On investigating the application log, I found the following error message:

Product: VMware vCenter Server — Error 25073.The Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 installer returned an error code.

As the operating system was Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition, I attempted to enable the .NET Framework 3.5.1 Features from the Server Manger snap-in. On connecting to Server Manager I was presented with an error to state the snap-in could not refresh, the errror details were as follows:

Error: Unexpected error refreshing Server Manager: Exception from HRESULT:0x800F0818

In order to resolve this issue I had to install the ‘System Update Readiness Tool for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Edition (KB947821)’ which is available from http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/confirmation.aspx?id=14668.

Following installation I was able to refresh and install the .NET Framework 3.5.1 Features and install VMware vCenter Server without a restart of the server.