Service Fails to start after installation

[michael-moolah]

Hello,

I’m experiencing an issue after installing my MSI package, which is configured to run as a Windows service. The target environment is Windows Server 2022, and I’m installing with administrative rights.

The service executable is a Python application compiled with Nuitka. After installation, I can run the executable (agent.exe) directly without any issues. I also tested installing it as a service using NSSM, and in that case, the service starts and runs correctly.

However, when installed via the MSI package, the service fails to start and returns the error:

The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.

I’ve checked the logs and Event Viewer, but no errors are generated. The installation folder contains two executables and some required library files. The main executable is agent.exe.

I have also updated the .aip (Advanced Installer Project) file to reflect the correct configuration, but the problem persists.

For reference, here’s a link to the MSI package:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zheKzX ... sp=sharing

Any insights, troubleshooting steps, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Catalin]

Hello Michael,

This is indeed quite a strange issue.

Have you tested the setup package on more systems? If so, how did it behave there?

I have just tested this on a Windows 11 machine (a clean VM) and the service start operation did not give any errors.

This makes me think that perhaps the issue is with that specific machine only.

Regarding NSSM, I'm not quite sure how that works, but on the machine where this fails to install, I would adivse trying to use the sc.exe tool (this should come by default with the OS). This can be used to create and then start the service.

Controlling a Service Using SC

Could you please try that and let me know how it goes?

Best regards,
Catalin