SQL Server 2012 express istallation failing to install "Database Engine Service" and "SQL Server Replication"

[George Taku]

I ran SQL Server 2012 express setup as user with administrator privileges and still it's failing to install "Database Engine Service" and "SQL Server Replication".
Any and every ideas on how to resolve this issue is greatly appreciated.

[Erland Sommarskog]

Post by George Taku
I ran SQL Server 2012 express setup as user with administrator
privileges and still it's failing to install "Database Engine Service"
and "SQL Server Replication".
Any and every ideas on how to resolve this issue is greatly appreciated.

In C:\Program Files\Micrsoft SQL Server\110\Setup Bootstrap\Log you find
directories with log files for each attempt.

The logs are very verbose and not trivial to draw conclusions from. But
at least it is a start. You should look at why the engine fails to install.
Replication fails to install, because there is no engine to install
replication in.

[George Taku]

Post by George Taku
I ran SQL Server 2012 express setup as user with administrator privileges and still it's failing to install "Database Engine Service" and "SQL Server Replication".
Any and every ideas on how to resolve this issue is greatly appreciated.

From what I gather from the summary log, the core of the installation error is "Could not find the Database Engine startup handle." I will definitely appreciate ideas on resolving this SQL Server 2012 Express installation failure. Thanks in advance.

Here is the summary Log:

Overall summary:
Final result: Failed: see details below
Exit code (Decimal): -2061893607
Start time: 2013-12-04 16:29:12
End time: 2013-12-04 16:48:33
Requested action: Install

Setup completed with required actions for features.
Troubleshooting information for those features:
Next step for SQLEngine: Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.
Next step for Replication: Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.


Machine Properties:
Machine name:
Machine processor count: 4
OS version: Windows 7
OS service pack: Service Pack 1
OS region: United States
OS language: English (United States)
OS architecture: x86
Process architecture: 32 Bit
OS clustered: No

Product features discovered:
Product Instance Instance ID Feature Language Edition Version Clustered

Package properties:
Description: Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1
ProductName: SQL Server 2012
Type: RTM
Version: 11
Installation location: C:\87760293d9094bfdaaded253e100cd52\x86\setup\
Installation edition: Express

Slipstream: True
SP Level 1

Product Update Status:
Success: KB 2674319

Product Updates Selected for Installation:
Title: Service Pack 1
Knowledge Based Article: KB 2674319
Version: 11.1.3000.0
Architecture: x86
Language: 1033

Update Source: MU


User Input Settings:
ACTION: Install
ADDCURRENTUSERASSQLADMIN: true
AGTSVCACCOUNT: NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
AGTSVCPASSWORD: *****
AGTSVCSTARTUPTYPE: Disabled
ASBACKUPDIR: Backup
ASCOLLATION: Latin1_General_CI_AS
ASCONFIGDIR: Config
ASDATADIR: Data
ASLOGDIR: Log
ASPROVIDERMSOLAP: 1
ASSERVERMODE: MULTIDIMENSIONAL
ASSVCACCOUNT: <empty>
ASSVCPASSWORD: <empty>
ASSVCSTARTUPTYPE: Automatic
ASSYSADMINACCOUNTS: <empty>
ASTEMPDIR: Temp
BROWSERSVCSTARTUPTYPE: Disabled
CLTCTLRNAME: <empty>
CLTRESULTDIR: <empty>
CLTSTARTUPTYPE: 0
CLTSVCACCOUNT: <empty>
CLTSVCPASSWORD: <empty>
CLTWORKINGDIR: <empty>
COMMFABRICENCRYPTION: 0
COMMFABRICNETWORKLEVEL: 0
COMMFABRICPORT: 0
CONFIGURATIONFILE:
CTLRSTARTUPTYPE: 0
CTLRSVCACCOUNT: <empty>
CTLRSVCPASSWORD: <empty>
CTLRUSERS: <empty>
ENABLERANU: true
ENU: true
ERRORREPORTING: false
FEATURES: SQLENGINE, REPLICATION, CONN, BC, SDK, SSMS, ADV_SSMS, SNAC_SDK, LOCALDB
FILESTREAMLEVEL: 0
FILESTREAMSHARENAME: <empty>
FTSVCACCOUNT: <empty>
FTSVCPASSWORD: <empty>
HELP: false
IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS: true
INDICATEPROGRESS: false
INSTALLSHAREDDIR: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\
INSTALLSHAREDWOWDIR: <empty>
INSTALLSQLDATADIR: <empty>
INSTANCEDIR: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\
INSTANCEID: SQLEXPRESS
INSTANCENAME: SQLEXPRESS
ISSVCACCOUNT: NT AUTHORITY\Network Service
ISSVCPASSWORD: <empty>
ISSVCSTARTUPTYPE: Automatic
MATRIXCMBRICKCOMMPORT: 0
MATRIXCMSERVERNAME: <empty>
MATRIXNAME: <empty>
NPENABLED: 0
PID: *****
QUIET: false
QUIETSIMPLE: false
ROLE: AllFeatures_WithDefaults
RSINSTALLMODE: DefaultNativeMode
RSSHPINSTALLMODE: DefaultSharePointMode
RSSVCACCOUNT: <empty>
RSSVCPASSWORD: <empty>
RSSVCSTARTUPTYPE: Automatic
SAPWD: <empty>
SECURITYMODE: <empty>
SQLBACKUPDIR: <empty>
SQLCOLLATION: SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
SQLSVCACCOUNT: NT Service\MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS
SQLSVCPASSWORD: <empty>
SQLSVCSTARTUPTYPE: Automatic
SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS: MH\gt038676t
SQLTEMPDBDIR: <empty>
SQLTEMPDBLOGDIR: <empty>
SQLUSERDBDIR: <empty>
SQLUSERDBLOGDIR: <empty>
SQMREPORTING: false
TCPENABLED: 0
UIMODE: AutoAdvance
UpdateEnabled: true
UpdateSource: MU
X86: false

Configuration file: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20131204_162754\ConfigurationFile.ini

Detailed results:
Feature: Management Tools - Complete
Status: Passed

Feature: Client Tools Connectivity
Status: Passed

Feature: Client Tools SDK
Status: Passed

Feature: Client Tools Backwards Compatibility
Status: Passed

Feature: Management Tools - Basic
Status: Passed

Feature: Database Engine Services
Status: Failed: see logs for details
Reason for failure: An error occurred during the setup process of the feature.
Next Step: Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.
Component name: SQL Server Database Engine Services Instance Features
Component error code: 0x851A0019
Error description: Could not find the Database Engine startup handle.
Error help link: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkId=20476&ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&EvtSrc=setup.rll&EvtID=50000&ProdVer=11.0.3000.0&EvtType=0xE53883A0%400xBE03358B%401306%4025&EvtType=0xE53883A0%400xBE03358B%401306%4025

Feature: SQL Server Replication
Status: Failed: see logs for details
Reason for failure: An error occurred for a dependency of the feature causing the setup process for the feature to fail.
Next Step: Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.
Component name: SQL Server Database Engine Services Instance Features
Component error code: 0x851A0019
Error description: Could not find the Database Engine startup handle.
Error help link: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkId=20476&ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&EvtSrc=setup.rll&EvtID=50000&ProdVer=11.0.3000.0&EvtType=0xE53883A0%400xBE03358B%401306%4025&EvtType=0xE53883A0%400xBE03358B%401306%4025

Feature: SQL Browser
Status: Passed

Feature: SQL Writer
Status: Passed

Feature: LocalDB
Status: Passed

Feature: SQL Client Connectivity
Status: Passed

Feature: SQL Client Connectivity SDK
Status: Passed

Rules with failures:

Global rules:

Scenario specific rules:

Rules report file: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20131204_162754\SystemConfigurationCheck_Report.htm

[Erland Sommarskog]

Post by George Taku
From what I gather from the summary log, the core of the installation
error is "Could not find the Database Engine startup handle." I will
definitely appreciate ideas on resolving this SQL Server 2012 Express
installation failure. Thanks in advance.

This error usually means that Setup came as far as installing SQL Server,
but when it starts the engine to run some configuration scripts (or whatever
it does), the engine is not there. That is, for some reason SQL Server is
not able to start, to aborts directly.

Look in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\LOG.
You may find files ERRORLOG, ERRORLOG.1 etc. ERRORLOG is the file to which
the engine writes errors and other informational messages. As the engine
starts the old file is renamed to ERRORLOG.1, next to ERRORLOG.2 etc.

[George Taku]

I ran SQL Server 2012 express setup as user with administrator privileges and still it's failing to install "Database Engine Service" and "SQL Server Replication". Any and every ideas on how to resolve this issue is greatly appreciated.

Hi Erlandd Sommarskog,

Thank you for the response.
I located the error log you describe. However, I still have not find a solution to the failed installation of the database engine and the subsequent replication.

Here is the content of the error log:

2013-12-05 09:14:51.35 Server Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (SP1) - 11.0.3000.0 (Intel X86)
Oct 19 2012 13:43:21
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
Express Edition on Windows NT 6.1 <X86> (Build 7601: Service Pack 1)

2013-12-05 09:14:51.36 Server (c) Microsoft Corporation.
2013-12-05 09:14:51.36 Server All rights reserved.
2013-12-05 09:14:51.36 Server Server process ID is 2700.
2013-12-05 09:14:51.36 Server System Manufacturer: 'LENOVO', System Model: '2356B37'.
2013-12-05 09:14:51.36 Server Authentication mode is WINDOWS-ONLY.
2013-12-05 09:14:51.37 Server Logging SQL Server messages in file 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Log\ERRORLOG'.
2013-12-05 09:14:51.37 Server The service account is 'NT Service\MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS'. This is an informational message; no user action is required.
2013-12-05 09:14:51.37 Server Registry startup parameters:
-d C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\master.mdf
-e C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Log\ERRORLOG
-l C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\mastlog.ldf
2013-12-05 09:14:51.37 Server Command Line Startup Parameters:
-s "SQLEXPRESS"
2013-12-05 09:14:52.50 Server SQL Server detected 1 sockets with 2 cores per socket and 4 logical processors per socket, 4 total logical processors; using 4 logical processors based on SQL Server licensing. This is an informational message; no user action is required.
2013-12-05 09:14:52.50 Server SQL Server is starting at normal priority base (=7). This is an informational message only. No user action is required.
2013-12-05 09:14:52.50 Server Detected 3306 MB of RAM. This is an informational message; no user action is required.
2013-12-05 09:14:52.51 Server Using conventional memory in the memory manager.
2013-12-05 09:14:53.84 Server Node configuration: node 0: CPU mask: 0x0000000f:0 Active CPU mask: 0x0000000f:0. This message provides a description of the NUMA configuration for this computer. This is an informational message only. No user action is required.
2013-12-05 09:14:53.84 Server Using dynamic lock allocation. Initial allocation of 2500 Lock blocks and 5000 Lock Owner blocks per node. This is an informational message only. No user action is required.
2013-12-05 09:14:53.87 Server Software Usage Metrics is disabled.
2013-12-05 09:14:54.37 spid4s Starting up database 'master'.
2013-12-05 09:14:54.59 spid4s The tail of the log for database master is being rewritten to match the new sector size of 4096 bytes. 512 bytes at offset 347648 in file C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\mastlog.ldf will be written.
2013-12-05 09:14:54.90 Server CLR version v4.0.30319 loaded.
2013-12-05 09:14:56.49 spid4s SQL Server Audit is starting the audits. This is an informational message. No user action is required.
2013-12-05 09:14:56.60 spid4s SQL Server Audit has started the audits. This is an informational message. No user action is required.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.20 spid4s SQL Trace ID 1 was started by login "sa".
2013-12-05 09:14:57.35 spid4s Server name is 'MHCP-R9TRLG3\SQLEXPRESS'. This is an informational message only. No user action is required.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.55 spid12s Password policy update was successful.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.52 spid4s Failed to verify Authenticode signature on DLL 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Binn\ftimport.dll'.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.57 spid9s The resource database has been detected in two different locations. Attaching the resource database in the same directory as sqlservr.exe at 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Binn\sqlservr.exe' instead of the currently attached resource database at 'e:\sql11_main_t.obj.x86release\sql\mkmastr\databases\objfre\i386\mssqlsystemresource.mdf'.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.62 spid4s Starting up database 'msdb'.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.62 spid9s Starting up database 'mssqlsystemresource'.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.68 spid12s Error: 17190, Severity: 16, State: 1.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.68 spid12s Initializing the FallBack certificate failed with error code: 1, state: 20, error number: 0.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.70 spid12s Unable to initialize SSL encryption because a valid certificate could not be found, and it is not possible to create a self-signed certificate.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.77 spid12s Error: 17182, Severity: 16, State: 1.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.77 spid12s TDSSNIClient initialization failed with error 0x80092004, status code 0x80. Reason: Unable to initialize SSL support. Cannot find object or property.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.77 spid12s Error: 17182, Severity: 16, State: 1.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.77 spid12s TDSSNIClient initialization failed with error 0x80092004, status code 0x1. Reason: Initialization failed with an infrastructure error. Check for previous errors. Cannot find object or property.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.77 spid12s Error: 17826, Severity: 18, State: 3.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.77 spid12s Could not start the network library because of an internal error in the network library. To determine the cause, review the errors immediately preceding this one in the error log.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.77 spid12s Error: 17120, Severity: 16, State: 1.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.77 spid12s SQL Server could not spawn FRunCommunicationsManager thread. Check the SQL Server error log and the Windows event logs for information about possible related problems.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.78 Server Common language runtime (CLR) functionality initialized using CLR version v4.0.30319 from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\.
2013-12-05 09:14:57.87 spid9s The resource database build version is 11.00.3000. This is an informational message only. No user action is required.

[Erland Sommarskog]

Post by George Taku
Thank you for the response.
I located the error log you describe. However, I still have not find a
solution to the failed installation of the database engine and the
subsequent replication.

I did not say it was easy, did I? :-)

And, no it is not easy, but at least now we have something to work
from. I googled around on one of the error messages you got, and
found some hits, but nothing that nails it.

This blog post:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqljourney/archive/2012/10/09/sql-2008-service-
fails-to-come-online-with-a-valid-certificate-could-not-be-found-and-it-is-
not-possible-to-create-a-self-signed-certificate.aspx

Says that the cause is a corrupted user profile and a workaround is
to change the service account. And maybe that helps. That is, create an
account on your machine, and when you run the Setup wizard, specify
the domain account rather than the default. But I am a little skeptic.
The default is a virtual account created specific for the service, so
why would its user profile be created directly? And in such case, what
says that if you create a new user, that this user gets the same problem.
Or you could try your own user. Maybe the template for new users is
corrupted, but your is not.

This is a key line, I think:

Unable to initialize SSL encryption because a valid certificate could not
be found, and it is not possible to create a self-signed certificate.

That is, something on your machine which SQL Server relies on is not the
way it should be. (And something which requires better knowledge about
Windows than I have.)

I am sorry for not giving you a clearer answer, but I hope that you
have at least some clues.

By the way, do you have a 32-bit OS on your machine?

[George Taku]

Post by George Taku
I ran SQL Server 2012 express setup as user with administrator privileges and still it's failing to install "Database Engine Service" and "SQL Server Replication".
Any and every ideas on how to resolve this issue is greatly appreciated.

Hello,

Irrespective of which user account I use to run SQL Server 2012 express installation, it still fails to install the Database Engine Service and SQL Server Replication. I have uninstalled and reinstalled in every way I could think of.
I am not finding a working solution to this even on the social.msdn.microsoft.com sql server forum.
Do you know of some possible solution? Thanks for your contribution!

[Erland Sommarskog]

Post by George Taku
Irrespective of which user account I use to run SQL Server 2012 express
installation, it still fails to install the Database Engine Service and
SQL Server Replication. I have uninstalled and reinstalled in every way
I could think of.
I am not finding a working solution to this even on the
social.msdn.microsoft.com sql server forum.
Do you know of some possible solution? Thanks for your contribution!

Too bad that you have not been able to install SQL Server.

I don't really have any good ideas how to resolve the issue. The easy
part was to guide you to find out the reason for the failure from the
logs. But why you get that failure... This would require a lot more
knowledge about Windows that I have.

Of course, one possibility is to flatten your laptop and reinstall
Windows and everything else, but I would not do that myself.

A somewhat more palatable option would be build a virtual machine and
install SQL Server on that VM. It does require that you have enough
memory on your laptop to fit the VM. And, unless you have Windows 8,
you will need to install some virtualisation software, and what says
that this installation would also get problems because of the
corrupted certificate store?

One shot in the dark: do you run any AV/Firewall product on your machine?
It could be that it is overly zealous in protecting the certificate
store, so that causes Setup to fail. You could try disabling it or even
go as far as uninstalling it. (Don't be connected to the Internet when you
do this!) I actually had this kind of problem with my firewall and a beta
of SQL 2012, although I don't recall whether it was exactly the certificate
store that was the problem.

[George Taku]

Post by George Taku
I ran SQL Server 2012 express setup as user with administrator privileges and still it's failing to install "Database Engine Service" and "SQL Server Replication".
Any and every ideas on how to resolve this issue is greatly appreciated.

Thank you Erland Sommarskog. I will post the solution out here once I get this resolved. Dry-cleaning my pc is a thought that has passed through my mind in a fleeting moment, but a route that I am not willing to venture into. Ironically enough, I also tried disabling firewall on my system, but that as well yielded no working solution. I have gone as far as deleting entries in the registry that reference SQL Server and deleting SQL Server directories on my pc, but those operations as well did not pour sunshine, did not solve the problem.
As said, I thank you for your contribution towards finding a solution to this SQL Server 2012 Express install issues.

[a***@gmail.com]

For me, the issue that caused this error message was me changing where the Data and log directories are. I changed them to be on a volume from our SAN, which was being interpreted as having a mismatched block size.

[d***@gmail.com]

This is an old issue but I find many users out looking for a solution so I'll tell what worked for me. I had to install SQL Server 2012 with the latest service pack which is SP3. The version upon which I kept getting the "could not find the database engine startup handle" included only SP2 (which was outdated).