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Server 2008 R2

When attempting to start the WDS service we're getting the following error:

Windows could not start the Windows Deployment Services Server on Local Computer. For more information review the System Event Log. If this is a non-Microsoft service, contact the service vendor and refer to service-specific error code 8.

Okay then. In the system log we're seeing the following:

The Windows Deployment Service Server service terminated with service-specific error Not enough storage is available to process this command.

This is not a disk space issue as there's plenty available on all disks.

We're thinking it could be something with Windows internal database? but I honestly have no clue how to start troubleshooting that.

There are other information messages in the Application log for MSSQL that may support this theory?

The description for Event ID 18456 from source MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.

If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.

The following information was included with the event:

NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE [CLIENT: ]

The specified resource type cannot be found in the image file

It may be helpful to note that this seemed to start happening right after we migrated WSUS from another server onto this one.

I've been searching all over the internet for someone who has this exact error and I'm not finding anything. (Don't you hate it when that happens?)

I've tried completely removing the WDS role and reinstalling it -- didn't help.

I suppose I'd really just like some guidance on where to go from here if anyone has any ideas.

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  • remove the role and add it back in?
    – MDT Guy
    May 10, 2013 at 14:07
  • "I've tried completely removing the WDS role and reinstalling it -- didn't help"
    – Bart
    May 10, 2013 at 14:13
  • have you looked at this ms kb support.microsoft.com/kb/175529
    – tony roth
    May 10, 2013 at 15:22

3 Answers 3

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If you configured WSUS to use WID as well, then it sounds like something may have gone awry with WID. You should be able to have both applications using the same WID instance, so it's not like this is necessarily a compatibility issue.

I would either restore from a pre-WSUS backup and reinstall WSUS again, or completely uninstall the WDS, WSUS roles and remove the WID feature, and reinstall them all.

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Okay, so I've managed to get the service started... but I'm a little confused as to what happened.

I started poking around in the SQL logs in C:\Windows\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSQL.2005\MSSQL\LOG and found a line that said

The current event was not reported to the Windows Events Log. Operating system error = 1502 (The events log is full.). You may need to clear the windows events log if it is full.

So then I went back and found that the Applications log was full. Saved the contents, cleared it, tried to restart WDS (to see if any new errors showed up in the app log now that it was empty) and to my surprise was greeted by a "The WDS service was started successfully!" message. Wat.

No idea what happened. This was literally the only thing that I did... I did have to grant myself permission to get into the MSSQL folders... but that shouldn't have fixed anything.

Can a full event log really brick WDS like that? That doesn't seem right... does it?

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  • 1
    Of course it makes sense. If your logs aren't set to auto-purge, then all kinds of things break when they hit their size limit. Services expect to be able to write their logging information. Not being able to do so is a failure condition.
    – MDMarra
    May 10, 2013 at 16:47
-3

Disable automatic managed page file size and increase the page file size. Disable all unnecessary startup items and reboot, then manually start the WDS service.

If that doesn't work, look for I/O errors and high memory utilization.

Reference: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc978735.aspx

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  • 3
    Disable automatic managed page file size and increase the page file size. Disable all unnecessary startup items and reboot Do you have any reference or reasoning for why you think this is 1) the problem; 2) the solution? It sounds like the typical gibberish you'd do to your grandmother's PC when it's getting slow, not to a production server. Also, it's typically not a great idea to mess with pagefile size/config unless you have a very specific case, like a server with 96GB RAM that you've profiled properly and you don't want a 96GB pagefile.
    – MDMarra
    May 10, 2013 at 14:22
  • Based on the information provided by the OP, a service will not start because enough storage is not available to process the command. Where are a few places information is stored? Physical memory, virtual memory.. you'd see more telltale signs and be less likely to post a question on ServerFault if the solution was that simple. That leaves pages and nonpaged pools. Microsoft seems to be of a similar opinion, see: here. FWIW, if the box is infact a "production" WDS server, the WDS service won't start. That's an outage either way.
    – walser
    May 10, 2013 at 14:25
  • But if the pagefile is set to a system managed size, it should grow as large as it needs to. If you really think that virtual memory is the issue, then your suggestion is counter-intuitive.
    – MDMarra
    May 10, 2013 at 14:31
  • And by "as large as it needs to" I mean up to 3xRAM. And if you have 3xRAM + physical RAM being used in committed bytes, then the answer should be to find out what the heck on your server is leaking memory and fix it. Though, as I've said in my answer, this smells like a corrupt WID instance since it happened immediately after installing WSUS on the same server.
    – MDMarra
    May 10, 2013 at 14:41

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