Windows Install - stops with '"rabbitmq-service.bat start exited with code 1'

[Gary Simmons]

Hi..

I'm doing a silent install of 3.12.6 into Windows Server via Powershell..

On occasions I get '"rabbitmq-service.bat start exited with code 1' - which if I then uninstall ERlang/RabbitMQ immediately in the same session and re-install it works ??

I've cleared all profile paths of remnants and also deleted any Registry remnants also  (ie HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Ericsson\Erlang\ErlSrv\1.1\RabbitMQ) before the installs each time..

Questions I have -

1. Is it possible to install the 3.12.16 exe and prevent the service from starting so I can trap it later and deal with it
2. Is there anyway to specify a log file for the installer to see what is causing this
3. What are the common faults for stopping the service ?

We cant use the the chocolatey installer or any online approach - everything is being performed in an air gapped environment

Many THanks

Gary S

[Luke Bakken]

Hi Gary,

It would be very helpful to know the exact command you're running to install RabbitMQ. Is this a 100% fresh installation or an upgrade?

Yes, it is possible to tell the installer to not install and start the service:

https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-packaging/blob/main/windows-exe/rabbitmq_nsi.in#L331-L340

I realize that's not the easiest thing to find. That is the source code for the NSIS installer we use for RabbitMQ. In your case, you'll want to run this:

rabbitmq-server-3.12.6.exe /S /NOSERVICEINSTALL

The above will neither install nor start the Windows service. You can then install and start the service later via the rabbitmq-service.bat command.

I have yet to find a way to get NSIS to provide useful logs. Sometimes the service won't start due to firewall rules. I've put together the following script to add exceptions for the necessary Erlang programs - https://github.com/lukebakken/misc/blob/main/ps1/windows-firewall.ps1

In your environment, if you get the error exit, please then open a command window and do the following:

• Change to the RabbitMQ installation directory
• Run sbin\rabbitmq-service.bat start and see if there is more useful output
• Run sbin\rabbitmq-server.bat - this will start RabbitMQ in the foreground and you may get more information that way.