Forum Mihai Moldovan

Service failed to start during MSI install. Fix:

Click Ignore to finish install.
Check port conflict:

netstat -ano | findstr :9182

Check service log: Event Viewer → Windows Logs → System, filter for windows_exporter
Verify config file syntax if using --config.file (YAML) or collector flags — bad flags in service args cause immediate exit.
Check service binary path/args:

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sc qc windows_exporter

Try manual start for real error:

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"C:\Program Files\windows_exporter\windows_exporter.exe" --config.file="C:\Program Files\windows_exporter\config.yml"
Ensure install run as Administrator (elevated cmd/powershell), not just admin user without elevation.

If installed with custom collectors (--collectors.enabled=...), invalid collector name = crash on start.

WMI Performance Adapter (WmiApSrv) is disabled. Enable it:

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sc config wmiapsrv start= demand
sc start wmiapsrv

Then restart windows_exporter:

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sc config windows_exporter depend= wmiapsrv
net start windows_exporter

Check dependent adapter status after:

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sc qc wmiapsrv

Default port 9182:

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http://localhost:9182/metrics

From another host:

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http://<hostname_or_ip>:9182/metrics

Check listener:

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netstat -ano | findstr :9182

Firewall rule if remote access fails:

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netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="windows_exporter" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=9182

windows exporter config.yaml

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collectors:
  enabled: cpu,logical_disk,net,os,service,system,memory,tcp,textfile,process,diskdrive,thermalzone,time,cpu_info,scheduled_task,pagefile

collector:
  service:
    include: windows_exporter

log:
  level: warn

Debugs:

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C:\Windows\System32>sc start windows_exporter
[SC] StartService FAILED 1068:
The dependency service or group failed to start.

WmiApSrv dependency stopped (disabled or crashed). Check and restart it:

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sc query wmiapsrv

If stopped/disabled:

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sc config wmiapsrv start= demand

Then:

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sc start windows_exporter

If wmiapsrv fails to start, check Event Viewer → System log for a fresh error on it, or run:

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winmgmt /resyncperf
lodctr /r

Set startup type to Automatic:

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sc config wmiapsrv start= auto

Recommended: delayed-auto to avoid boot-time race conditions with WMI:

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sc config wmiapsrv start= delayed-auto

Start it now:

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sc start wmiapsrv

Verify:

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sc qc wmiapsrv

Forum Mihai Moldovan

Windows node exporter install error

Windows node exporter install error