The *** service could not be started.
When I tried to start my Apache Tomcat application server’s Windows Service, this morning, I was greeted with a lovely error message:
$ net start tomcat5
The Apache Tomcat service is starting.....
The Apache Tomcat service could not be started.
More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3523.
Naturally, I wanted to know more about why it failed, so I typed the command that it suggested. The results were not quite what I’d consider “more help”:
$ NET HELPMSG 3523
The *** service could not be started.
Now, this is the point where I’d usually go into a thoroughly-researched, in-depth explanation of the root cause of the error. But, I didn’t bother investigating it any further, because I noticed shortly afterwards that the service actually DID start–just not immediately.
Looking at my Tomcat application debug log, I saw this:
25-Oct-2007 09:16:48 AM: [INFO] Server startup in 30124 ms
Usually, the numbers are a little smaller:
24-Aug-2007 12:08:08 PM: [INFO] Server startup in 15822 ms
24-Aug-2007 01:51:25 PM: [INFO] Server startup in 16736 ms
So, I’m guessing that the Windows Services controller got impatient, when Tomcat took 30 seconds to start instead of only 16 seconds. If I ever get this error message again, though, you’d better believe I’ll post a follow-up with a full explanation. :)
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