etcd: Cannot run etcd as a Windows service

Repro:

1. Extract etcd binaries to C:\etcd
2. mkdir C:\etcd\data
3. Grant “Full Access” (rwx) to “NT AUTHORITY\Local Service” on C:\etcd
4. Start an elevated command prompt
5. Install the service: sc create etcd binpath= "C:\etcd\etcd.exe --data-dir C:\etcd\data" obj= "NT AUTHORITY\Local Service
6. Start the service: net start etcd

Expected:

ectd service starts

Actual:

• etcd service start times out

• Windows event log shows two errors:

  • Service Control Manger: “A timeout was reached (120000 milliseconds) while waiting for the etcd service to connect.”
  • Service Control Manger: “The etcd service failed to start due to the following error: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.”

• C:\etcd\data contains the following files:

  FullName, Length C:\etcd\data\member, 1 C:\etcd\data\member\snap, 1 C:\etcd\data\member\wal, 1 C:\etcd\data\member\snap\db, 32768 C:\etcd\data\member\snap\db.lock, 0 C:\etcd\data\member\wal\0.tmp, 64000000 C:\etcd\data\member\wal\0000000000000000-0000000000000000.wal, 64000000

Workaround:

• None

Additional information:

Running etcd.exe from the command prompt works fine. However, etcd service won’t even run as “LocalSystem” (that’s the “Do whatever you want” built-in account). I was able to reproduce the issue on multiple Win10 machines. I assume that it has something to do with the working directory (that’s at least the most likely cause from my experience if an application can be started from cmd.exe but not as a service). The default working directory for a Windows service is C:\Windows\system32 (which is locked down for good reasons).

Environment:

• Windows 10.0.16299 Build 16299 x64
• etcd.exe --version etcd Version: 3.3.11 Git SHA: 2cf9e51d2 Go Version: go1.10.7 Go OS/Arch: windows/amd64