MID Server auto-upgrade will fail if Windows has 'Application Experience' disabled - Known Error

MID Server auto-upgrade will fail if Windows has 'Application Experience' disabled Description A log message similar to the following can indicate that the host machine of the MID Server is a Windows machine that has Application Experience disabled:

com.snc.dist.mid_upgrade.UpgradeException: java.io.FileNotFoundException: D:\ServiceNow\agent\bin\mid.bat (Access is Denied)

Per Microsoft's security documentation, this service is internal and cannot actually be disabled. Setting this to Disabled in the Windows environment only stops the service from being called, it does not stop the service from running. The purpose of the Application Experience, generally speaking, is to evaluate incoming compatibility of application updates to existing installed software. Since the running service does not receive the request when the setting is set to Disabled, the evaluation never happens and the install of the update fails.

Steps to Reproduce

Stop the Application Experience service on a Windows server 2012 MID Server host. Upgrade the MID Server, perhaps by pinning it to another version, and upgrading.

Check the upgrade log within the wrapper log of the MID Server, and you will see something like: INFO | jvm 1 | 2018/01/29 13:44:17.878 | SEVERE: com.snc.dist.mid_upgrade.UpgradeException: java.io.FileNotFoundException: C:\MIDServer\agent\bin\mid.bat (Access is denied) INFO | jvm 1 | 2018/01/29 13:44:17.893 | com.snc.dist.mid_upgrade.UpgradeException: java.io.FileNotFoundException: C:\MIDServer\agent\bin\mid.bat (Access is denied) INFO | jvm 1 | 2018/01/29 13:44:17.909 | at com.snc.dist.mid_upgrade.UpgradeMain.migrateToTarget(UpgradeMain.java:821) INFO | jvm 1 | 2018/01/29 13:44:17.925 | at com.snc.dist.mid_upgrade.UpgradeMain.run(UpgradeMain.java:312) INFO | jvm 1 | 2018/01/29 13:44:17.925 | at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748) INFO | jvm 1 | 2018/01/29 13:44:17.940 | Caused by: java.io.FileNotFoundException: C:\MIDServer\agent\bin\mid.bat (Access is denied) If you use Process Explorer, you will see that mid.bat is being locked by PID 4. Workaround This problem is under review and targeted as a future product enhancement. This will become a requirement, and Application Experience being enabled will become a condition of the pre-upgrade check. We will also be adding this check during MID server start up.

It may be possible to get the Upgrade to finish using this process: KB0779816 How to continue a MID Server upgrade after it has crashed in the middle of the ServiceNow Platform Distribution Upgrade service, leaving the MID Server Down and the Service not running

If that fails, then a manual upgrade may be necessary: KB0713557 How to manually Upgrade and/or Restore a MID server after a failed Upgrade

The solution is to verify that Application Experience is enabled for the MID Server Windows host machine:

Log on to to the MID Server host machine as the MID Server user with local administrator permissions. Enter +r --> to open the Run window. Type " msconfig " in the Run window, and then click Enter . Select the Services tab. Verify that the Application Experience feature is enabled. If it is not enabled, enable it. This must be enabled for MID Server upgrades to succeed. If it is enabled, keep troubleshooting. Application Experience is not the cause of the MID Server's failed upgrade.