MID Server auto-upgrade completes but Windows service fails to start with SEVERE: Unable to start MID serverIssue <!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } After a MID Server distribution auto-upgrade runs, the upgrade workflow completes — service stop and file operations succeed — but the MID Windows service fails to start automatically. Wrapper logs show repeated failures during the start MID phase with SEVERE: Unable to start MID server. The most common reason is that Windows service account permissions or file permission enforcement allow-list configuration is not aligned for the MID service logon account. Release<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } ALL Cause<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } The wrapper logs confirm the upgrade steps succeeded. The failure occurs only when the upgrade process attempts to start the MID service. The following are the key timestamped log lines visible in the Wrapper.log: Upgrade execution started normally INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:21:11.689 | INFO: ********⚠ITALIC⚠⚠BOLD⚠UPGRADE MAIN LOGIN START⚠/BOLD⚠⚠/ITALIC⚠******** INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:21:11.729 | INFO: MID Server upgrade v2.0 starting... MID service stopped successfully (clean stop, no failure exit codes) INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:21:24.117 | STATE : 1 STOPPED INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:21:24.118 | WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0) INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:21:24.118 | SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0) File operations completed successfully during upgrade INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:21:27.322 | INFO: Successfully renamed the folder `<MID_INSTALL_DIR>\bin` to `<MID_INSTALL_DIR>\bin_old` INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:21:27.441 | INFO: [Copying files from <MID_INSTALL_DIR>\bin_old to <MID_INSTALL_DIR>\bin] completed successfully on attempt 1. Primary failure point: service start INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:27:26.394 | SEVERE: Unable to start MID server. INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:27:26.394 | com.snc.dist.mid_upgrade.exceptions.UpgradeException: Unable to start MID server. Repeated failure during summary creation INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:32:29.951 | SEVERE: Unable to start MID server. INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:32:29.952 | com.snc.dist.mid_upgrade.exceptions.UpgradeException: Unable to start MID server. Upgrade process still creates the summary file INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:32:29.952 | INFO: The upgrade summary file has been created successfully INFO | jvm 1 | 2026/02/08 06:32:29.964 | UpgradeStatus=rollback_failure What this proves: The auto-upgrade workflow ran and completed core steps (stop service, move and copy files). - The failure is isolated to starting the MID Windows service. The typical root cause is a service logon account permission gap (Windows service start and stop rights) or a Windows file permission enforcement allow-list that is not set correctly for the MID service account. Resolution<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } The MID Server service can be started manually as a temporary measure. Permanent fix 1. Fix Windows service start and stop permissions for the MID service account Verify that the MID Windows service logon account has rights to start and stop the MID service (service security descriptor updates). Validate using: sc sdshow "snc_mid_<mid_service_name>" 2. Update the MID host allow-list for Windows file permission enforcement Add the MID service account to mid.windows_host.file_permissions.allow_list in <MID_INSTALL_DIR>\config.xml. Use the correct format: Local user: .<username>Domain user: use the SID (not DOMAIN\username) SID lookup (example): wmic useraccount where name='<username>' get name,sid 3. Restart sequence to ensure enforcement rules apply cleanly Temporarily set the MID service to run as LocalSystem (or an Administrator) and start it once. Switch the service Log On back to the intended non-admin MID service account. Restart and confirm the service starts automatically. Related Links<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Correcting the MID Server Windows service account user and permissions MID Server Service User Permissions and Requirements for Windows and Linux