Windows Process Activation Service not starting - Error 3

Question

I tried to start the Windows Process Activation Service in services.msc for a new windows2012 server and I was facing the error: "windows process activation service not starting error 3** for almost 3 weeks."

Finally I managed to find solution for this. Hopefully it will work for few others and save their time.

Solution:

1. Open RegEdit
2. And move to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\WAS\Parameters
3. Check the 'ConfigIsolationPath' and make sure the path is present and it has proper rights.

Now open services.msc and try starting the service. It should work.

Answer 1

For me, I didn't have ConfigIsolationPath in my registry, but the Windows Process Activation Service was looking for c:\inetpub\temp\apppools\, which I did not have. Creating this folder got things going again. This article was very helpful in tracking down the problem, "Windows Process Activation Service (WAS) Is Stopping Because It Encountered An Error".

Answer 2

I didn't have ConfigIsolationPath in my registry either. Turns out i didn't have enough space on my C:\ drive to restart the services. And the event viewer didn't have any mention of this. I freed up 2GB of space on C:\ drive and then restarted the W3SVC service in Services, and then did an IISRESET, and that seemed to fix my issues.

Answer 3

For me, it was the machine.config which was causing the error.

How I fixed it:

1. Goto "\%SystemRoot%\Microsoft .NET\Framework\%VersionNumber%\CONFIG\"
2. Make a copy of the file "machine.config.default"
3. Remove the default extension to make it "machine.config"
4. Open services and double click on Windows Process Activation Service (WAS) to start it.

I did it for 2.0.xxx.

All the best.

Answer 4

I don't see an event viewer error here but if anyone is dealing with WAS issue recorded by Event ID 7023, here is what helped me:

1. Check c:/windows/system32/inetsrv/ folder. applicationHost.config file might be missing or it might be empty. If that’s the case, go to c:/inetpub/history/ Folder and copy the applicationHost.config file from here to c:/windows/system32/inetsrv/ folder. Try to start Windows Process Activation Service again

2. Go to c:\inetpub\temp\ folder. Check if there is an apppools folder. If there is not, create this folder. Try to start Windows Process Activation Service again

3. Open registry editor. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WAS\Parameters. Delete NanoSetup entry. Try to start Windows Process Activation Service again

4. Go to c:/windows/system32/inetsrv/ folder. Duplicate applicationHost.config file. Name the new file applicationHost.config.tmp. Try to start Windows Process Activation Service again

Source: Event ID 7023: The Windows Process Activation Service terminated (System cannot find the file specified)