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CEdward0764's avatar
CEdward0764
Copper Contributor
Dec 23, 2024

Windows could not start the SQL server (SQLEXPRESS) service (macOS)

I have a common problem that I just cannot figure out after scrolling through posts expressing a similar issue.

I am currently running a macOS using a virtual machine that has Windows 11. Due to what I understand are compatibility issues in the CPU architecture, I downloaded SQL Server 2019 Localdb. After downloading the engine, I noticed that SQL Server (SQLEXPRESS) is stopped in SQL Server Configuration Manager, but when I try to right click and start, I get the message shown in the pictures with an operating system error 3.

 

initerrlog: Could not open error log file 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL15.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Log\'. Operating system error = 3(The system cannot find the path specified.).

 

I checked the file paths again and they are all correct.

Also, I noticed that the startup parameters were not listed so corrected this issue by going to the Registry Editor and added the strings manually. They were added successfully in the Configuration Manager, but when I go to start the service I get the same error message as above saying that my request failed (Event ID: 17058), but this time the issue is I get an Access Denied:

 

initerrlog: Could not open error log file ‘c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL15.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Log\ERRORLOG’. Operating system error = 5(Access is denied).

 

I went to folder security and granted full access to all the users, but that did not solve the problem.

Any help would be much appreciated.

  • Yunus_Emre_ISIK's avatar
    Yunus_Emre_ISIK
    Copper Contributor

    Hi CEdward,

    I suggest you to change service account with "local system" built-in account. actually it is dangerous to give this account to service but maybe you can start service in this way. "Local System" has more privileges.

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