Exchange Server setup may fail with an error message:
“Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.ServiceDidNotReachStatusException:
Service ‘WMSVC’ failed to reach status ‘Running’ on this server.
In the Exchange setup log file you may see the following lines:
Current service status query time is '10/26/2015 3:11:17 PM'. Will wait '25000' milliseconds for the service 'WMSVC' to reach status 'Running'. Service 'WMSVC' failed to reach status 'Running' on this server after waiting for '25000' milliseconds. [2] [WARNING] Service checkpoint has not progressed. Previous checkpoint='0'- Current checkpoint='0'.
In the Application event log of the server Event ID 1007 may appear:
Log Name: Application Source: Microsoft-Windows-IIS-IISManager Date: 10/26/2015 3:00:54 PM Event ID: 1007 Description: The following information was included with the event: IISWMSVC_STARTUP_UNABLE_TO_READ_CERTIFICATE Unable to read the certificate with thumbprint '7557c2f111b0448b6c90f491cb92e9e7e401089a'. Please make sure the SSL certificate exists and that is correctly configured in the Management Service page. Process:WMSvc User=NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE
A common cause of this problem is that the WMSVC certificate has been deleted from the certificate store on the server. The certificate can be recreated to resolve the issue.
Open IIS Manager on the server. Select the server name and then open Server Certificates.
In the actions pane click Create Self-Signed Certificate.
Name the certificate “WMSVC” and complete the creation of the self-signed certificate.
Next, open Management Service.
Select the self-signed certificate that you just created, and apply the change.
You should now be able to start the management service.
Restart Exchange setup and it should proceed past this step and complete successfully.
No.
1 It is set to local system
2 If the service isnt running, you cannot confirgure it in IIS manager
We found a different solution for this error:
Ensure that the service is configured to Log On as Local System Acct.
Once we changed this setting, the WMSVC service started without issue.
Still relevant in 2023…
Thank you very much, this saves a lot time.
While creating a new WMSVC certificate will resolve this issue, you can also assign a server cert that is issued by either your internal CA or a 3rd party cert that has the server’s name in it. Our organization’s cyber security people don’t like self-signed certs. Because of this, we have to recertify the risk acceptance for the self-signed Exchange certs every year. Since there are people in the organization that know that the WMSVC doesn’t HAVE to have it’s own certificate, assigning an internally-issued server cert allows us to not have to fight that battle.
merci astuce au top pour décommissionner un serveur exchange 2013.
Thank you for this post. You just saved me a lot of bother trying to kill off our old 2013 server.
Thank you very much.
Solution Worked as explained.
Best Regards.
This helped me!
Kudos. Really helped patch some servers for Hafnium hacks.
Thank you for helping me install the latest Exchange 2019 CU!
thanks you sooo much !
If you have an SSL cert installed you can point it to that as well, but great info! Much better than the nonsense that I was getting from technet and the lackluster MS KB.
Thanks for the rescue!
Thank you for helping me install the latest Exchange 2019 CU!
thanks you sooo much !
It’s 2021 and this blog post is still a lifesaver! Thank you for helping me install the latest Exchange 2019 CU!
Thanks alot for the post. After a long night trying to fix the process. This finally fixed it, saving me alot of trouble in the morning with the client.
Thank you very much. Very much appreciated.
Saved my Exchange update today. Thank you.
Helped me 4 years on, many thanks.
Brilliant and quick to do. It is a pity that MS is not able to have that in their error reporting
Still relevant, spot on with this. Thank you.
Thanks! Just ran into this issue today and this helped to clear it up in a heartbeat!!
That was it! After trying for a few evenings to decipher the error messages I was getting when attempting to upgrading to CU2. I remember a few months ago I was messing with the exchange certs and must have goofed the self signed cert for WMSVC.
Thanks for posting these instructions. works!!
Yes, perfect, found with Event viewer error code on first line of Google search.
Yes, perfect, found with Eventviewer error code on first line of Google search.
thanks very much for the post !!! – had this exact problem when trying to install MS Exchange CU 5 – with your instructions fixed it in 3 mins – cheers !
Thanks for this.!
In my case, the valid SSL had to be reapplied. How/why it became disassociated is a mystery.
Thank you very much!
Worked like a charm.muchas gracius
Thank you very much!
Thanks for this. Worked perfectly.
What Robert Dick said ^^ Ditto.
Hey, Paul:
Thanks for this one. I hit the same problem on the installation of Exchange 2016. The WMSVC cert actually was still BUT all other symptoms were the same. I ended up deleting the cert and then followed your steps to recreate and rebind and all was good!
Your posts are excellent, I often reference them and I do point at a few (like this one) form my own blog.
Thanks again for all of your sharing!
Robert Dick, Office 365 MVP, Canada