As a SQL Server user, you may have encountered situations where the SQL services fail to start up after a server reboot. This can be a frustrating experience, especially when you rely on the database for your daily operations. In this article, we will discuss a common issue related to SQL Server service startup and provide a workaround to resolve it.
One of our clients recently faced a similar problem. After a server reboot, they noticed that the SQL Server service was not starting up automatically. Upon checking the event logs, they found an error message indicating a timeout issue:
Event Type: Error Event Source: Service Control Manager Event Category: None Event ID: 7009 User: N/A Computer: SQLMachine Description: Timeout (30000 milliseconds) waiting for the SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) service to connect.
Interestingly, the client also discovered that they could manually start the SQL Server service without any issues after logging into the machine. This led us to believe that the system was overloaded during the startup process, causing a delay in the SQL Server service response to the service control manager.
To address this problem, we implemented a simple workaround by increasing the timeout value from the default 30 seconds to 60 seconds. Here are the steps to change the timeout value:
- Click on the “Start” button and select “Run”.
- Type “regedit” in the Run dialog box and click “OK”.
- In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control. - Right-click on the “Control” key, point to “New”, and select “DWORD Value”.
- Type “ServicesPipeTimeout” as the name of the new value and press “Enter”.
- Right-click on the “ServicesPipeTimeout” value and select “Modify”.
- Choose the “Decimal” base and enter the desired timeout value in milliseconds (e.g., 60000 for 60 seconds).
- Click “OK” to save the changes.
- Exit the Registry Editor and restart the computer for the changes to take effect.
By increasing the timeout value, we allowed more time for the SQL Server service to establish a connection during the startup process. This workaround proved effective for our client, as they had multiple services running on their system, causing slow performance during startup.
Have you ever encountered a similar issue with SQL Server service startup? If so, we would love to hear about your experiences and any additional tricks or solutions you have used to overcome performance issues during startup. Please leave a comment below and share your insights with the community.