hashicorp/nomad · error

could not stop service

Error message

could not stop service - %w

What it means

Wraps the failure of `srvc.Stop` after the service is installed/updated. Install ensures the service is stopped so the next Start picks up the newly installed binary. If the SCM stop control fails, install aborts with this message.

Solutions

1. Wait for the service to reach STOPPED (`sc query nomad`), then re-run install
2. Force-kill the nomad.exe process (`taskkill /f /im nomad.exe`) if stop-pending, then retry
3. Run the command from an elevated shell
4. Reboot the host if the service is stuck in a transitional state

Example fix

// before
nomad windows install
// after
taskkill /f /im nomad.exe; nomad windows install

out, _ := exec.Command("sc.exe", "query", "nomad").CombinedOutput()
if strings.Contains(string(out), "STOP_PENDING") {
	log.Println("service is stopping; wait for STOPPED before installing")
}

if err := srvc.Stop(); err != nil {
	if errors.Is(err, windows.ERROR_SERVICE_NOT_ACTIVE) {
		return nil // already stopped — safe to proceed
	}
	return fmt.Errorf("could not stop service - %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Sending SERVICE_CONTROL_STOP to the freshly installed/updated Nomad service fails: service not accepting stop controls, stop pending timeout, or access denied on the handle.

Common situations: Service entered a stop-pending state and SCM timed out; the service process hung during early startup; insufficient privileges on the service handle.

Related errors

• could not delete service
• could not get existing service
• service install failed
• service registration check failed
• unable to check for existing service

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/nomad@482b49bf1a (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f56defcc59e016dd. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at command/windows_service_install.go:236

				DisplayName:    winsvc.WINDOWS_SERVICE_DISPLAY_NAME,
				Description:    winsvc.WINDOWS_SERVICE_DESCRIPTION,
				BinaryPathName: cmd,
			},
		)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("unable to create service - %w", err)
		}
		defer srvc.Close()
	}

	// Enable the service in the Windows eventlog
	if err := srvc.EnableEventlog(); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("could not configure eventlog - %w", err)
	}

	// Ensure the service is stopped
	if err := srvc.Stop(); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("could not stop service - %w", err)
	}

	// Start the service so the new binary is in use
	if err := srvc.Start(); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("could not start service - %w", err)
	}

	return nil
}

func (c *WindowsServiceInstallCommand) configInstall(opts *windowsInstallOpts) error {
	// If the config or data directory are unset, default them
	if opts.configDir == "" {
		opts.configDir = filepath.Join(winsvc.WINDOWS_INSTALL_APPDATA_DIRECTORY, "config")
	}
	if opts.dataDir == "" {
		opts.dataDir = filepath.Join(winsvc.WINDOWS_INSTALL_APPDATA_DIRECTORY, "data")
	}

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