puppetlabs/puppet · error · Puppet::Error

Unknown start type '%{start_type}' for '%{service_name}'

Error message

Unknown start type '%{start_type}' for '%{service_name}'

What it means

Raised by service_start_type when the dwStartType from QueryServiceConfigW has no entry in SERVICE_START_TYPES (which maps all five standard values 0-4: boot, system, auto, demand, disabled). As with the state error, the interpolated start_type is nil so the message always prints an empty value, which makes diagnosis confusing. A genuine hit means the SCM returned an out-of-range start type.

Source

Thrown at lib/puppet/util/windows/service.rb:142

    # @param [String] service_name name of the service to query
    # @return [QUERY_SERVICE_CONFIGW.struct] the configuration of the service
    def service_start_type(service_name)
      start_type = nil
      open_service(service_name, SC_MANAGER_CONNECT, SERVICE_QUERY_CONFIG) do |service|
        query_config(service) do |config|
          start_type = SERVICE_START_TYPES[config[:dwStartType]]
        end
      end
      # if the service has type AUTO_START, check if it's a delayed service
      if start_type == :SERVICE_AUTO_START
        open_service(service_name, SC_MANAGER_CONNECT, SERVICE_QUERY_CONFIG) do |service|
          query_config2(service, SERVICE_CONFIG_DELAYED_AUTO_START_INFO) do |config|
            return :SERVICE_DELAYED_AUTO_START if config[:fDelayedAutostart] == 1
          end
        end
      end
      if start_type.nil?
        raise Puppet::Error, _("Unknown start type '%{start_type}' for '%{service_name}'") % { start_type: start_type.to_s, service_name: service_name }
      end

      start_type
    end
    module_function :service_start_type

    # Query the configuration of a service using QueryServiceConfigW
    # to find its current logon account
    #
    # @return [String] logon_account account currently set for the service's logon
    #  in the format "DOMAIN\Account" or ".\Account" if it's a local account
    def logon_account(service_name)
      open_service(service_name, SC_MANAGER_CONNECT, SERVICE_QUERY_CONFIG) do |service|
        query_config(service) do |config|
          return config[:lpServiceStartName].read_arbitrary_wide_string_up_to(Puppet::Util::Windows::ADSI::User::MAX_USERNAME_LENGTH)
        end
      end
    end

View on GitHub (pinned to e227c27540)

Solutions

1. Check the raw configuration with sc qc <name> to see the actual START_TYPE
2. Retry once after a delay if the service was just installed or modified
3. Verify ffi gem / Puppet compatibility if multiple services show this
4. Report upstream with the service name and sc qc output

begin
  Puppet::Util::Windows::Service.service_start_type(name)
rescue Puppet::Error => e
  retry if (tries -= 1) > 0 && e.message.include?('Unknown start type')
  raise Puppet::Error, "Check raw config: sc qc #{name}"
end

When it happens

Trigger: service_start_type on a driver service whose configuration reports a start type outside 0-4, or corrupted QUERY_SERVICE_CONFIGW data read through FFI. The delayed-autostart probe only runs when the type is SERVICE_AUTO_START, so it cannot rescue this.

Common situations: Querying newly installed or mid-removal services; kernel/boot driver services with unusual configurations; FFI struct layout mismatches after Ruby/ffi upgrades.

Related errors

• Unknown Service state '%{current_state}' for '%{service_name
• Failed to fetch services
• Failed to open a handle to the service
• Failed to open a handle to the service control manager
• The service must be in one of the %{valid_initial_states} st

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0e28cc3353f11d9a. Report an issue: GitHub.