Assets Discovery Agent - "Cannot start service from the command line or a debugger..." Error

[Nick Bryant]

We are in the process of rolling out the Discovery Agent 3.2.0 in our environment through an RMM software. The Discovery Agent program/service installs correctly, runs scans on schedule and creates agent scan .dat files, but we are unable to set the agent token by running the Discovery_Agent.exe with the "-token" switch from the RMM tool. We receive the following error:



Cannot start service from the command line or a debugger. A Windows Service must first be installed (using installutil.exe) and then started with the ServerExplorer, Windows Services Administrative tool or the NET START command.

So far we have tried:

• Running the discovery_agent.exe -token command token as System, a local machine admin or a domain account with administrative permissions
• Manually installing the service using the installutil.exe from the .NET framework
• Running the service as NT Authority\Local Service, NT Authority\Network Service, System, a local admin account
• Manually setting parameters in the registry for the service
• Installing the latest version of the agent (3.2.1 as of now)

Has anyone else run into this issue when rolling out Discovery Agent 3.2.0?

[Eugenio Onofre]

Hi @Nick Bryant

Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Regarding the issue with setting the agent token for the Discovery Agent 3.2.0 using the "-token" switch, the error message you're encountering suggests a problem with how the service interacts with Windows Services. It appears that the service isn't recognizing the command line execution as a valid method to start the service.

Since you've already tried running the command with various user permissions, manually installing the service using installutil.exe, changing the running account of the service, and even updating the agent, it seems like you've covered most of the standard troubleshooting steps.

Some additional steps you might consider are:

1. Check the command syntax: ensure the syntax of the command you're using is correct according to the Discovery Agent's documentation.

2. Review logs: Check the Discovery Agent and Windows Event logs for any additional information or errors that might provide more context.

3. Create a ticket with Atlassian Support If the issue persists, reaching out to the Atlassian's support team may be beneficial. They might have encountered similar issues with other clients and could offer a solution. Please create a ticket at https://support.atlassian.com.

Please remember to accept this answer in case it helps you resolve your question as it may also help other community members in the future.

Regards,
Eugenio