Exchange 2016: CU21 upgrade failed with error “Cannot start service MSExchangeServiceHost on computer”

Description

Exchange 2016 CU upgrades don’t always go according to plan.

In this scenario, one of my servers just wouldn’t upgrade but the rest did without error.

The upgrade runs like normal from the CLI but fails with the below error:

Cannot start service MSExchangeServicehost……”

Hoặc Setup GUI

Cause

When I went to check the Exchange Services, some of them were automatic but the rest were disabled.

I ran the command in PowerShell: Get-Service *Exchange* | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic but I was not quick enough and the setup failed again.

In short, when we update the CU, we need the Exchange services to be in Automatic state, but these services have not been Automatic but the state is disabled, so the process will fail.

Solution

This is a very classic and bloody trick, you open Powershell and run the code below

while (1 -le 2) { sleep 1 ; Get-Service | where{$_.DisplayName -Like ‘Microsoft Exchange*’} | Set-Service –StartupType ‘Automatic’ }

Roughly this code is as follows, creating a loop to keep Ms Exchange services in automatic state without disabling

We proceed to run the upgrade again using the CLI or the interface. When finished, press ctrl + C to turn off the above Loop

re-run Setup.exe

D:\setup.exe /m:upgrade /IacceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

C:\EX2016CU20\EX2016CU21>setup.exe /m:upgrade /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms


Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 21 Unattended Setup

Copying Files...
File copy complete. Setup will now collect additional information needed for
installation.

Languages
Management tools
Mailbox role: Transport service
Mailbox role: Client Access service
Mailbox role: Unified Messaging service
Mailbox role: Mailbox service
Mailbox role: Front End Transport service
Mailbox role: Client Access Front End service

Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check

    Configuring Prerequisites                                 COMPLETED
    Prerequisite Analysis                                     COMPLETED

Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server

    Language Files                                            COMPLETED
    Restoring Services                                        COMPLETED
    Language Configuration                                    COMPLETED
    Exchange Management Tools                                 COMPLETED
    Mailbox role: Transport service                           COMPLETED
    Mailbox role: Client Access service                       COMPLETED
    Mailbox role: Unified Messaging service                   COMPLETED
    Mailbox role: Mailbox service                             COMPLETED
    Mailbox role: Front End Transport service                 COMPLETED
    Mailbox role: Client Access Front End service             COMPLETED
    Finalizing Setup                                          COMPLETED

The Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.

So the update was successful.

Summary

Phuong Nguyen writes about the experience of sharing systems to update patches to prevent attacks from HAFNIUM CVE-2021-26855 vulnerabilities. If you find the article interesting, don’t forget to like and share

Good luck.

Phương Nguyễn