[Bug]: Service does not start on Windows with OpenJDK

[krishy91]

Describe the bug

From Opensearch 3, there was -javaagent option added to the jvm.options. With this option, on Windows (with Adoptium OpenJDK installed), the opensearch service doesnot start. But interstingly it works with the Mircosoft OpenJDK.

To reproduce

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Install OpenJDK 21 (https://api.adoptium.net/v3/binary/version/jdk-21.0.8+9/windows/x64/jdk/hotspot/normal/eclipse)
2. Download & Install Opensearch for Windows
3. Goto Opensearch installation directory & run
   bin/opensearch-service.bat install & then start the service bin/opensearch-service.bat start
4. Above fails. But if we remove the -javagent from jvm.options & add agent/*.jar to classpath Opensearch starts

Expected behavior

No response

Screenshots

If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Host / Environment

No response

Additional context

No response

Relevant log output

[peterzhuamazon]

Not seeing this in our integTest on Windows.
Transfer to core repo and tag @reta @cwperks @andrross as they help implemented the java agent.

Thanks.

[peterzhuamazon]

Also in the zip we already bundled a jdk.
If you dont have jdk on the system it will use the default one.
And we only support x64 on windows. Thanks.

[cwperks]

@krishy91 is there any additional debugging information you can provide like application logs that indicate an error?

I see you started a code block in Relevant log output, could there have been a paste error when filing the issue?

[reta]

@krishy91 by OpenSearch 3 you mean 3.0.0 ? We have addressed a number of issues in 3.1.0 / 3.2.0, could you please try latest releases instead? Thank you.

[krishy91]

The same issue occurs with the bundled jdk. We could pinpoint the issue to -javaagent JVM option that was added in Opensearch 3.

Interestingly, there are no logs at all (and nothing std error as well) when the service doesn't start. When -javaagent is removed from jvm options, Opensearch logs can be seen and then we get a Class not found exception (for agent class & policy missing).

@reta We are using Opensearch 3.1.0 release

OS information

[pawelw1]

I've tested 3.0.0, 3.1.0 and 3.2.0. All of them failed to start with opensearch-service.bat start.
Removing -javaagent option allows the service to start but, as expected, fails due to missing agents.
Windows Server 2019.

[2025-08-26 20:01:08] [info]  [ 6800] Commons Daemon procrun (1.1.0.0 64-bit) started
[2025-08-26 20:01:08] [info]  [ 6800] Service opensearch-service-x64 name OpenSearch 3.2.0 (opensearch-service-x64)
[2025-08-26 20:01:08] [info]  [ 6800] Service 'opensearch-service-x64' installed
[2025-08-26 20:01:08] [info]  [ 6800] Commons Daemon procrun finished
[2025-08-26 20:01:19] [info]  [12568] Commons Daemon procrun (1.1.0.0 64-bit) started
[2025-08-26 20:01:19] [info]  [12568] Starting service 'opensearch-service-x64' ...
[2025-08-26 20:01:20] [info]  [ 4724] Commons Daemon procrun (1.1.0.0 64-bit) started
[2025-08-26 20:01:20] [info]  [ 4724] Running 'opensearch-service-x64' Service...
[2025-08-26 20:01:20] [info]  [ 7580] Starting service...
[2025-08-26 20:01:22] [error] [12568] apxServiceControl(): dwState(4) != dwCurrentState(1); dwWin32ExitCode = 1067, dwWaitHint = 0, dwServiceSpecificExitCode = 0
[2025-08-26 20:01:22] [error] [12568] apxServiceControl(): returning FALSE
[2025-08-26 20:01:22] [error] [12568] Failed to start service 'opensearch-service-x64'
[2025-08-26 20:01:23] [info]  [12568] Start service finished, returning 0
[2025-08-26 20:01:23] [error] [12568] Commons Daemon procrun failed with exit value: 5 (Failed to start service)

[krishy91]

Again interestingly, if we use the Microsoft OpenJDK, it works!

@pawelw1 We did a workaround by adding the /agent/* to the classpath in addition to removing -javaagent.

[pawelw1]

@krishy91 I was able to start the OpenSearch service with opensearch-service.bat start on Windows Server 2019.
However, it worked when I removed Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64). This was installed as part of the VMware tools installation and VMware tools will fail to start without that.

This worked with all 3.x versions.

[reta]

@krishy91 I was able to start the OpenSearch service with opensearch-service.bat start on Windows Server 2019.
However, it worked when I removed Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64). This was installed as part of the VMware tools installation and VMware tools will fail to start without that.

@pawelw1 this is interesting, there are seems to be issues related to JVM and Microsoft Visual C++, fe [1], I am wondering could you start OpenSearch manually from the command line and capture the logs?

./bin/opensearch.bat

[1] https://docs.wpilib.org/en/stable/docs/software/advanced-gradlerio/jvm-runtime.html

[peterzhuamazon]

@krishy91 I was able to start the OpenSearch service with opensearch-service.bat start on Windows Server 2019. However, it worked when I removed Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64). This was installed as part of the VMware tools installation and VMware tools will fail to start without that.

This worked with all 3.x versions.

That could explain why we dont see this behavior in our testing, because we are using a raw windows2019 docker image with only few necessary libs, no vc++.