Hi today i regretfully tried to upgrade our exchange 2010 server to SP1 and now the server is down due to an error during the upgrade regarding the Service Host service. this service cannot be started even after restarting the server. i would appreciate any help in either going back to pre SP1 Installation state or going forward with the upgrade. Thanks in advance.

Could you post the log of the error messages you got in the upgrade process.Adam Bokiniec

[04/27/2011 16:40:32.0242] [1] Processing component 'Bridgehead Role Setter' (Configuring the Hub Transport role.). [04/27/2011 16:40:32.0242] [1] Executing: if (get-service MSExchangeServiceHost* | where {$_.name -eq "MSExchangeServiceHost"}) { restart-service MSExchangeServiceHost } [04/27/2011 16:40:34.0005] [1] The following 1 error(s) occurred during task execution: [04/27/2011 16:40:34.0005] [1] 0. ErrorRecord: Service 'Microsoft Exchange Service Host (MSExchangeServiceHost)' cannot be started due to the following error: Cannot start service MSExchangeServiceHost on computer '.'. [04/27/2011 16:40:34.0067] [1] 0. ErrorRecord: Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ServiceCommandException: Service 'Microsoft Exchange Service Host (MSExchangeServiceHost)' cannot be started due to the following error: Cannot start service MSExchangeServiceHost on computer '.'. ---> System.InvalidOperationException: Cannot start service MSExchangeServiceHost on computer '.'. ---> System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController.Start(String[] args) at Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ServiceOperationBaseCommand.DoStartService(ServiceController serviceController) --- End of inner exception stack trace --- [04/27/2011 16:40:34.0083] [1] [ERROR] The following error was generated when "$error.Clear(); if (get-service MSExchangeServiceHost* | where {$_.name -eq "MSExchangeServiceHost"}) { restart-service MSExchangeServiceHost } " was run: "Service 'Microsoft Exchange Service Host (MSExchangeServiceHost)' cannot be started due to the following error: Cannot start service MSExchangeServiceHost on computer '.'.". [04/27/2011 16:40:34.0083] [1] [ERROR] Service 'Microsoft Exchange Service Host (MSExchangeServiceHost)' cannot be started due to the following error: Cannot start service MSExchangeServiceHost on computer '.'. [04/27/2011 16:40:34.0083] [1] [ERROR] Cannot start service MSExchangeServiceHost on computer '.'. [04/27/2011 16:40:34.0083] [1] [ERROR] The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion [04/27/2011 16:40:34.0098] [1] [ERROR-REFERENCE] Id=BridgeheadRoleSetterComponent___115c1108e99e4560bd2c03c0fec99908 Component=EXCHANGE14:\Current\Release\Shared\Datacenter\Setup [04/27/2011 16:40:34.0098] [1] Setup is stopping now because of one or more critical errors. [04/27/2011 16:40:34.0098] [1] Finished executing component tasks. [04/27/2011 16:40:34.0114] [1] Ending processing Install-BridgeheadRole

Are you using Forefront Protection for Exchange Server?Adam Bokiniec

No niether did the installation disabled all the services. they are either manual or automatic. I appreciate your help Adam.

Please past the events in the App logs as well.Adam Bokiniec

Log Name: MSExchange Management Source: MSExchange CmdletLogs Date: 4/27/2011 9:49:36 PM Event ID: 6 Task Category: General Level: Error Keywords: Classic User: N/A Computer: Description: Cmdlet failed. Cmdlet Install-BridgeheadRole, parameters {DomainController=SERVERNAME.DN, UpdatesDir=C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\exch2k10sp1\Updates}. Event Xml: <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event"> <System> <Provider Name="MSExchange CmdletLogs" /> <EventID Qualifiers="49152">6</EventID> <Level>2</Level> <Task>1</Task> <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords> <TimeCreated SystemTime="2011-04-27T18:49:36.000000000Z" /> <EventRecordID>23</EventRecordID> <Channel>MSExchange Management</Channel> <Computer>SERVERNAME.DN</Computer> <Security /> </System> <EventData> <Data>Install-BridgeheadRole</Data> <Data>{DomainController=SERVERNAME.DN, UpdatesDir=C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\exch2k10sp1\Updates}</Data> <Data>DN/Users/Administrator</Data> <Data> </Data> <Data> </Data> <Data>Exchange Management Console-Local</Data> <Data>6860</Data> <Data> </Data> <Data>33</Data> <Data>00:02:44.7674894</Data> <Data>View Entire Forest: 'True', Configuration Domain Controller: 'SERVERNAME.DN', Preferred Global Catalog: 'SERVERNAME.DN', Preferred Domain Controllers: '{ SERVERNAME.DN }'</Data> <Data>Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Deployment.ScriptExecutionException: The following error was generated when "$error.Clear(); if (get-service MSExchangeServiceHost* | where {$_.name -eq "MSExchangeServiceHost"}) { restart-service MSExchangeServiceHost } " was run: "Service 'Microsoft Exchange Service Host (MSExchangeServiceHost)' cannot be started due to the following error: Cannot start service MSExchangeServiceHost on computer '.'.". ---&gt; Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ServiceCommandException: Service 'Microsoft Exchange Service Host (MSExchangeServiceHost)' cannot be started due to the following error: Cannot start service MSExchangeServiceHost on computer '.'. ---&gt; System.InvalidOperationException: Cannot start service MSExchangeServiceHost on computer '.'. ---&gt; System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController.Start(String[] args) at Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ServiceOperationBaseCommand.DoStartService(ServiceController serviceController) --- End of inner exception stack trace --- --- End of inner exception stack trace ---</Data> <Data>1</Data> <Data>Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ServiceCommandException: Service 'Microsoft Exchange Service Host (MSExchangeServiceHost)' cannot be started due to the following error: Cannot start service MSExchangeServiceHost on computer '.'. ---&gt; System.InvalidOperationException: Cannot start service MSExchangeServiceHost on computer '.'. ---&gt; System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController.Start(String[] args) at Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ServiceOperationBaseCommand.DoStartService(ServiceController serviceController) --- End of inner exception stack trace ---</Data> </EventData> </Event>

After reading the list of all the services installed by Exchange 2010 i stumbled upon the solution to my problem. This problem was resolved by changing the Log On type of Microsoft Exchange Service Host service to Local Service rather than using the Network Service account. The list can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee423542.aspx Regards.