Files
windows_exporter/docs/runbooks/windowsservicecrashlooping.md
T
Jan-Otto Kröpke ae5d0cca2a mixin: group alerts by collector area and add tier 1 alerts
The alerts of the mixin now come in one rule group per collector area
(windows-exporter, windows-cpu, windows-memory, windows-disk,
windows-network, windows-service, windows-system, windows-active-directory,
windows-time). Every alert names the collectors it reads and is generated
only when _config.collectors enables them, the same switch the dashboard
uses; enableActiveDirectory and enableTime set collectors.ad and
collectors.time. _config.alerts switches single alerts off by name, and an
unknown name fails the build.

New alerts for the default collectors: WindowsCollectorTimeout,
WindowsScrapeQueueTimeout, WindowsCPUSaturation (processor queue per core),
WindowsMemoryPagingHigh, WindowsNetworkUtilizationHigh,
WindowsNetworkInterfaceFlapping, WindowsServiceNotRunning (automatic
services without triggers), WindowsServiceCrashLooping (processes per
service in 15 minutes) and WindowsHostRebooted (info, fires once per
reboot). WindowsNetworkErrors and WindowsNetworkDiscards compare the error
and discard rates with the packet rate (networkErrorRatioThreshold and
networkDiscardRatioThreshold, in percent) instead of an absolute packet
rate. Threshold alerts set keep_firing_for from keepFiringFor (5m); the new
infoSeverity and serviceSelector knobs follow the existing ones.

New recordings: windows:cpu_queue_per_core:ratio,
windows:net_received_packets:rate and windows:net_sent_packets:rate.

Each new alert has a runbook, a README row and a unit test;
tests/alerts.test.jsonnet checks the collector gating, the alert switches
and the group layout. The runbook check renders the alerts of every
collector. contrib/mixin/AGENTS.md documents the checklist for new alerts.

Signed-off-by: Jan-Otto Kröpke <mail@jkroepke.de>
2026-10-16 23:06:59 +00:00

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Markdown

---
title: WindowsServiceCrashLooping
---
## Meaning
The service `service` has run as more processes in the last 15 minutes than
the configured number of restarts allows. The default is two restarts. Every
service process has its own `windows_service_process` series, identified by
`process_id`, so the series seen within 15 minutes count the restarts.
## Impact
The service crashes or is stopped and started repeatedly. It is unavailable
during every restart, and the recovery options of the Service Control Manager
give up after a configurable number of failures, after which
`WindowsServiceNotRunning` follows.
## Diagnosis
1. List the processes the service ran as:
```promql
count_over_time(windows_service_process{job="windows_exporter", service="<service>"}[15m])
```
The value of each series is the start time of the process.
2. Check the Application log for crashes of the service executable (events
1000 and 1026, .NET Runtime errors) and the System log for Service Control
Manager events 7031 and 7034, which also show the recovery action.
3. Check whether a deployment, configuration push, scheduled task or another
automation restarts the service on purpose.
4. Check for resources the service fails to acquire at start, such as a port
that is in use, a certificate, a database or a license.
## Mitigation
Fix the crash or the start failure, roll back the deployment that caused it, or
stop the automation that restarts the service. Keep the service stopped until
the cause is known if every restart has side effects. Confirm the service keeps
one process and stays running. Raise the threshold for services that restart by
design, for example worker services that recycle themselves.