Sitecore Installation Error - Failed to start service 'Sitecore Marketing Automation Engine

Error Description

Failed to start service ‘Sitecore Marketing Automation Engine - scxconnect.dev.local-MarketingAutomationService (scxconnect.dev.local-MarketingAutomationService)‘.

This error is very frequently observed during Sitecore Installations. It is so frequent, that I ensure to run the scripts in the solution before every time I install a fresh Sitecore instance.

The cause of this error is the presence of non-self-signed certificates in your machine.

Solution for the error

1. If you are seeing this issue during installation. Close the installation and uninstall the partially installed instance. Follow my article here for uninstalling a Sitecore instance.

2. Run Powershell as Administrator.

3. Run the below command to check for any Non-Self-Signed Certificates.

   Get-Childitem cert:\LocalMachine\root -Recurse | Where-Object {$_.Issuer -ne $_.Subject}

4. If the above line returns any certificates, as a result. Run the below command to move these non-self-signed certificates into the Intermediate Certification Authorities store.

   Get-Childitem cert:\LocalMachine\root -Recurse | Where-Object {$_.Issuer -ne $_.Subject} | Move-Item -Destination Cert:\LocalMachine\CA

5. After the command is run, close the Powershell window and try installing the Sitecore instance again.

If you are facing any other issues during Sitecore installation, feel free to post them in the comments below.

Happy Sitecoring!