Service Account causes the website to never load
I am working on a new development instance of powershell universal that's on a separate domain from my current production version. When I run the Powershell Universal service as local system the site loads and works, but when I switch over to the service account I created on the new domain the service starts but the site never loads.
I have given the account local admin, full permissions for all the folders PSU is located in, and I have given it the permissions listed in the "Running as a Service Account" help page. Any advice would be appreciated.
All Comments (3)
Hello @keithadams
Thank you for the detailed description. Since the site loads correctly while the PowerShell Universal service runs as Local System, but stops loading after switching to the domain service account, the next step is to determine what part of the startup process is failing under that identity.
You have already applied the permissions from the Running as a Service Account documentation, so there is no need to repeat those steps.
Could you please provide the following?
* Exact PowerShell Universal version and build.
* Installation/hosting method, such as MSI Windows Service.
* Database type being used: SQLite, SQL Server, or PostgreSQL. If SQL Server is used, please also confirm whether the connection uses Windows Authentication.
* Sanitized PowerShell Universal logs covering a service startup attempt while running under the domain service account. In particular, please check for `[ERR]`, `[FTL]`, access denied, database connection, certificate, or startup errors.
* Whether the PSU URL responds when accessed directly from the PSU server itself while the service is running under the service account.
Because this is a public forum, please sanitize all evidence before posting. Remove credentials, tokens, license keys, cookies, private keys, full connection strings, email addresses, usernames, customer data, tenant or account identifiers, internal domains, hostnames, IP addresses, and private URLs. Please do not upload unredacted HAR files, memory dumps, database backups, or complete configuration files to this public thread.
References:
https://docs.devolutions.net/powershell-universal/config/running-as-a-service-account
Best regards,
Ruben Tapia
I am on version 2026.1.6
I installed it using a windows installer package, and its just being hosted on a windows server system.
As far as I know I am not using a database beyond the default sql
It will not let me send a .txt file. What format do the logs need to be in?
The site still does not respond even when trying to access it on the host machine, using either the regular url or localhost.
@rubentapia
Hello keithadams,
Thank you for the additional details. The fact that the site also does not respond from the PSU server itself, using either the regular URL or localhost, is useful because it allows us to focus on what happens during startup when the domain service account is used.
You do not need to upload the entire log file. Please reproduce the issue once with the service configured to use the domain service account, and then check:
`%ProgramData%\PowerShellUniversal\Logs\System`
Open the log corresponding to that startup attempt and search primarily for:
`[ERR]`
`[FTL]`
`UnauthorizedAccessException`
`Access denied`
You can copy the relevant error lines directly into your forum reply as a code block, along with a few lines immediately before and after the error for context.
If there are no errors recorded in the PSU System log during that startup attempt, please also check Windows Event Viewer under Application for any entries related to `Universal.Server` at the same time.
Best regards,
Ruben Tapia