How to install a system service without permission errors - wix

Question

I am getting the following error when running my installer a secondary PC, but it works when i run it on my development machine.
MSI (s) (90:2C) [16:22:35:704]: Executing op: ServiceInstall(Name=PCR2,DisplayName=Amusoft PC Remote 2,ImagePath="C:\Program Files\Amusoft\PC Remote 2\web\Amusoft.PCR.Server.exe",ServiceType=16,StartType=2,ErrorControl=32771,,Dependencies=[~],,StartName=LocalSystem,Password=**********,Description=Backend service required for PC Remote to interact with this computer,,)
InstallServices: Service:
Error 1923. Service 'Amusoft PC Remote 2' (PCR2) could not be installed. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to install system services.
This is my fragment for installing and starting the service
<Fragment>
<Component Id="RegistrySetValues" Guid="CCA1011E-0C44-4111-9089-A4F5D49D3D51" Win64="yes" Directory="WEBFOLDER">
<RegistryKey Root="HKLM" Key="SOFTWARE\Amusoft\PC Remote 2" ForceCreateOnInstall="yes" ForceDeleteOnUninstall="yes">
<RegistryValue
Type="string"
Name="InstallLocation"
Value="[PRODUCTNAMEFOLDER]"/>
<RegistryValue
Type="string"
Name="Version"
Value="$(var.ProductVersion)"/>
</RegistryKey>
</Component>
<Component Id='BackendServerExe' Guid='7B39D2A5-140F-452D-BAEC-0B965A15CCC9' Directory='WEBFOLDER'>
<File Id='BackendServer' Name='Amusoft.PCR.Server.exe' Vital='yes' Source='$(var.SolutionDir)..\artifacts\msi\web\Amusoft.PCR.Server.exe' KeyPath='yes'/>
<fire:FirewallException
Name='Amusoft PC Remote 2 Server'
Id='BackendServerFirewall'
Port='[CUSTOM_PORT]'
Protocol='tcp'
Profile='all'
Scope='localSubnet'
IgnoreFailure='no'
Description='Amusoft PC Remote 2 Server'/>
<ServiceInstall Name='$(var.ServiceName)'
Type='ownProcess'
Start='auto'
Account="LocalSystem"
DisplayName="Amusoft PC Remote 2"
Id="PCR2.Install"
Description="Backend service required for PC Remote to interact with this computer"
Vital="yes" ErrorControl="critical">
<!-- Vital="yes" ErrorControl="critical"> -->
<util:ServiceConfig
FirstFailureActionType="restart"
SecondFailureActionType="restart"
ThirdFailureActionType="none"
ResetPeriodInDays="1"
ServiceName="$(var.ServiceName)"
RebootMessage="PC Remote 2 requires a reboot"
RestartServiceDelayInSeconds="180"
/>
</ServiceInstall>
<!-- <ServiceControl Id="PCR2.Control.Start" -->
<!-- Name="$(var.ServiceName)" -->
<!-- Start="install" -->
<!-- Wait="no" /> -->
<ServiceControl Id="PCR2.Control.Stop"
Name="$(var.ServiceName)"
Stop="uninstall"
Remove="uninstall"
Wait="yes" />
<!-- <ServiceControl Id="PCR2.Control" -->
<!-- Name="$(var.ServiceName)" -->
<!-- Remove="both" -->
<!-- Start="install" -->
<!-- Stop="both"/> -->
</Component>
</Fragment>
I looked at these questions, but that did not fix my issue
How to install and start a Windows Service using WiX
Wix installer: Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services
Is this related to strong name signing? I don't understand why it works on my dev machine, but fails on a secondary machine

Answer 1

Solution: The .NET 5 hosting runtime was missing.
Lacking Runtime: Typically you lack a runtime if the service starts on your dev-computer and not on the test box. Common lacking
runtimes: .Net, .Net Core, Java, VC++ Runtime, MS-XML (legacy), etc... Virtual machines often lack most runtimes in their base state, and this is a very common problem when testing setups.
Debug Binaries: Another variation of the above is to install debugging binaries that depend on completely different runtime files than the release version files. These debugging binaries are the binaries built when you use the "Debug" configuration in your Visual Studio project. They depend on dlls with "d" added to their file names (C++).
Other Ideas: There are many other potential causes. Here are some check lists for application and service launch failures:
Crash on Launch
Application Launch Problems
Bitness: One should mention bitness as another "first issue" to check (x86 vs x64 binaries - incompatibilities and confusion).
Other Links:
Tools for dependency scanning your binaries
Windows Services Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
General debugging links of various types