Patroni install not working

[JaredArrowood]

I have been stuck on the patroni install. I followed the steps but the patroni service is unable to start because it says the file cannot be found when running patroni.py... trying to start the service gives me:

2025-11-27 00:25:45,262 DEBUG - Starting WinSW in service mode
2025-11-27 00:25:45,300 INFO - Starting python.exe C:\PES\patroni\patroni.py C:\PES\patroni\patroni.yaml
2025-11-27 00:25:45,325 ERROR - Failed to start service.
System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception (0x80004005): The system cannot find the file specified
at System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo)
at WinSW.Util.ProcessHelper.StartProcessAndCallbackForExit(Process processToStart, String executable, String arguments, Dictionary2 envVars, String workingDirectory, Nullable1 priority, ProcessCompletionCallback callback, LogHandler logHandler, Boolean hideWindow)
at WinSW.WrapperService.StartProcess(Process processToStart, String arguments, String executable, LogHandler logHandler)
at WinSW.WrapperService.DoStart()
at WinSW.WrapperService.OnStart(String[] args)

I am trying to connect patroni to an already existing postgres data directory and I have given the pes user full access to those files. I only adjusted what was necessary in the patroni.yaml file. I have tried changing the patroni_service.xml file to have the absolute path the the python.exe download but now I am getting the message:

Cannot start service patroni on computer '.'.

[pashagolub]

hello.

Can you confirm C:\PES\patroni\patroni.py and C:\PES\patroni\patroni.yaml are present on the system and are readable by the appropriate user?

And please make sure python.exe is on the system PATH.

Thanks

[JaredArrowood]

I have attempted to give the "pes" account i created full permissions to both files listed above, but was met with the error on certain folders:

Failed to enumerate objects in container. Access is denied.

The check boxes still show that it has the required permissions, and I am running these commands from an administrator account. I also added the folder containing python.exe (C:\Program Files\Python313) to the path on install, as well as C:\Program Files\Python313/Scripts

[pashagolub]

You shouldn't use administrator account. That's why we have pes account in the first place. Postgres cannot start under admin.

[JaredArrowood]

I read that setup was supposed to be done through the administrator account. I have given the pes account qualified permissions in the Postgres, etcd, and patroni folders. I then tried to run net start patroni to start the service I created as an admin and I am met with an Access denied error. Ihave tried to start the service with both the admin account and the pes account.

[pashagolub]

I see, thanks for clarifications. I'm still surprised by the message. We do not provide any containers.

[jsingh07]

I read that setup was supposed to be done through the administrator account. I have given the pes account qualified permissions in the Postgres, etcd, and patroni folders. I then tried to run net start patroni to start the service I created as an admin and I am met with an Access denied error. Ihave tried to start the service with both the admin account and the pes account.

This is a little late, but I received an access denied error when starting the patroni service. It turned out to be the randomly generated password for the PES account had a double quotation mark as an html " code.

Check your patroni_service.xml file for the password. A password with an html code in it will cause the service unable to login as the PES user resulting in an Access Denied.

The solution for me was to reset the password for PES within windows and update the patroni_service.xml to use the new password.

I think the real fix may be to stop html encoding of special characters. Haven't dug that deep yet.

Edit: You will need to update the service's password/account by going to windows services > find patroni > right click for properties > Logon tab < update password to your new password