SQL Server Express 2017 fails install [0x851A001A]

Question

Installing SQL Server has been paining me for hours. I can't get anything to work. I setup a VM with a fresh Windows Server 2016 install and tried to install SQL Server Express. I set the user to Network Service as suggested here. Unfortunately I got a message saying "Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed..." The error log suggested error code 0x851A001A (which I had gotten before, hence the user change). I've spent a long time trying to install this on various Virtual Machines and just can't seem to get it. I've attached the install log and the error log from when I tried to run it manually.

Install Log:

Overall summary:
  Final result:                  Failed: see details below
  Exit code (Decimal):           -2061893606
  Start time:                    2018-01-30 15:15:04
  End time:                      2018-01-30 15:23:05
  Requested action:              Install

Setup completed with required actions for features.
Troubleshooting information for those features:
  Next step for FullText:        Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.
  Next step for SQLEngine:       Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.
  Next step for Replication:     Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.


Machine Properties:
  Machine name:                  WIN-FPPL0DQQ892
  Machine processor count:       4
  OS version:                    Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard (10.0.14393)
  OS service pack:               
  OS region:                     United States
  OS language:                   English (United States)
  OS architecture:               x64
  Process architecture:          64 Bit
  OS clustered:                  No

Product features discovered:
  Product              Instance             Instance ID                    Feature                                  Language             Edition              Version         Clustered  Configured

Package properties:
  Description:                   Microsoft SQL Server 2017 
  ProductName:                   SQL Server 2017
  Type:                          RTM
  Version:                       14
  SPLevel:                       0
  Installation location:         C:\SQLServer2017Media\ExpressAdv_ENU\x64\setup\
  Installation edition:          Express

Product Update Status:
  None discovered.

User Input Settings:
  ACTION:                        Install
  ADDCURRENTUSERASSQLADMIN:      true
  AGTSVCACCOUNT:                 NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
  AGTSVCPASSWORD:                *****
  AGTSVCSTARTUPTYPE:             Disabled
  ASBACKUPDIR:                   Backup
  ASCOLLATION:                   Latin1_General_CI_AS
  ASCONFIGDIR:                   Config
  ASDATADIR:                     Data
  ASLOGDIR:                      Log
  ASPROVIDERMSOLAP:              1
  ASSERVERMODE:                  TABULAR
  ASSVCACCOUNT:                  <empty>
  ASSVCPASSWORD:                 <empty>
  ASSVCSTARTUPTYPE:              Automatic
  ASSYSADMINACCOUNTS:            <empty>
  ASTELSVCACCT:                  <empty>
  ASTELSVCPASSWORD:              <empty>
  ASTELSVCSTARTUPTYPE:           0
  ASTEMPDIR:                     Temp
  BROWSERSVCSTARTUPTYPE:         Disabled
  CLTCTLRNAME:                   <empty>
  CLTRESULTDIR:                  <empty>
  CLTSTARTUPTYPE:                0
  CLTSVCACCOUNT:                 <empty>
  CLTSVCPASSWORD:                <empty>
  CLTWORKINGDIR:                 <empty>
  COMMFABRICENCRYPTION:          0
  COMMFABRICNETWORKLEVEL:        0
  COMMFABRICPORT:                0
  CONFIGURATIONFILE:             
  CTLRSTARTUPTYPE:               0
  CTLRSVCACCOUNT:                <empty>
  CTLRSVCPASSWORD:               <empty>
  CTLRUSERS:                     <empty>
  ENABLERANU:                    true
  ENU:                           true
  EXTSVCACCOUNT:                 <empty>
  EXTSVCPASSWORD:                <empty>
  FEATURES:                      SQLENGINE, REPLICATION, FULLTEXT, CONN, BC, SDK, SNAC_SDK
  FILESTREAMLEVEL:               0
  FILESTREAMSHARENAME:           <empty>
  FTSVCACCOUNT:                  NT Service\MSSQLFDLauncher$SQLEXPRESS
  FTSVCPASSWORD:                 <empty>
  HELP:                          false
  IACCEPTPYTHONLICENSETERMS:     false
  IACCEPTROPENLICENSETERMS:      false
  IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS:  true
  INDICATEPROGRESS:              false
  INSTALLSHAREDDIR:              C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\
  INSTALLSHAREDWOWDIR:           C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\
  INSTALLSQLDATADIR:             <empty>
  INSTANCEDIR:                   C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\
  INSTANCEID:                    SQLEXPRESS
  INSTANCENAME:                  SQLEXPRESS
  ISMASTERSVCACCOUNT:            NT AUTHORITY\Network Service
  ISMASTERSVCPASSWORD:           <empty>
  ISMASTERSVCPORT:               8391
  ISMASTERSVCSSLCERTCN:          <empty>
  ISMASTERSVCSTARTUPTYPE:        Automatic
  ISMASTERSVCTHUMBPRINT:         <empty>
  ISSVCACCOUNT:                  NT AUTHORITY\Network Service
  ISSVCPASSWORD:                 <empty>
  ISSVCSTARTUPTYPE:              Automatic
  ISTELSVCACCT:                  <empty>
  ISTELSVCPASSWORD:              <empty>
  ISTELSVCSTARTUPTYPE:           0
  ISWORKERSVCACCOUNT:            NT AUTHORITY\Network Service
  ISWORKERSVCCERT:               <empty>
  ISWORKERSVCMASTER:             <empty>
  ISWORKERSVCPASSWORD:           <empty>
  ISWORKERSVCSTARTUPTYPE:        Automatic
  MATRIXCMBRICKCOMMPORT:         0
  MATRIXCMSERVERNAME:            <empty>
  MATRIXNAME:                    <empty>
  MRCACHEDIRECTORY:              
  NPENABLED:                     0
  PBDMSSVCACCOUNT:               <empty>
  PBDMSSVCPASSWORD:              <empty>
  PBDMSSVCSTARTUPTYPE:           0
  PBENGSVCACCOUNT:               <empty>
  PBENGSVCPASSWORD:              <empty>
  PBENGSVCSTARTUPTYPE:           0
  PBPORTRANGE:                   <empty>
  PBSCALEOUT:                    false
  PID:                           *****
  QUIET:                         false
  QUIETSIMPLE:                   false
  ROLE:                          AllFeatures_WithDefaults
  RSINSTALLMODE:                 DefaultNativeMode
  RSSVCACCOUNT:                  <empty>
  RSSVCPASSWORD:                 <empty>
  RSSVCSTARTUPTYPE:              Automatic
  SAPWD:                         *****
  SECURITYMODE:                  SQL
  SQLBACKUPDIR:                  <empty>
  SQLCOLLATION:                  SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
  SQLSVCACCOUNT:                 NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
  SQLSVCINSTANTFILEINIT:         false
  SQLSVCPASSWORD:                *****
  SQLSVCSTARTUPTYPE:             Automatic
  SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS:           WIN-FPPL0DQQ892\Administrator
  SQLTELSVCACCT:                 NT Service\SQLTELEMETRY$SQLEXPRESS
  SQLTELSVCPASSWORD:             <empty>
  SQLTELSVCSTARTUPTYPE:          Automatic
  SQLTEMPDBDIR:                  <empty>
  SQLTEMPDBFILECOUNT:            1
  SQLTEMPDBFILEGROWTH:           64
  SQLTEMPDBFILESIZE:             8
  SQLTEMPDBLOGDIR:               <empty>
  SQLTEMPDBLOGFILEGROWTH:        64
  SQLTEMPDBLOGFILESIZE:          8
  SQLUSERDBDIR:                  <empty>
  SQLUSERDBLOGDIR:               <empty>
  SUPPRESSPRIVACYSTATEMENTNOTICE: false
  TCPENABLED:                    0
  UIMODE:                        AutoAdvance
  UpdateEnabled:                 true
  UpdateSource:                  MU
  USEMICROSOFTUPDATE:            false
  X86:                           false

  Configuration file:            C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\140\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20180130_151456\ConfigurationFile.ini

Detailed results:
  Feature:                       Full-Text and Semantic Extractions for Search
  Status:                        Failed
  Reason for failure:            An error occurred for a dependency of the feature causing the setup process for the feature to fail.
  Next Step:                     Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.
  Component name:                SQL Server Database Engine Services Instance Features
  Component error code:          0x851A001A
  Error description:             Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed. Check the SQL Server error log for potential causes.
  Error help link:               https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkId=20476&ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&EvtSrc=setup.rll&EvtID=50000&ProdVer=14.0.1000.169&EvtType=0xD15B4EB2%400x4BDAF9BA%401306%4026&EvtType=0xD15B4EB2%400x4BDAF9BA%401306%4026

  Feature:                       Database Engine Services
  Status:                        Failed
  Reason for failure:            An error occurred during the setup process of the feature.
  Next Step:                     Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.
  Component name:                SQL Server Database Engine Services Instance Features
  Component error code:          0x851A001A
  Error description:             Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed. Check the SQL Server error log for potential causes.
  Error help link:               https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkId=20476&ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&EvtSrc=setup.rll&EvtID=50000&ProdVer=14.0.1000.169&EvtType=0xD15B4EB2%400x4BDAF9BA%401306%4026&EvtType=0xD15B4EB2%400x4BDAF9BA%401306%4026

  Feature:                       SQL Server Replication
  Status:                        Failed
  Reason for failure:            An error occurred for a dependency of the feature causing the setup process for the feature to fail.
  Next Step:                     Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.
  Component name:                SQL Server Database Engine Services Instance Features
  Component error code:          0x851A001A
  Error description:             Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed. Check the SQL Server error log for potential causes.
  Error help link:               https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkId=20476&ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&EvtSrc=setup.rll&EvtID=50000&ProdVer=14.0.1000.169&EvtType=0xD15B4EB2%400x4BDAF9BA%401306%4026&EvtType=0xD15B4EB2%400x4BDAF9BA%401306%4026

  Feature:                       SQL Browser
  Status:                        Passed

  Feature:                       SQL Writer
  Status:                        Passed

  Feature:                       Client Tools SDK
  Status:                        Passed

  Feature:                       Client Tools Connectivity
  Status:                        Passed

  Feature:                       Client Tools Backwards Compatibility
  Status:                        Passed

  Feature:                       SQL Client Connectivity
  Status:                        Passed

  Feature:                       SQL Client Connectivity SDK
  Status:                        Passed

  Feature:                       Setup Support Files
  Status:                        Passed

Rules with failures:

Global rules:

Scenario specific rules:

Rules report file:               C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\140\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20180130_151456\SystemConfigurationCheck_Report.htm

Error Log:

2018-01-30 15:31:07.97 Server      Microsoft SQL Server 2017 (RTM) - 14.0.1000.169 (X64) 
	Aug 22 2017 17:04:49 
	Copyright (C) 2017 Microsoft Corporation
	Express Edition (64-bit) on Windows Server 2016 Standard 10.0 <X64> (Build 14393: ) (Hypervisor)

2018-01-30 15:31:07.97 Server      UTC adjustment: -8:00
2018-01-30 15:31:07.97 Server      (c) Microsoft Corporation.
2018-01-30 15:31:07.97 Server      All rights reserved.
2018-01-30 15:31:07.97 Server      Server process ID is 4560.
2018-01-30 15:31:07.97 Server      Authentication mode is MIXED.
2018-01-30 15:31:07.97 Server      Logging SQL Server messages in file 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Log\ERRORLOG'.
2018-01-30 15:31:07.97 Server      The service account is 'WORKGROUP\WIN-FPPL0DQQ892$'. This is an informational message; no user action is required.
2018-01-30 15:31:07.97 Server      Registry startup parameters: 
	 -d C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\master.mdf
	 -e C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Log\ERRORLOG
	 -l C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\mastlog.ldf
2018-01-30 15:31:07.97 Server      Command Line Startup Parameters:
	 -s "SQLEXPRESS"
2018-01-30 15:31:07.99 Server      SQL Server detected 4 sockets with 1 cores per socket and 1 logical processors per socket, 4 total logical processors; using 1 logical processors based on SQL Server licensing. This is an informational message; no user action is required.
2018-01-30 15:31:07.99 Server      SQL Server is starting at normal priority base (=7). This is an informational message only. No user action is required.
2018-01-30 15:31:07.99 Server      Detected 8127 MB of RAM. This is an informational message; no user action is required.
2018-01-30 15:31:07.99 Server      Using conventional memory in the memory manager.
2018-01-30 15:31:08.05 Server      Default collation: SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS (us_english 1033)
2018-01-30 15:31:08.11 Server      Buffer pool extension is already disabled. No action is necessary. 
2018-01-30 15:31:08.19 Server      InitializeExternalUserGroupSid failed. Implied authentication will be disabled.
2018-01-30 15:31:08.19 Server      Implied authentication manager initialization failed. Implied authentication will be disabled.
2018-01-30 15:31:08.21 Server      This instance of SQL Server last reported using a process ID of 2708 at 1/30/2018 3:30:52 PM (local) 1/30/2018 11:30:52 PM (UTC). This is an informational message only; no user action is required.
2018-01-30 15:31:08.21 Server      The maximum number of dedicated administrator connections for this instance is '1'
2018-01-30 15:31:08.22 Server      Node configuration: node 0: CPU mask: 0x0000000000000001:0 Active CPU mask: 0x0000000000000001:0. This message provides a description of the NUMA configuration for this computer. This is an informational message only. No user action is required.
2018-01-30 15:31:08.27 Server      Using dynamic lock allocation.  Initial allocation of 2500 Lock blocks and 5000 Lock Owner blocks per node.  This is an informational message only.  No user action is required.
2018-01-30 15:31:08.27 Server      In-Memory OLTP initialized on lowend machine.
2018-01-30 15:31:08.30 Server      Database Instant File Initialization: disabled. For security and performance considerations see the topic 'Database Instant File Initialization' in SQL Server Books Online. This is an informational message only. No user action is required.
2018-01-30 15:31:08.32 Server      CLR version v4.0.30319 loaded.
2018-01-30 15:31:08.33 Server      Query Store settings initialized with enabled = 1, 
2018-01-30 15:31:08.36 Server      Software Usage Metrics is disabled.
2018-01-30 15:31:08.77 Server      Common language runtime (CLR) functionality initialized using CLR version v4.0.30319 from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\.
2018-01-30 15:31:08.78 spid6s      Starting up database 'master'.
2018-01-30 15:31:08.80 spid6s      There have been 256 misaligned log IOs which required falling back to synchronous IO.  The current IO is on file C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\master.mdf.

Answer 1

I hit the same issue with the FreeBSD Bhyve VM. The root cause was in sector size. Solved the issue by adding this option to the VM config (I'm using vm-bhyve):

disk0_opts="sectorsize=512"

Details are here: https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/bhyve-guest-winsrv-2012-r2-std-and-mssql-error-installation-could-not-find-the-database-engine-startup-handle.72904/

Answer 2

Reinstall a SQL server instance. When it asks you to supply an instance name, use something unique that you haven't already used (MSSQLSERVER99.) Make the Instance ID the same.

You must be victim of uninstalling and reinstalling. The network service user is giving you permissions trouble. It happens after uninstalling MSSQL server.