[Flaky Test]: TestRepeatedInstallUninstall – failed to set user elastic-agent-user password for service

[rdner]

Failing test case

TestRepeatedInstallUninstall

Error message

Error: error installing package: error getting service installation options: failed to set user elastic-agent-user password for service: call to NetUserSetInfo failed: status=2245 error=4294967295

Build

https://buildkite.com/elastic/elastic-agent-extended-testing/builds/462#018ff4a0-ecda-424d-8dd8-6e7c41840e5f

OS

Windows

Stacktrace and notes

=   ] Installing service  [4s] 
                                       

[=   ] Failed to install service  [4s] Error uninstalling. Printing logs
        Error: error installing package: error getting service installation options: failed to set user elastic-agent-user password for service: call to NetUserSetInfo failed: status=2245 error=4294967295
        For help, please see our troubleshooting guide at https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/fleet/8.15/fleet-troubleshooting.html
    install_test.go:195: 
        	Error Trace:	C:/Users/windows/agent/testing/integration/install_test.go:195
        	Error:      	Received unexpected error:
        	            	error running agent install command: exit status 1
        	Test:       	TestRepeatedInstallUninstall/TestRepeatedInstallUninstall-37
--- FAIL: TestRepeatedInstallUninstall/TestRepeatedInstallUninstall-37 (12.49s)

[elasticmachine]

Pinging @elastic/elastic-agent (Team:Elastic-Agent)

[cmacknz]

#4686 (comment)

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/remote/terminal-server-error-messages-2200-to-2299#error-2245

Error 2245
The password is shorter than required.

Explanation: The password you specified isn't long enough.

Action: Use a longer password. See your network administrator to find the required length for passwords on your system.

Error 4294967295 is a weird one though, that's the max value of a uint32 (0xffffffff)

CC @blakerouse

[blakerouse]

I don't understand how the password could not be long enough, its set to 127 characters long and cannot be any other size.

[leehinman]

I don't understand how the password could not be long enough, its set to 127 characters long and cannot be any other size.

Is there any way that the characters used could be interpreted as NULL or some kind of terminator, so that when the Windows NetUserSetInfo takes the string it "sees" it as being too short?

[blakerouse]

@leehinman Nothing stands out to me, unless Windows doesn't like one of those special characters? Look here and let me know if anything stands out to you.

https://github.com/elastic/elastic-agent/blob/main/internal/pkg/agent/install/user_windows.go#L222-L234

[leehinman]

@leehinman Nothing stands out to me, unless Windows doesn't like one of those special characters? Look here and let me know if anything stands out to you.

Nothing leaps out, but we do convert the string to a UTF16 pointer. I don't know how that would cause problems, all those characters should map cleanly and not get into the surrogate halves. I'm just trying to come up with "something" that might account for the password appearing shorter than the length of the array.

For the short term, what about changing the error message so we dump the string password and the array pointed to by the UTF16 pointer? If nothing else that should give us the input that causes the problem.

[elasticmachine]

Pinging @elastic/elastic-agent-control-plane (Team:Elastic-Agent-Control-Plane)

[rdner]

Failed again in https://buildkite.com/elastic/elastic-agent-extended-testing/builds/718#019029f1-a5a1-4f50-88ab-8a672e90b27e