How to remediate MetaDefender Core service failing to start due to temporary files in the resources folder?

Issue:

MetaDefender Core service fails to start. Temporary files in the "resources" folder are not cleaned up automatically, causing service startup failure.

The error log shows: [ERROR ] <timestamp>: (common.base) Error in Service, shutdown.., error='Extension setting up failed: extension: 'ekm', rc: '-610', error: ''' [msgid: 130]

This was a known issue with MetaDefender Core 5.9.0 and has since been fixed in MetaDefender Core 5.11.0 and later: Release notes.

Workaround:

Manually delete all files and folders inside the "resources" directory:

1. Locate the "resources" directory. The default location is: C:\Program Files\OPSWAT\MetaDefender Core\data\resources

2. Delete all files and folders within the "resources" directory.

3. Restart the MetaDefender Core service.

Prevention:

To prevent recurrence, upgrade MetaDefender Core to the latest version. Follow the official product upgrade documentation for the upgrade process.