Start-Service cmdlet: get underlying error in case of failure - powershell

Question

Say that I want to start MSSSQLSERVER service. this is done in PowerShell via the Start-Service cmdlet.
Sometimes services fail to start due to an error like in the example below.
What I'm interested in is the root cause of the failure, while start-service seems to be returning the powershell exception, a generic wrapper that does not contain error-specific information.
PS C:\Users\Administrator> start-service MSSQLSERVER
start-service : Failed to start service 'SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) (MSSQLSERVER)'.
At line:1 char:1
+ Start-Service MSSQLSERVER
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : OpenError: (System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController:ServiceController) [Start-Service],
ServiceCommandException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : StartServiceFailed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.StartServiceCommand
To get the root cause of the problem, we have to resort to net start command, that brings us back to the old-days that should be forgotten with PowerShell.
C:\Users\Administrator>NET START MSSQLSERVER
The SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) service is starting.
The SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) service could not be started.
A service specific error occurred: 17051.
More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3547.
Is there a way to see the underlying error thrown by the service?

Answer 1

As I.T Delinquent stated, the error can be found in the exception, however in this case it will be stored in the inner exception(s):
$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
try
{
Start-Service -Name "MSSQLSERVER"
}
catch
{
$msg = #()
$err = $_.Exception
do {
$msg += $err.Message
$err = $err.InnerException
} while ($err)
Write-Verbose "Failed to start service: $($msg -join ' - ')"
}

Answer 2

I think it would be good for you to check out this link
But basically, you can use a Try/Catch statement and output the message from the error, something like this:
try{
Start-Service MSSQLSERVER -ErrorAction Stop
}catch{
$PSItem.Exception.Message
}