Add SQL Server Agent to existing SQL Installation

If there is a SQL server installation that is physically missing the SQL Server Agent is there a way to add it without reinstalling SQL Server? Will installing a service pack do it?

Today I was asked to look at a SQL server another department had installed. It's SQL 2016 SP1 Standard Edition. SSMS shows SQL Agent, but there is no SQL Agent service in services or in Configuration Manager. And no mention of SQL Agent in the registry.

In the installation path I see the various SQL Agent files and I tried to register the service via the SC command but it didn't work. The service is there but it won't start.

Short of detaching the databases, uninstalling and reinstalling, is there anything else that can be done to get it working?

Try to run a repair intallation from the installation media and then install service pack and cu after that.

You can run the repair from the command prompt:

Setup.exe /q /ACTION=Repair /INSTANCENAME=instancename

Or by opening the installation center and select Maintenance in the left-hand navigation area, and then click Repair to start the repair.

Step-by-step instructions are found in the documentation

StackExchange Database Administrators Q#214923, answer score: 4