How to run console application from Windows Service

Question

I have a windows service  written in c  and I need to run a console application from it  Console application also written in c     Console application is running fine when it is run not from windows service  When it is ran from ws it doesn t do anything it should and as it should work for 10-20 seconds I see in debug code is executed at once   I m starting my console app with the following code   proc Start fullPathToConsole  args   proc WaitForExit      the path to console is right and when I m trying to run it from the cmd or just in explorer  without args  it works fine  But after running with the service I see no effect   I already tried to go to service properties and give it access to desktop and run under both system and my user  also specified in service properties   All remains the same   ADDITION  I know service do not have ui and I don t want one  I want service to run console application  No need to get any data from it or use this console like ui  just run it to do it s job   UPDATE I  discovered  that running calc or any other windows app is easy  But still can t run cmd or any console app  Actually I need to run it on XP SP2 and Windows 2003 Server  So do not need to interact with Vista in anyway   Would be glad to any comments

User · Answer

Running in Windows Services any application like for example   exe  is weird to do because the algorithm is not that effective

User · Answer

As pierre said  there is no way to have a user interface for a windows service  or no easy way   What I do in that kind of situation is to have a settings file that is read from the service on whatever interval the service operates on and have a standalone application that makes changes to the settings file

User · Answer

Windows Services do not have UIs  You can redirect the output from a console app to your service with the code shown in this question

User · Answer

Does your console app require user interaction   If so  that s a serious no-no and you should redesign your application   While there are some hacks to make this sort of work in older versions of the OS  this is guaranteed to break in the future   If your app does not require user interaction  then perhaps your problem is related to the user the service is running as   Try making sure that you run as the correct user  or that the user and or resources you are using have the right permissions   If you require some kind of user-interaction  then you will need to create a client application and communicate with the service and or sub-application via rpc  sockets  or named pipes

User · Answer

using System  using System Collections Generic  using System Linq  using System Text  using System Threading Tasks   using System ServiceProcess  using System Runtime InteropServices   namespace SystemControl       class Services               static string strPath     D             static void Main string   args                        string strServiceName    WindowsService1               CreateFolderStructure strPath               string svcPath     D  Applications MSC Agent bin WindowsService1 exe               if   IsInstalled strServiceName                                 InstallAndStart strServiceName  strServiceName  svcPath     -k runservice                                              else                               Console Write strServiceName     already installed  Do you want to Uninstalled the Service Y N                      string strKey   Console ReadLine                     if   string IsNullOrEmpty strKey   amp  amp   strKey StartsWith  y     strKey StartsWith  Y                                           StopService strServiceName                       Uninstall strServiceName                       ServiceLogs strServiceName     Uninstalled     strPath                       Console Write strServiceName     Uninstalled                          Console Read                                                        region  Environment Variables          public static string GetEnvironment string name  bool ExpandVariables   true                        if  ExpandVariables                                return System Environment GetEnvironmentVariable name                             else                               return  string Microsoft Win32 Registry LocalMachine OpenSubKey   SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Control Session Manager Environment    GetValue name      Microsoft Win32 RegistryValueOptions DoNotExpandEnvironmentNames                                    public static void SetEnvironment string name  string value                        System Environment SetEnvironmentVariable name  value                      endregion           region  ServiceCalls Native          public static ServiceController   List   get   return ServiceController GetServices                 public static void Start string serviceName  int timeoutMilliseconds                        ServiceController service   new ServiceController serviceName               try                               TimeSpan timeout   TimeSpan FromMilliseconds timeoutMilliseconds                    service Start                    service WaitForStatus ServiceControllerStatus Running  timeout                             catch Exception ex                                                                        public static void Stop string serviceName  int timeoutMilliseconds                        ServiceController service   new ServiceController serviceName               try                               TimeSpan timeout   TimeSpan FromMilliseconds timeoutMilliseconds                    service Stop                    service WaitForStatus ServiceControllerStatus Stopped  timeout                             catch                                                                       public static void Restart string serviceName  int timeoutMilliseconds                        ServiceController service   new ServiceController serviceName               try                               int millisec1   Environment TickCount                  TimeSpan timeout   TimeSpan FromMilliseconds timeoutMilliseconds                    service Stop                    service WaitForStatus ServiceControllerStatus Stopped  timeout                       count the rest of the timeout                 int millisec2   Environment TickCount                  timeout   TimeSpan FromMilliseconds timeoutMilliseconds -  millisec2 - millisec1                     service Start                    service WaitForStatus ServiceControllerStatus Running  timeout                             catch                                                                       public static bool IsInstalled string serviceName                           get list of Windows services             ServiceController   services   ServiceController GetServices                    try to find service name             foreach  ServiceController service in services                                if  service ServiceName    serviceName                      return true                            return false                     endregion           region  ServiceCalls API          private const int STANDARD RIGHTS REQUIRED   0xF0000          private const int SERVICE WIN32 OWN PROCESS   0x00000010            Flags          public enum ServiceManagerRights                       Connect   0x0001              CreateService   0x0002              EnumerateService   0x0004              Lock   0x0008              QueryLockStatus   0x0010              ModifyBootConfig   0x0020              StandardRightsRequired   0xF0000              AllAccess    StandardRightsRequired   Connect   CreateService               EnumerateService   Lock   QueryLockStatus   ModifyBootConfig                      Flags          public enum ServiceRights                       QueryConfig   0x1              ChangeConfig   0x2              QueryStatus   0x4              EnumerateDependants   0x8              Start   0x10              Stop   0x20              PauseContinue   0x40              Interrogate   0x80              UserDefinedControl   0x100              Delete   0x00010000              StandardRightsRequired   0xF0000              AllAccess    StandardRightsRequired   QueryConfig   ChangeConfig               QueryStatus   EnumerateDependants   Start   Stop   PauseContinue               Interrogate   UserDefinedControl                     public enum ServiceBootFlag                       Start   0x00000000              SystemStart   0x00000001              AutoStart   0x00000002              DemandStart   0x00000003              Disabled   0x00000004                    public enum ServiceState                       Unknown   -1     The state cannot be  has not been  retrieved              NotFound   0     The service is not known on the host server              Stop   1     The service is NET stopped              Run   2     The service is NET started              Stopping   3              Starting   4                     public enum ServiceControl                       Stop   0x00000001              Pause   0x00000002              Continue   0x00000003              Interrogate   0x00000004              Shutdown   0x00000005              ParamChange   0x00000006              NetBindAdd   0x00000007              NetBindRemove   0x00000008              NetBindEnable   0x00000009              NetBindDisable   0x0000000A                    public enum ServiceError                       Ignore   0x00000000              Normal   0x00000001              Severe   0x00000002              Critical   0x00000003                     StructLayout LayoutKind Sequential           private class SERVICE STATUS                       public int dwServiceType   0              public ServiceState dwCurrentState   0              public int dwControlsAccepted   0              public int dwWin32ExitCode   0              public int dwServiceSpecificExitCode   0              public int dwCheckPoint   0              public int dwWaitHint   0                      DllImport  advapi32 dll   EntryPoint    OpenSCManagerA            private static extern IntPtr OpenSCManager string lpMachineName  string lpDatabaseName  ServiceManagerRights dwDesiredAccess            DllImport  advapi32 dll   EntryPoint    OpenServiceA   CharSet   CharSet Ansi           private static extern IntPtr OpenService IntPtr hSCManager  string lpServiceName  ServiceRights dwDesiredAccess            DllImport  advapi32 dll   EntryPoint    CreateServiceA            private static extern IntPtr CreateService IntPtr hSCManager  string lpServiceName  string lpDisplayName  ServiceRights dwDesiredAccess  int dwServiceType  ServiceBootFlag dwStartType  ServiceError dwErrorControl  string lpBinaryPathName  string lpLoadOrderGroup  IntPtr lpdwTagId  string lpDependencies  string lp  string lpPassword            DllImport  advapi32 dll            private static extern int CloseServiceHandle IntPtr hSCObject            DllImport  advapi32 dll            private static extern int QueryServiceStatus IntPtr hService  SERVICE STATUS lpServiceStatus            DllImport  advapi32 dll   SetLastError   true           private static extern int DeleteService IntPtr hService            DllImport  advapi32 dll            private static extern int ControlService IntPtr hService  ServiceControl dwControl  SERVICE STATUS lpServiceStatus            DllImport  advapi32 dll   EntryPoint    StartServiceA            private static extern int StartService IntPtr hService  int dwNumServiceArgs  int lpServiceArgVectors                 lt summary gt              Takes a service name and tries to stop and then uninstall the windows serviceError              lt  summary gt               lt param name  ServiceName  gt The windows service name to uninstall lt  param gt          public static void Uninstall string ServiceName                        IntPtr scman   OpenSCManager ServiceManagerRights Connect               try                               IntPtr service   OpenService scman  ServiceName  ServiceRights StandardRightsRequired   ServiceRights Stop   ServiceRights QueryStatus                   if  service    IntPtr Zero                                        throw new ApplicationException  Service not installed                                       try                                       StopService service                       int ret   DeleteService service                       if  ret    0                                                int error   Marshal GetLastWin32Error                            throw new ApplicationException  Could not delete service     error                                                           finally                                       CloseServiceHandle service                                               finally                               CloseServiceHandle scman                                         lt summary gt              Accepts a service name and returns true if the service with that service name exists              lt  summary gt               lt param name  ServiceName  gt The service name that we will check for existence lt  param gt               lt returns gt True if that service exists false otherwise lt  returns gt          public static bool ServiceIsInstalled string ServiceName                        IntPtr scman   OpenSCManager ServiceManagerRights Connect               try                               IntPtr service   OpenService scman  ServiceName                  ServiceRights QueryStatus                   if  service    IntPtr Zero  return false                  CloseServiceHandle service                   return true                            finally                               CloseServiceHandle scman                                         lt summary gt              Takes a service name  a service display name and the path to the service executable and installs   starts the windows service               lt  summary gt               lt param name  ServiceName  gt The service name that this service will have lt  param gt               lt param name  DisplayName  gt The display name that this service will have lt  param gt               lt param name  FileName  gt The path to the executable of the service lt  param gt          public static void InstallAndStart string ServiceName  string DisplayName          string FileName                        IntPtr scman   OpenSCManager ServiceManagerRights Connect               ServiceManagerRights CreateService               try                               string strKey   string Empty                  IntPtr service   OpenService scman  ServiceName                  ServiceRights QueryStatus   ServiceRights Start                   if  service    IntPtr Zero                                        service   CreateService scman  ServiceName  DisplayName                      ServiceRights QueryStatus   ServiceRights Start  SERVICE WIN32 OWN PROCESS                      ServiceBootFlag AutoStart  ServiceError Normal  FileName  null  IntPtr Zero                      null  null  null                       ServiceLogs ServiceName     Installed Sucessfully     strPath                       Console Write ServiceName     Installed Sucessfully   Do you want to Start the Service Y N                          strKey Console ReadLine                                      if  service    IntPtr Zero                                        ServiceLogs  Failed to install service    strPath                       throw new ApplicationException  Failed to install service                                       try                                       if   string IsNullOrEmpty strKey   amp  amp   strKey StartsWith  y      strKey StartsWith  Y                                                   StartService service                           ServiceLogs ServiceName     Started Sucessfully     strPath                           Console Write ServiceName     Started Sucessfully                              Console Read                                                            finally                                       CloseServiceHandle service                                               finally                               CloseServiceHandle scman                                         lt summary gt              Takes a service name and starts it              lt  summary gt               lt param name  Name  gt The service name lt  param gt          public static void StartService string Name                        IntPtr scman   OpenSCManager ServiceManagerRights Connect               try                               IntPtr hService   OpenService scman  Name  ServiceRights QueryStatus                   ServiceRights Start                   if  hService    IntPtr Zero                                        ServiceLogs  Could not open service    strPath                       throw new ApplicationException  Could not open service                                       try                                       StartService hService                                     finally                                       CloseServiceHandle hService                                               finally                               CloseServiceHandle scman                                         lt summary gt              Stops the provided windows service              lt  summary gt               lt param name  Name  gt The service name that will be stopped lt  param gt          public static void StopService string Name                        IntPtr scman   OpenSCManager ServiceManagerRights Connect               try                               IntPtr hService   OpenService scman  Name  ServiceRights QueryStatus                   ServiceRights Stop                   if  hService    IntPtr Zero                                        ServiceLogs  Could not open service    strPath                       throw new ApplicationException  Could not open service                                       try                                       StopService hService                                     finally                                       CloseServiceHandle hService                                      finally                               CloseServiceHandle scman                                         lt summary gt              Stars the provided windows service              lt  summary gt               lt param name  hService  gt The handle to the windows service lt  param gt          private static void StartService IntPtr hService                        SERVICE STATUS status   new SERVICE STATUS                StartService hService  0  0               WaitForServiceStatus hService  ServiceState Starting  ServiceState Run                           lt summary gt              Stops the provided windows service              lt  summary gt               lt param name  hService  gt The handle to the windows service lt  param gt          private static void StopService IntPtr hService                        SERVICE STATUS status   new SERVICE STATUS                ControlService hService  ServiceControl Stop  status               WaitForServiceStatus hService  ServiceState Stopping  ServiceState Stop                           lt summary gt              Takes a service name and returns the  lt code gt ServiceState lt  code gt  of the corresponding service              lt  summary gt               lt param name  ServiceName  gt The service name that we will check for his  lt code gt ServiceState lt  code gt  lt  param gt               lt returns gt The ServiceState of the service we wanted to check lt  returns gt          public static ServiceState GetServiceStatus string ServiceName                        IntPtr scman   OpenSCManager ServiceManagerRights Connect               try                               IntPtr hService   OpenService scman  ServiceName                  ServiceRights QueryStatus                   if  hService    IntPtr Zero                                        return ServiceState NotFound                                    try                                       return GetServiceStatus hService                                     finally                                       CloseServiceHandle scman                                               finally                               CloseServiceHandle scman                                         lt summary gt              Gets the service state by using the handle of the provided windows service              lt  summary gt               lt param name  hService  gt The handle to the service lt  param gt               lt returns gt The  lt code gt ServiceState lt  code gt  of the service lt  returns gt          private static ServiceState GetServiceStatus IntPtr hService                        SERVICE STATUS ssStatus   new SERVICE STATUS                if  QueryServiceStatus hService  ssStatus     0                                ServiceLogs  Failed to query service status    strPath                   throw new ApplicationException  Failed to query service status                               return ssStatus dwCurrentState                          lt summary gt              Returns true when the service status has been changes from wait status to desired status              this method waits around 10 seconds for this operation               lt  summary gt               lt param name  hService  gt The handle to the service lt  param gt               lt param name  WaitStatus  gt The current state of the service lt  param gt               lt param name  DesiredStatus  gt The desired state of the service lt  param gt               lt returns gt bool if the service has successfully changed states within the allowed timeline lt  returns gt          private static bool WaitForServiceStatus IntPtr hService  ServiceState         WaitStatus  ServiceState DesiredStatus                        SERVICE STATUS ssStatus   new SERVICE STATUS                int dwOldCheckPoint              int dwStartTickCount               QueryServiceStatus hService  ssStatus               if  ssStatus dwCurrentState    DesiredStatus  return true              dwStartTickCount   Environment TickCount              dwOldCheckPoint   ssStatus dwCheckPoint               while  ssStatus dwCurrentState    WaitStatus                                   Do not wait longer than the wait hint  A good interval is                    one tenth the wait hint  but no less than 1 second and no                    more than 10 seconds                   int dwWaitTime   ssStatus dwWaitHint   10                   if  dwWaitTime  lt  1000  dwWaitTime   1000                  else if  dwWaitTime  gt  10000  dwWaitTime   10000                   System Threading Thread Sleep dwWaitTime                       Check the status again                   if  QueryServiceStatus hService  ssStatus     0  break                   if  ssStatus dwCheckPoint  gt  dwOldCheckPoint                                           The service is making progress                      dwStartTickCount   Environment TickCount                      dwOldCheckPoint   ssStatus dwCheckPoint                                    else                                       if  Environment TickCount - dwStartTickCount  gt  ssStatus dwWaitHint                                                   No progress made within the wait hint                         break                                                                    return  ssStatus dwCurrentState    DesiredStatus                           lt summary gt              Opens the service manager              lt  summary gt               lt param name  Rights  gt The service manager rights lt  param gt               lt returns gt the handle to the service manager lt  returns gt          private static IntPtr OpenSCManager ServiceManagerRights Rights                        IntPtr scman   OpenSCManager null  null  Rights               if  scman    IntPtr Zero                                try                                       throw new ApplicationException  Could not connect to service control manager                                       catch  Exception ex                                                                return scman                      endregion           region CreateFolderStructure          private static void CreateFolderStructure string path                        if  System IO Directory Exists path  Applications                    System IO Directory CreateDirectory path   Applications                if   System IO Directory Exists path    Applications  MSC                    System IO Directory CreateDirectory path    Applications  MSC                if   System IO Directory Exists path    Applications  MSC  Agent                    System IO Directory CreateDirectory path    Applications  MSC  Agent                if   System IO Directory Exists path    Applications  MSC  Agent  bin                    System IO Directory CreateDirectory path    Applications  MSC  Agent  bin                if   System IO Directory Exists path    Applications  MSC  AgentService                    System IO Directory CreateDirectory path    Applications  MSC  AgentService                 string fullPath   System IO Path GetFullPath  MSCService                if  System IO Directory Exists fullPath                                 foreach  string strFile in System IO Directory GetFiles fullPath                                         if  System IO File Exists strFile                                                 String   strArr   strFile Split                                System IO File Copy strFile  path    Applications  MSC  Agent  bin     strArr strArr Count  -1   true                                                                                        endregion          private static void ServiceLogs string strLogInfo  string path                        string filePath   path    Applications  MSC  AgentService  ServiceLogs txt                           System IO File AppendAllLines filePath   strLogInfo    --    DateTime Now ToString    ToString   Split

User · Answer

I ve done this before successfully - I have some code at home   When I get home tonight  I ll update this answer with the working code of a service launching a console app   I thought I d try this from scratch   Here s some code I wrote that launches a console app   I installed it as a service and ran it and it worked properly  cmd exe launches  as seen in Task Manager  and lives for 10 seconds until I send it the exit command   I hope this helps your situation as it does work properly as expected here       using  System Diagnostics Process process   new System Diagnostics Process                  process StartInfo   new System Diagnostics ProcessStartInfo   c  windows system32 cmd exe            process StartInfo CreateNoWindow   true          process StartInfo ErrorDialog   false          process StartInfo RedirectStandardError   true          process StartInfo RedirectStandardInput   true          process StartInfo RedirectStandardOutput   true          process StartInfo UseShellExecute   false          process StartInfo WindowStyle   System Diagnostics ProcessWindowStyle Hidden          process Start                 do some other things while you wait            System Threading Thread Sleep 10000      simulate doing other things            process StandardInput WriteLine  exit       tell console to exit         if   process HasExited                        process WaitForExit 120000      give 2 minutes for process to finish             if   process HasExited                                process Kill       took too long  kill it off

User · Answer

I use this class  class ProcessWrapper   Process  IDisposable       public enum PipeType   StdOut  StdErr        public class Output               public string Message   get  set            public PipeType Pipe   get  set            public override string ToString                         return   quot  Pipe    Message  quot                        private readonly string  command      private readonly string  args      private readonly bool  showWindow      private bool  isDisposed       private readonly Queue lt Output gt   outputQueue   new Queue lt Output gt          private readonly ManualResetEvent    waitHandles   new ManualResetEvent 2       private readonly ManualResetEvent  outputSteamWaitHandle   new ManualResetEvent false        public ProcessWrapper string startCommand  string args  bool showWindow   false                 command   startCommand           args   args           showWindow   showWindow             public IEnumerable lt string gt  GetMessages                 while    isDisposed                         outputSteamWaitHandle WaitOne                if   outputQueue Any                    yield return  outputQueue Dequeue   ToString                         public void SendCommand string command                StandardInput Write command           StandardInput Flush               public new int Start                 ProcessStartInfo startInfo   new ProcessStartInfo                       FileName    command              Arguments    args              UseShellExecute   false              RedirectStandardOutput   true              RedirectStandardError   true              RedirectStandardInput   true              CreateNoWindow     showWindow                    StartInfo   startInfo           OutputDataReceived    delegate  object sender  DataReceivedEventArgs args                        if  args Data    null                                 waitHandles 0  Set                              else if  args Data Length  gt  0                                 outputQueue Enqueue new Output   Message   args Data  Pipe   PipeType StdOut                      outputSteamWaitHandle Set                                      ErrorDataReceived    delegate  object sender  DataReceivedEventArgs args                        if  args Data    null                                 waitHandles 1  Set                              else if  args Data Length  gt  0                                 outputSteamWaitHandle Set                     outputQueue Enqueue new Output   Message   args Data  Pipe   PipeType StdErr                                       base Start              waitHandles 0    new ManualResetEvent false           BeginErrorReadLine             waitHandles 1    new ManualResetEvent false           BeginOutputReadLine             return Id             public new void Dispose                 StandardInput Flush            StandardInput Close            if   WaitForExit 1000                         Kill                      if  WaitForExit 1000                         WaitHandle WaitAll  waitHandles                     base Dispose             isDisposed   true

User · Answer

I have a Windows service  and I added the following line to the constructor for my service   using System Diagnostics  try       Process p   Process Start   C  Windows system32 calc exe      catch       Debugger Break        When I tried to run this  the Process Start   call was made  and no exception occurred   However  the calc exe application did not show up   In order to make it work  I had edit the properties for my service in the Service Control Manager to enable interaction with the desktop   After doing that  the Process Start   opened calc exe as expected   But as others have said  interaction with the desktop is frowned upon by Microsoft and has essentially been disabled in Vista   So even if you can get it to work in XP  I don t know that you ll be able to make it work in Vista

User · Answer

Services are required to connect to the Service Control Manager and provide feedback at start up  ie  tell SCM  I m alive     That s why C  application have a different project template for services  You have two alternatives    wrapp your exe on srvany exe  as described in KB How To Create a User-Defined Service have your C  app detect when is launched as a service  eg  command line param  and switch control to a class that inherits from ServiceBase and properly implements a service

User · Answer

Starting from Windows Vista  a service cannot interact with the desktop  You will not be able to see any windows or console windows that are started from a service  See this MSDN forum thread   On other OS  there is an option that is available in the service option called  Allow Service to interact with desktop   Technically  you should program for the future and should follow the Vista guideline even if you don t use it on Vista   If you still want to run an application that never interact with the desktop  try specifying the process to not use the shell   ProcessStartInfo info   new ProcessStartInfo   c  myprogram exe    info UseShellExecute   false  info RedirectStandardError   true  info RedirectStandardInput   true  info RedirectStandardOutput   true  info CreateNoWindow   true  info ErrorDialog   false  info WindowStyle   ProcessWindowStyle Hidden   Process process   Process Start info     See if this does the trick   First you inform Windows that the program won t use the shell  which is inaccessible in Vista to service    Secondly  you redirect all consoles interaction to internal stream  see process StandardInput and process StandardOutput

[c#] How to run console application from Windows Service?

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