How might I schedule a C Windows Service to perform a task daily

Question

I have a service written in C    NET 1 1  and want it to perform some cleanup actions at midnight every night  I have to keep all code contained within the service  so what s the easiest way to accomplish this  Use of Thread Sleep   and checking for the time rolling over

User · Answer

You can also try the TaskSchedulerLibrary here http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/a4a4f042-ffd3-42f2-a689-290ec13011f8

Implement the abstract class AbstractScheduledTask and call the ScheduleUtilityFactory.AddScheduleTaskToBatch static method

User · Answer

As others already wrote  a timer is the best option in the scenario you described   Depending on your exact requirements  checking the current time every minute may not be necessary   If you do not need to perform the action exactly at midnight  but just within one hour after midnight  you can go for Martin s approach of only checking if the date has changed   If the reason you want to perform your action at midnight is that you expect a low workload on your computer  better take care  The same assumption is often made by others  and suddenly you have 100 cleanup actions kicking off between 0 00 and 0 01 a m   In that case you should consider starting your cleanup at a different time  I usually do those things not at clock hour  but at half hours  1 30 a m  being my personal preference

User · Answer

The way I accomplish this is with a timer   Run a server timer  have it check the Hour Minute every 60 seconds   If it s the right Hour Minute  then run your process   I actually have this abstracted out into a base class I call OnceADayRunner   Let me clean up the code a bit and I ll post it here       private void OnceADayRunnerTimer Elapsed object sender  ElapsedEventArgs e                using  NDC Push GetType   Name                         try                               log DebugFormat  Checking if it s time to process at   0    e SignalTime                   log DebugFormat  IsTestMode   0    IsTestMode                    if   e SignalTime Minute    MinuteToCheck  amp  amp  e SignalTime Hour    HourToCheck     IsTestMode                                        log InfoFormat  Processing at  Hour    0  - Minute    1    e SignalTime Hour  e SignalTime Minute                       OnceADayTimer Enabled   false                      OnceADayMethod                        OnceADayTimer Enabled   true                       IsTestMode   false                                    else                                       log DebugFormat  Not correct time at  Hour    0  - Minute    1    e SignalTime Hour  e SignalTime Minute                                               catch  Exception ex                                OnceADayTimer Enabled   true                  log Error ex ToString                                OnceADayTimer Start                      The beef of the method is in the e SignalTime Minute Hour check   There are hooks in there for testing  etc  but this is what your elapsed timer could look like to make it all work

User · Answer

A daily task  Sounds like it should just be a scheduled task  control panel  - no need for a service here

User · Answer

Try this   public partial class Service   ServiceBase       private Timer timer      public Service                 InitializeComponent               protected override void OnStart string   args                SetTimer               private void SetTimer                 if  timer    null                        timer   new Timer                timer AutoReset   true              timer Interval   60000   Convert ToDouble ConfigurationManager AppSettings  IntervalMinutes                 timer Elapsed    new ElapsedEventHandler timer Elapsed               timer Start                         private void timer Elapsed object source  System Timers ElapsedEventArgs e                  Do some thing logic here            protected override void OnStop                    disposed all service objects

User · Answer

You can also try the TaskSchedulerLibrary here http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/a4a4f042-ffd3-42f2-a689-290ec13011f8

Implement the abstract class AbstractScheduledTask and call the ScheduleUtilityFactory.AddScheduleTaskToBatch static method

User · Answer

I would suggest that you use a timer  but set it to check every 45 seconds  not minute   Otherwise you can run into situations where with heavy load  the check for a particular minute is missed  because between the time the timer triggers and the time your code runs and checks the current time  you might have missed the target minute

User · Answer

For those that found the above solutions not working  it s because you may have a this inside your class  which implies an extension method which  as the error message says  only makes sense on a non-generic static class  Your class isn t static  This doesn t seem to be something that makes sense as an extension method  since it s acting on the instance in question  so remove the this

User · Answer

As others already wrote  a timer is the best option in the scenario you described   Depending on your exact requirements  checking the current time every minute may not be necessary   If you do not need to perform the action exactly at midnight  but just within one hour after midnight  you can go for Martin s approach of only checking if the date has changed   If the reason you want to perform your action at midnight is that you expect a low workload on your computer  better take care  The same assumption is often made by others  and suddenly you have 100 cleanup actions kicking off between 0 00 and 0 01 a m   In that case you should consider starting your cleanup at a different time  I usually do those things not at clock hour  but at half hours  1 30 a m  being my personal preference

User · Answer

A daily task  Sounds like it should just be a scheduled task  control panel  - no need for a service here

User · Answer

The way I accomplish this is with a timer   Run a server timer  have it check the Hour Minute every 60 seconds   If it s the right Hour Minute  then run your process   I actually have this abstracted out into a base class I call OnceADayRunner   Let me clean up the code a bit and I ll post it here       private void OnceADayRunnerTimer Elapsed object sender  ElapsedEventArgs e                using  NDC Push GetType   Name                         try                               log DebugFormat  Checking if it s time to process at   0    e SignalTime                   log DebugFormat  IsTestMode   0    IsTestMode                    if   e SignalTime Minute    MinuteToCheck  amp  amp  e SignalTime Hour    HourToCheck     IsTestMode                                        log InfoFormat  Processing at  Hour    0  - Minute    1    e SignalTime Hour  e SignalTime Minute                       OnceADayTimer Enabled   false                      OnceADayMethod                        OnceADayTimer Enabled   true                       IsTestMode   false                                    else                                       log DebugFormat  Not correct time at  Hour    0  - Minute    1    e SignalTime Hour  e SignalTime Minute                                               catch  Exception ex                                OnceADayTimer Enabled   true                  log Error ex ToString                                OnceADayTimer Start                      The beef of the method is in the e SignalTime Minute Hour check   There are hooks in there for testing  etc  but this is what your elapsed timer could look like to make it all work

User · Answer

I wouldn t use Thread Sleep    Either use a scheduled task  as others have mentioned   or set up a timer inside your service  which fires periodically  every 10 minutes for example  and check if the date changed since the last run   private Timer  timer  private DateTime  lastRun   DateTime Now AddDays -1    protected override void OnStart string   args         timer   new Timer 10   60   1000      every 10 minutes      timer Elapsed    new System Timers ElapsedEventHandler timer Elapsed        timer Start                  private void timer Elapsed object sender  System Timers ElapsedEventArgs e           ignore the time  just compare the date     if   lastRun Date  lt  DateTime Now Date                   stop the timer while we are running the cleanup task          timer Stop                          do cleanup stuff                     lastRun   DateTime Now           timer Start

User · Answer

I would suggest that you use a timer  but set it to check every 45 seconds  not minute   Otherwise you can run into situations where with heavy load  the check for a particular minute is missed  because between the time the timer triggers and the time your code runs and checks the current time  you might have missed the target minute

User · Answer

Check out Quartz NET   You can use it within a Windows service   It allows you to run a job based on a configured schedule  and it even supports a simple  cron job  syntax  I ve had a lot of success with it   Here s a quick example of its usage      Instantiate the Quartz NET scheduler var schedulerFactory   new StdSchedulerFactory    var scheduler   schedulerFactory GetScheduler        Instantiate the JobDetail object passing in the type of your    custom job class  Your class merely needs to implement a simple    interface with a single method called  Execute   var job   new JobDetail  job1    group1   typeof MyJobClass        Instantiate a trigger using the basic cron syntax     This tells it to run at 1AM every Monday - Friday  var trigger   new CronTrigger       trigger1    group1    job1    group1    0 0 1     MON-FRI        Add the job to the scheduler scheduler AddJob job  true   scheduler ScheduleJob trigger

User · Answer

Check out Quartz NET   You can use it within a Windows service   It allows you to run a job based on a configured schedule  and it even supports a simple  cron job  syntax  I ve had a lot of success with it   Here s a quick example of its usage      Instantiate the Quartz NET scheduler var schedulerFactory   new StdSchedulerFactory    var scheduler   schedulerFactory GetScheduler        Instantiate the JobDetail object passing in the type of your    custom job class  Your class merely needs to implement a simple    interface with a single method called  Execute   var job   new JobDetail  job1    group1   typeof MyJobClass        Instantiate a trigger using the basic cron syntax     This tells it to run at 1AM every Monday - Friday  var trigger   new CronTrigger       trigger1    group1    job1    group1    0 0 1     MON-FRI        Add the job to the scheduler scheduler AddJob job  true   scheduler ScheduleJob trigger

User · Answer

A daily task  Sounds like it should just be a scheduled task  control panel  - no need for a service here

User · Answer

Does it have to be an actual service   Can you just use the built in scheduled tasks in the windows control panel

User · Answer

As others already wrote  a timer is the best option in the scenario you described   Depending on your exact requirements  checking the current time every minute may not be necessary   If you do not need to perform the action exactly at midnight  but just within one hour after midnight  you can go for Martin s approach of only checking if the date has changed   If the reason you want to perform your action at midnight is that you expect a low workload on your computer  better take care  The same assumption is often made by others  and suddenly you have 100 cleanup actions kicking off between 0 00 and 0 01 a m   In that case you should consider starting your cleanup at a different time  I usually do those things not at clock hour  but at half hours  1 30 a m  being my personal preference

User · Answer

Does it have to be an actual service   Can you just use the built in scheduled tasks in the windows control panel

User · Answer

The way I accomplish this is with a timer   Run a server timer  have it check the Hour Minute every 60 seconds   If it s the right Hour Minute  then run your process   I actually have this abstracted out into a base class I call OnceADayRunner   Let me clean up the code a bit and I ll post it here       private void OnceADayRunnerTimer Elapsed object sender  ElapsedEventArgs e                using  NDC Push GetType   Name                         try                               log DebugFormat  Checking if it s time to process at   0    e SignalTime                   log DebugFormat  IsTestMode   0    IsTestMode                    if   e SignalTime Minute    MinuteToCheck  amp  amp  e SignalTime Hour    HourToCheck     IsTestMode                                        log InfoFormat  Processing at  Hour    0  - Minute    1    e SignalTime Hour  e SignalTime Minute                       OnceADayTimer Enabled   false                      OnceADayMethod                        OnceADayTimer Enabled   true                       IsTestMode   false                                    else                                       log DebugFormat  Not correct time at  Hour    0  - Minute    1    e SignalTime Hour  e SignalTime Minute                                               catch  Exception ex                                OnceADayTimer Enabled   true                  log Error ex ToString                                OnceADayTimer Start                      The beef of the method is in the e SignalTime Minute Hour check   There are hooks in there for testing  etc  but this is what your elapsed timer could look like to make it all work

User · Answer

A daily task  Sounds like it should just be a scheduled task  control panel  - no need for a service here

User · Answer

I wouldn t use Thread Sleep    Either use a scheduled task  as others have mentioned   or set up a timer inside your service  which fires periodically  every 10 minutes for example  and check if the date changed since the last run   private Timer  timer  private DateTime  lastRun   DateTime Now AddDays -1    protected override void OnStart string   args         timer   new Timer 10   60   1000      every 10 minutes      timer Elapsed    new System Timers ElapsedEventHandler timer Elapsed        timer Start                  private void timer Elapsed object sender  System Timers ElapsedEventArgs e           ignore the time  just compare the date     if   lastRun Date  lt  DateTime Now Date                   stop the timer while we are running the cleanup task          timer Stop                          do cleanup stuff                     lastRun   DateTime Now           timer Start

User · Answer

Try this   public partial class Service   ServiceBase       private Timer timer      public Service                 InitializeComponent               protected override void OnStart string   args                SetTimer               private void SetTimer                 if  timer    null                        timer   new Timer                timer AutoReset   true              timer Interval   60000   Convert ToDouble ConfigurationManager AppSettings  IntervalMinutes                 timer Elapsed    new ElapsedEventHandler timer Elapsed               timer Start                         private void timer Elapsed object source  System Timers ElapsedEventArgs e                  Do some thing logic here            protected override void OnStop                    disposed all service objects

User · Answer

I would suggest that you use a timer  but set it to check every 45 seconds  not minute   Otherwise you can run into situations where with heavy load  the check for a particular minute is missed  because between the time the timer triggers and the time your code runs and checks the current time  you might have missed the target minute

User · Answer

Does it have to be an actual service   Can you just use the built in scheduled tasks in the windows control panel

User · Answer

I would suggest that you use a timer  but set it to check every 45 seconds  not minute   Otherwise you can run into situations where with heavy load  the check for a particular minute is missed  because between the time the timer triggers and the time your code runs and checks the current time  you might have missed the target minute

User · Answer

Check out Quartz NET   You can use it within a Windows service   It allows you to run a job based on a configured schedule  and it even supports a simple  cron job  syntax  I ve had a lot of success with it   Here s a quick example of its usage      Instantiate the Quartz NET scheduler var schedulerFactory   new StdSchedulerFactory    var scheduler   schedulerFactory GetScheduler        Instantiate the JobDetail object passing in the type of your    custom job class  Your class merely needs to implement a simple    interface with a single method called  Execute   var job   new JobDetail  job1    group1   typeof MyJobClass        Instantiate a trigger using the basic cron syntax     This tells it to run at 1AM every Monday - Friday  var trigger   new CronTrigger       trigger1    group1    job1    group1    0 0 1     MON-FRI        Add the job to the scheduler scheduler AddJob job  true   scheduler ScheduleJob trigger

User · Answer

The way I accomplish this is with a timer   Run a server timer  have it check the Hour Minute every 60 seconds   If it s the right Hour Minute  then run your process   I actually have this abstracted out into a base class I call OnceADayRunner   Let me clean up the code a bit and I ll post it here       private void OnceADayRunnerTimer Elapsed object sender  ElapsedEventArgs e                using  NDC Push GetType   Name                         try                               log DebugFormat  Checking if it s time to process at   0    e SignalTime                   log DebugFormat  IsTestMode   0    IsTestMode                    if   e SignalTime Minute    MinuteToCheck  amp  amp  e SignalTime Hour    HourToCheck     IsTestMode                                        log InfoFormat  Processing at  Hour    0  - Minute    1    e SignalTime Hour  e SignalTime Minute                       OnceADayTimer Enabled   false                      OnceADayMethod                        OnceADayTimer Enabled   true                       IsTestMode   false                                    else                                       log DebugFormat  Not correct time at  Hour    0  - Minute    1    e SignalTime Hour  e SignalTime Minute                                               catch  Exception ex                                OnceADayTimer Enabled   true                  log Error ex ToString                                OnceADayTimer Start                      The beef of the method is in the e SignalTime Minute Hour check   There are hooks in there for testing  etc  but this is what your elapsed timer could look like to make it all work

User · Answer

Check out Quartz NET   You can use it within a Windows service   It allows you to run a job based on a configured schedule  and it even supports a simple  cron job  syntax  I ve had a lot of success with it   Here s a quick example of its usage      Instantiate the Quartz NET scheduler var schedulerFactory   new StdSchedulerFactory    var scheduler   schedulerFactory GetScheduler        Instantiate the JobDetail object passing in the type of your    custom job class  Your class merely needs to implement a simple    interface with a single method called  Execute   var job   new JobDetail  job1    group1   typeof MyJobClass        Instantiate a trigger using the basic cron syntax     This tells it to run at 1AM every Monday - Friday  var trigger   new CronTrigger       trigger1    group1    job1    group1    0 0 1     MON-FRI        Add the job to the scheduler scheduler AddJob job  true   scheduler ScheduleJob trigger

User · Answer

I wouldn t use Thread Sleep    Either use a scheduled task  as others have mentioned   or set up a timer inside your service  which fires periodically  every 10 minutes for example  and check if the date changed since the last run   private Timer  timer  private DateTime  lastRun   DateTime Now AddDays -1    protected override void OnStart string   args         timer   new Timer 10   60   1000      every 10 minutes      timer Elapsed    new System Timers ElapsedEventHandler timer Elapsed        timer Start                  private void timer Elapsed object sender  System Timers ElapsedEventArgs e           ignore the time  just compare the date     if   lastRun Date  lt  DateTime Now Date                   stop the timer while we are running the cleanup task          timer Stop                          do cleanup stuff                     lastRun   DateTime Now           timer Start

User · Answer

As others already wrote  a timer is the best option in the scenario you described   Depending on your exact requirements  checking the current time every minute may not be necessary   If you do not need to perform the action exactly at midnight  but just within one hour after midnight  you can go for Martin s approach of only checking if the date has changed   If the reason you want to perform your action at midnight is that you expect a low workload on your computer  better take care  The same assumption is often made by others  and suddenly you have 100 cleanup actions kicking off between 0 00 and 0 01 a m   In that case you should consider starting your cleanup at a different time  I usually do those things not at clock hour  but at half hours  1 30 a m  being my personal preference

User · Answer

I wouldn t use Thread Sleep    Either use a scheduled task  as others have mentioned   or set up a timer inside your service  which fires periodically  every 10 minutes for example  and check if the date changed since the last run   private Timer  timer  private DateTime  lastRun   DateTime Now AddDays -1    protected override void OnStart string   args         timer   new Timer 10   60   1000      every 10 minutes      timer Elapsed    new System Timers ElapsedEventHandler timer Elapsed        timer Start                  private void timer Elapsed object sender  System Timers ElapsedEventArgs e           ignore the time  just compare the date     if   lastRun Date  lt  DateTime Now Date                   stop the timer while we are running the cleanup task          timer Stop                          do cleanup stuff                     lastRun   DateTime Now           timer Start

User · Answer

For those that found the above solutions not working  it s because you may have a this inside your class  which implies an extension method which  as the error message says  only makes sense on a non-generic static class  Your class isn t static  This doesn t seem to be something that makes sense as an extension method  since it s acting on the instance in question  so remove the this

User · Answer

Does it have to be an actual service   Can you just use the built in scheduled tasks in the windows control panel

[c#] How might I schedule a C# Windows Service to perform a task daily?

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