Yes you can. I do it using the pythoncom libraries that come included with ActivePython or can be installed with pywin32 (Python for Windows extensions).
This is a basic skeleton for a simple service:
import win32serviceutil
import win32service
import win32event
import servicemanager
import socket
class AppServerSvc (win32serviceutil.ServiceFramework):
_svc_name_ = "TestService"
_svc_display_name_ = "Test Service"
def __init__(self,args):
win32serviceutil.ServiceFramework.__init__(self,args)
self.hWaitStop = win32event.CreateEvent(None,0,0,None)
socket.setdefaulttimeout(60)
def SvcStop(self):
self.ReportServiceStatus(win32service.SERVICE_STOP_PENDING)
win32event.SetEvent(self.hWaitStop)
def SvcDoRun(self):
servicemanager.LogMsg(servicemanager.EVENTLOG_INFORMATION_TYPE,
servicemanager.PYS_SERVICE_STARTED,
(self._svc_name_,''))
self.main()
def main(self):
pass
if __name__ == '__main__':
win32serviceutil.HandleCommandLine(AppServerSvc)
Your code would go in the main() method—usually with some kind of infinite loop that might be interrupted by checking a flag, which you set in the SvcStop method