Create a Windows Service
Creating Windows Service is very easy with visual studio just follow the below steps to create windows serviceOpen visual studio --> Select File --> New -->Project--> select Windows Service
And give name as WinServiceSample
After give WinServiceSample name click ok button after create our project that should like this
In Solution explorer select Service1.cs file and change Service1.cs name to ScheduledService.csbecause in this project I am using this name if you want to use another name for your service you should give your required name.
After change name of service open ScheduledService.cs in design view right click and select Propertiesnow one window will open in that change Name value to ScheduledService and change ServiceName toScheduledService. Check below properties window that should be like this
After change Name and ServiceName properties again open ScheduledService.cs in design view and right click on it to Add Installer files to our application.
The main purpose of using Windows Installer is an installation and configuration service provided with Windows. The installer service enables customers to provide better corporate deployment and provides a standard format for component management.
After click on Add installer a designer screen added to project with 2 controls:serviceProcessInstaller1 and ServiceInstaller1
Now right click on serviceProcessInstaller1 and select properties in that change Account toLocalSystem
After set those properties now right click on ServiceInstaller1 and change following StartType property to Automatic and give proper name for DisplayName property
After completion of setting all the properties now we need to write the code to run the windows services at scheduled intervals.
If you observe our project structure that contains Program.cs file that file contains Main() method otherwise write the Main() method like this in Program.cs file
/// /// The main entry point for the application. /// static void Main() { ServiceBase[] ServicesToRun; ServicesToRun = new ServiceBase[] { new ScheduledService() }; ServiceBase.Run(ServicesToRun); } |
After completion of adding Main() method open ScheduledService.cs file and add following namespaces in codebehind of ScheduledService.cs file
using System.IO; using System.Timers; |
If you observe code behind file you will find two methods those are
protected override void OnStart(string[] args) { }
protected override void OnStop() { } |
We will write entire code in these two methods to start and stop the windows service. Write the following code in code behind to run service in scheduled intervals
//Initialize the timer Timer timer = new Timer(); public ScheduledService() { InitializeComponent(); } //This method is used to raise event during start of service protected override void OnStart(string[] args) { //add this line to text file during start of service TraceService("start service");
//handle Elapsed event timer.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(OnElapsedTime);
//This statement is used to set interval to 1 minute (= 60,000 milliseconds)
timer.Interval = 60000;
//enabling the timer timer.Enabled = true; } //This method is used to stop the service protected override void OnStop() { timer.Enabled = false; TraceService("stopping service"); } private void OnElapsedTime(object source, ElapsedEventArgs e) { TraceService("Another entry at "+DateTime.Now); } private void TraceService(string content) {
//set up a filestream FileStream fs = new FileStream(@"d:\ScheduledService.txt",FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.Write);
//set up a streamwriter for adding text StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(fs);
//find the end of the underlying filestream sw.BaseStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.End);
//add the text sw.WriteLine(content); //add the text to the underlying filestream
sw.Flush(); //close the writer sw.Close(); } |
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If you observe above code in OnStart method I written event ElapsedEventHandler this event is used to run the windows service for every one minute
After completion code writing build the application and install windows service.
Now the service is installed. To start and stop the service, go to Control Panel --> Administrative Tools --> Services. Right click the service and select Start.
Now the service is started, and you will be able to see entries in the log file we defined in the code.
Now open the log file in your folder that Output of the file like this
To build your service project
- In Solution Explorer, right-click your project and select Properties from the shortcut menu. The project'sProperty Pages dialog box appears.
- In the left pane, select the General tab in the Common Properties folder.
- From the
Startup object
list, choose MyNewService
. Click OK. - Press Ctrl+Shift+B to build the project.
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Now that the project is built, it can be deployed. A setup project will install the compiled project files and run the installers needed to run the Windows service. To create a complete setup project, you will need to add the projectoutput, MyNewService.exe, to the setup project and then add a custom action to have MyNewService.exe installed.
To create a setup project for your service
- On the File menu, point to Add Project, and then choose New Project.
- In the Project Types pane, select the Setup and Deployment Projects folder.
- In the Templates pane, select Setup Project. Name the project
MyServiceSetup
.
A setup project is added to the solution. Next you will add the output from the Windows service project,MyNewService.exe, to the setup.
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To add MyNewService.exe to the setup project
- In Solution Explorer, right-click
MyServiceSetup
, point to Add, then choose Project Output. The Add ProjectOutput Group dialog box appears. MyNewService
is selected in the Project box.- From the list box, select Primary Output, and click OK.
A project item for the primary output of MyNewService
is added to the setup project. Now add a custom action to install the MyNewService.exe file.
To add a custom action to the setup project
- In Solution Explorer, right-click the setup project, point to View, then choose Custom Actions. The Custom Actions editor appears.
- In the Custom Actions editor, right-click the Custom Actions node and choose Add Custom Action. The Select Item in Project dialog box appears.
- Double-click the application folder in the list box to open it, select primary output from
MyNewService
(Active), and click OK. The primary output is added to all four nodes of the custom actions � Install, Commit, Rollback, and Uninstall. - Build the setup project.
To install the Windows Service
Browse to the directory where the setup project was saved, and run the .msi file to install MyNewService.exe.
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To start and stop your service
- Open the Services Control Manager by doing one of the following:
- You should now see
MyNewService
listed in the Services section of the window. - Select your service in the list, right-click it, and then click Start.
Right-click the service, and then click Stop.
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To verify the event log output of your service
- Open Server Explorer and access the Event Logs node. For more information, see Working with Event Logs in Server Explorer.
Note: The Servers node of Server Explorer is not available in the Standard Edition of Visual Basic and Visual C# .NET.
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To uninstall your service
- On the Start menu, open Control Panel and click Add/Remove Programs, and then locate your service and clickUninstall.
- You can also uninstall the program by right-clicking the program icon for the .msi file and selecting Uninstall