how to create Windows Service in c# or windows service sample in c#

Introduction:

Here I will explain what windows service is, uses of windows service and how to create windows service in c#.

Description:

Today I am writing article to explain about windows services. First we will see what a window service is and uses of windows service and then we will see how to create windows service.

What is Windows Service?

Windows Services are applications that run in the background and perform various tasks. The applications do not have a user interface or produce any visual output. Windows Services are started automatically when computer is booted. They do not require a logged in user in order to execute and can run under the context of any user including the system. Windows Services are controlled through the Service Control Manager where they can be stopped, paused, and started as needed.

Create a Windows Service

Creating Windows Service is very easy with visual studio just follow the below steps to create windows service

Open 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(); }

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

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click your project and select Properties from the shortcut menu. The project'sProperty Pages dialog box appears.
2. In the left pane, select the General tab in the Common Properties folder.
3. From the Startup object list, choose MyNewService. Click OK.
4. Press Ctrl+Shift+B to build the project.

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

1. On the File menu, point to Add Project, and then choose New Project.
2. In the Project Types pane, select the Setup and Deployment Projects folder.
3. 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.

To add MyNewService.exe to the setup project

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click MyServiceSetup, point to Add, then choose Project Output. The Add ProjectOutput Group dialog box appears.
2. MyNewService is selected in the Project box.
3. 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

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the setup project, point to View, then choose Custom Actions. The Custom Actions editor appears.
2. In the Custom Actions editor, right-click the Custom Actions node and choose Add Custom Action. The Select Item in Project dialog box appears.
3. 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.
4. 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.

To start and stop your service

1. Open the Services Control Manager by doing one of the following:
   • In Windows 2000 Professional, right-click My Computer on the desktop, then click Manage. In theComputer Management console, expand the Services and Applications node.

     - Or -

   • In Windows 2000 Server, click Start, point to Programs, click Administrative Tools, and then clickServices.

     Note: In Windows NT version 4.0, you can open this dialog box from Control Panel.

2. You should now see MyNewService listed in the Services section of the window.
3. Select your service in the list, right-click it, and then click Start.

Right-click the service, and then click Stop.

To verify the event log output of your service

1. 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.

   

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

Another Way Of Installation

how to install window service using command prompt or install/uninstall .NET Window service.


Introduction:

Here I will explain how to install windows service and how to start the windows service in our local machine.

Description:

I will explain how to install windows service in our system.

To install windows service in your follow these steps

Start --> All Programs --> Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 --> Visual Studio Tools --> Open Visual Studio Command Prompt

After open command prompt point to your windowsservice.exe file in your project

Initially in our command prompt we are able to see path like this

C:\Program Files\ Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC >

This path is relating to our visual studio installation path because during installation if you give different path this path should be different now we can move to folder which contains our windowsservice.exefile. After moving to exe file exists path my command prompt like this

After moving to our windowsservice.exe contains folder now type

Installutil windowsservicesample.exe (Give your windows service exe file name) and now press enter button.

After type Installutil windowsservicesample.exe file that would be like this

After that the service will install successfully in your system.

Now I have question do you have idea on how to see installed windows services and how to start our windows service if you have idea good otherwise no need to panic just follow below steps

Start --> Control Panel --> Open Control Panel --> Select Administrative Tools --> Computer Management --> Services and Applications --> Services --> Open services

Now check for your windows service name and right click on that and select option start your windows service has started successfully

That would be like this

Delete Service

First Way

Start --> Run --> Type Regedit or Regedt32 and click enter button now one window will open like this

After that open following registry entry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services

After open services check for your service and delete it.

Second Way

First select your windows service name and open command prompt here if you using Windows 7 or Vista you’ll need to right-click the command prompt and choose Run as Administrator. We’ll use the sc command to actually do the work.

The syntax used to delete a service is this:

sc delete ServiceName

For example to delete service it would be like this

EX: sc delete “WinServiceSample”