In trying to deploy a Windows Service using MSBuild, I learned a few neat things about them.
You can stop, start, create, or delete a Windows Service through the administrator prompt command line:
sc create "AWindowsService" binpath= "C:\Weee\Service.exe"
sc delete "AWindowsService
sc start "AWindowsService"
sc stop "AWindowsService"
You can also do this for another server in your domain, by providing its UNC path:
sc \\ServerName create "AWindowsService" binpath= "C:\Weee\Service.exe"
sc \\ServerName delete "AWindowsService
sc \\ServerName start "AWindowsService"
sc \\ServerName stop "AWindowsService"
When creating a Windows Service, you can decide how it should start up.
Common options:
sc config AWindowsService start= delayed-auto
sc config AWindowsService start= auto
sc config AWindowsService start= demand
Much like other command prompt commands, the name of the service needs to be in quotes if it has spaces in it:
sc start "A Windows Service"
sc start AWindowsService
The spaces for the options are required:
sc \\ServerName create "AWindowsService" binpath= "C:\Weee\Service.exe"
^ Required
sc config AWindowsService start= demand
^ Also Required
If you’re trying to delete a service, you can’t have services.msc running, nor can the service be open, and you can’t have Process Explorer running either (h/t to “StingyJack” in this Stack Overflow answer).
If you create a service with the wrong bin path, it won’t be able to start; you’ll have to modify the bin path or delete and re-create the service.
Other Resources:
- Technet has an article on
sc. - MSDN Blog on Creating a Windows Service in the command line (with some graphics thrown in).