Ecosyste.ms: Awesome

An open API service indexing awesome lists of open source software.

Awesome Lists | Featured Topics | Projects

https://github.com/dasmulli/dotnet-win32-service

Helper classes to set up and run as windows services directly on .net core. A ServiceBase alternative.
https://github.com/dasmulli/dotnet-win32-service

dotnet-core dotnet-standard windows-service

Last synced: 7 days ago
JSON representation

Helper classes to set up and run as windows services directly on .net core. A ServiceBase alternative.

Awesome Lists containing this project

README 

        
# .NET Standard-based Windows Service support for .NET



This repo contains a library for running a .NET Core application as Windows service without

the need for a wrapper assembly or the full (desktop) .NET Framework.

It is built using P/Invoke calls into native Windows assemblies.



Usage scenarios include:

* Running on Windows Nano Server (no full framework but can run Windows services)

* Shipping a modern service application using the latest .NET Core version to systems

  where you cannot upgrade to new versions of .NET, but you want to use new framework features.

* Build truly portable applications that can for example run as service on Windows and as daemon on Linux,

  just using runtime checks / switches



## How to use the example application

Prerequisites:

* .NET Core SDK 2.0.3 or higher (`.csproj` based tooling)

* Windows machine

* **Elevated command prompt**: Run cmd as administrator.

```cmd

> cd samples\TestService

> dotnet restore

> dotnet run --register-service --urls http://*:5080

...

Successfully registered and started service "Demo .NET Core Service" ("Demo ASP.NET Core Service running on .NET Core")

```

Open `http://localhost:5080` in a browser. You should see `Hello world`.



The "Services" administrative tool should show the service:

![running service](./img/running-service.png)

![running service](./img/running-service-taskmgr.png)



```cmd

> dotnet run --unregister-service

...

Successfully unregistered service "Demo .NET Core Service" ("Demo ASP.NET Core Service running on .NET Core")

```

The service may show up as `disabled` for some time until all tools accessing the Windows services APIs have been closed.

See this [Stack Overflow question](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20561990/how-to-solve-the-specified-service-has-been-marked-for-deletion-error).



## API



Add a NuGet package reference to `DasMulli.Win32.ServiceUtils`.



Write a Windows service using:



```c#

using DasMulli.Win32.ServiceUtils;



class Program

{

    public static void Main(string[] args)

    {

        var myService = new MyService();

        var serviceHost = new Win32ServiceHost(myService);

        serviceHost.Run();

    }

}



class MyService : IWin32Service

{

    public string ServiceName => "Test Service";



    public void Start(string[] startupArguments, ServiceStoppedCallback serviceStoppedCallback)

    {

        // Start coolness and return

    }



    public void Stop()

    {

        // shut it down again

    }

}

```



You can then register your service via sc.exe (run cmd / powershell as administrator!):



`sc.exe create MyService DisplayName= "My Service" binpath= "C:\Program Files\dotnet\dotnet.exe C:\path\to\MyService.dll --run-as-service"`



Now go to Services or Task Manager and start your service.



`sc` will install your service as `SYSTEM` user which has way to many access rights to run things like web apps.

See [its reference](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc990289(v=ws.11).aspx) for more options.



If you want to get rid of it again, use:



`sc.exe delete MyService`



You can also create a service that registers itself like the example provided by

taking a look at [the sample source](./samples/TestService/Program.cs).



Also take a look at the [ASP.NET Core MVC sample](./samples/MvcTestService) which has additional logic to set the correct working directory.

When running it in development and not from the published output, be sure to pass `--preserve-working-directory` to it when registering

so that it will run from the project directory (e.g. run `dotnet run --register-service --preserve-working-directory` from and administrative

command prompt).



## Pause & Continue support



To create a service that supports being paused and later continued or stopped, implement `IPausableWin32Service` which extends `IWin32Service` by `Pause()` and `Continue()` methods

you can use to implement your pause & continue logic.



## Limitations



* No custom exceptions / error codes. Everything will throw a `Win32Exception` if something goes wrong (Its message should be

  interpretable on Windows).

* All exceptions thrown by the service implementation will cause the service host

  to report exit code -1 / 0xffffffff to the service control manager.

* Currently, no direct support for services supporting commands such as power event and system shutdown

  * However, consumers can now use `IWin32ServiceStateMachine` to implement custom behavior.

    Copy `SimpleServiceStateMachine` as a starting point to implement extended services.