Tag: windows service

Install and configure a Windows Service from the command line

05/19/202402/05/2021 by Maclain Wiltzer

In this article I’ll show how to install and configure a Windows Service, query its status and properties, and then how to uninstall it. I’ll be using the command line utilities installutil.exe and sc.exe to install and configure the service. Add a service installer class to your Windows Service project In order to use installutil.exe … Read more

How to use relative paths in a Windows Service

05/19/202406/10/2020 by Maclain Wiltzer

Relative paths are resolved relative to the current working directory. When you’re running a Windows Service, the default working directory is C:\Windows\system32 or C:\Windows\SysWOW64. Therefore relative paths are resolved from these system folders, which can lead to problems when read/writing files. Here are the most common problems you’ll run into: System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a … Read more

Run a Windows Service as a console app

05/19/202401/16/2020 by Maclain Wiltzer

When working on a Windows Service project you may want to run it as a Console App so you can see what’s going on. If you try to run the service in Visual Studio you’ll get an error that says: “Cannot start service from the command line or a debugger. A Windows Service must first … Read more