I have a Windows Forms Application which runs on a server. I need this Application to always start automatically. Even if the Server just gets restartet and nobody logs into it the Application should run.
So the solutions with Registry don´t work here. I than read into Windows Services but it seems like I can´t start a WinForm Application with it.
Does anyone have an idea how I can achieve this automatic Start on Server startup?
The way we do things like that is that we create a Windows Service which runs without the need to have anyone logged in, and then if there is a need we have a separate GUI application (WinForms in your case) which interacts with the service, when needed.
The communication between the GUI application and the Windows Service is usually done by means of named pipes, but if you can get away with something simpler, like the GUI application saving a configuration file for the service to pick up, you might make it easier for you.
Related
I am writing a windows service to process emails on a daily basis. This service includes a App.Config file, which has several parameters for the service to work accordingly.
Every time, the admin user has to go and change / add / delete the pair inside the section using a text editor.
I am planning to include a windows form to load all the pair from the section and thinking of doing any modification through the form.
All I would like to know is whether it's possible to have a winform inside a windows service and open it when ever the configuration needs to be changed? I know we can have a seperated windows application and load the App.Config file of the windows service. I just want to avoid having a seperate app for this.
If you have done something very similar to this, please share your thoughts!
Regards,
Sriram
That sounds like a security issue if nothing else.
A Windows service runs in a different context and account and cannot interact with the desktop unless specifically allowed when installing the service. This is not enough of course so you'd also have to have the service running under the same account that is running the desktop - this in itself is really bad design and not something I would recommend.
You could also have the service executable decide what to do during launch, a common pattern is to have it spawn as a console application when debugging to simplify development. But then you'd have to stop the service and launch the service executable manually interactively to get the UI behaviour.
In any way, a separate configuration tool is the way to go.
Im working on application for Windows Server 2008 R2 (.NET 3.5.1) that would work even after cold reboot, without requring someone to log on any account on the server.
Few words about application itself, it is written in c# application for registering employees work time at the company. Users (employees), have thier cards which are beeing scanned by barcode scanner, each scan means either "work started" or "work stopped", everything is serlialized into xml file which is later on modified and put into .csv but that doesn't matter.
Barcode scanner is working as a keyboard, so all codes are beeing "typed" like from a keyborad, to the PC. I made application read the keys despite the fact that console application is not in focus, or not visible at all.
What i need to do is to make that application work even after cold reboot, it has to be fully automatic.
So far i figured out 2 approaches to do it, one is to create a service which would keep another process alive (if its not working, just turn it on), i didin't have much luck with this one, i have already created service that launches another process for me, but the process is working differently, if i would run it myself, there is no communication with the process so i cannot even tell if its the right one.
Another one is to just put my app into registery /microsoft/windows/current version/run, and enable autologon for user with limited prividges. This actually could work but it is not perfect solution, because after all we do not want to have user logged in on server in company 24/7 right?
I know that most of you are way more experienced in programming than i am, so i would appriciate any solutions how to solve my problem
Lichoniespi
Your options depend on physical security of the system (whether passers-by can do much to it apart from scanning a barcode), but let us assume that it is an easily accessible desktop. In that case, you probably do not want a logged in user.
Use the service approach. You do NOT need a separate process for accessing the keyboard. Create a global hook of type WH_KEYBOARD_LL.
Declare your callback function like this and put it into place with SetWindowsHookEx.
I would use the first approach, create a service, and to comunicate with the running application i would be using a network socket or pipe. For the service be sure that you're using an existing user account (not System) and allow it to interact with the Desktop.
The goal is for my main application to either launch or be told when a usb device is inserted.
To achieve this, I created a windows service and a shared remote object. I have a little windows forms application that runs in the background to launch the application.
Its the little windows forms application I'm struggling with. How can I get it to start automatically and stay running throughout the user session? It seems to me I'm asking for a lot of bugs with this design.
This little intermediate application simply does this:
channel = new TcpChannel(55555);
ChannelServices.RegisterChannel(channel, false);
RemotingConfiguration.RegisterWellKnownServiceType(typeof(SharedRemoteObject.RemoteObject), "USBDetectServer", WellKnownObjectMode.SingleCall);
That's all this thing does. What is stopping me from putting this in the service itself, rather than have this intermediate program running?
If I can't put it in the service, does anyone have suggestions about how you can have a little, GUI-less application running throughout the user session that is not a service?
Have a look at this http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dotnet/simplewindowsservice.aspx
Are there situations that we should use a windows service ?
I am building a client-server project (c#) and the server supposed to work alone without any user so someone advised me to use a windows service to run the server, is this right ? or there are a better solutions ?
Windows services are normally used when an application needs to continuously run. For example if they need to:
Wait for incoming requests. (Like through remoting or wcf)
Monitor a queue, file system etc.
If a program just needs to run periodically, like once a day. It is normally easier to create a scheduled task.
In your situation I would use a service for the following reasons:
You don't need to have a session running. This is good for security, and also reduces overhead on the server.
You get some of the managment commands built in for free
Start
Stop
Pause
Continue
You can handle server events such as shutdown.
Windows service can start running as soon as the machine is powered up, which makes ideal for running as a server, http server for example. No one is required to login.
You should create a Windows Service to run code in the background, without user interaction.
For example, a Windows Service will run even if no-one is logged on.
Any server that accepts connections (such as a mail, web, or FTP server) should usually be a Windows Service.
Well, a Windows Service provides a full framework for your application to work and to remain active while you want it to, so I think its ok.
Windows services are the right thing to use for something that should run all of the time, whether or not a user is logged in.
If you need something to run without an active user logged in, you need to use a windows service.
When you need the application to start running even when no one has physically logged into the machine, which is common with server machines, a service is a good candidate in this case. Especially because the service can be configured to auto start, which means the service will start when the machine is rebooted withut human intervention.
If however you are wanting to host web services (WCF) while a service is an option, you might consider hosting in IIS, this relieves you of writing the actual hosting code etc.
I have a Windows service which I want to periodically execute an external program. I'm currently doing this the usual way
Process program = Process.Start(#"C:\mpewatch\db_parameters\DBParameters.exe");
This doesn't seem to be working. I'm executing this from a separate thread which is started in my service's OnStart handler. Is there any conceptual problem with this? Is it not possible to execute external programs from a service like this?
You can execute external programs from a service, but there are security issues. For example, your service may be running under an account which does not have read access to the folder where the external program resides, even if your interactive account does have that access.
For test purposes, try to configure the service to run under your interactive account. If the program is invoked as expected, then the problem with the original account is that it does not have sufficient privileges to run the program.
Your question didn't indicate the operating system.
On Windows XP, you can configure your Windows service to interact with the desktop by opening the service control panel, double-clicking your service, selecting the Log On tab, configuring the service to run as local system, and checking the checkbox. It's pretty straightforward. You might try testing with something like Notepad.exe just to see if you can get it working.
On Vista (and presumably Windows 7), however, you may be out of luck. I have read that the ability for Windows services to interact with the desktop has been removed in Vista. I forget what the terminology is, but basically services will run in "shell 0," whereas users will occupy "shell 1". User applications will be able to communicate with services and vice versa using technology like WCF, but services will not be able to communicate directly with the desktop. For example, any error boxes that pop up will have to be dealt with by swapping to "shell 0." Again, this is based on something I read a few months ago, and I haven't gone looking at it again. For me, I've structured my Windows service to be configured using WCF via a front-end app.
I'm sorry I don't have a link for you, but if your service will eventually have to migrate to a newer OS (or you are already there), this is something to check on.
Another critical consideration with Windows Services is that there is no GUI. Technically, there is an option to allow the service to interact with a local GUI, but you will not see it. This is due to services running as the Local System user.
Within a service, any modal dialog box (OK, Cancel, etc) is considered an error.