Windows service not showing up in installed services (and hence unable to start)

Question

I just built a very simple Windows service to test something and built it to get the .exe. As per this article in MSDN, I also installed the service using the Visual Studio Command Prompt 2010 (ran as administrator) installutil TestService.exe.

When using the installutil command, everything runs fine and I get a message saying that the service has been installed. Further, to start the service when I check inside the Services node (in Server Explorer in Visual Studio), I do not see any service named TestService.exe.

Also, Start Menu -> My Computer (Right Click) -> Manage -> Services and Application -> Services does not show the TestService.exe through which I could start the service.

Any suggestions how do I start the service?

Code inside OnStart function:

Process[] testProcess = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad.exe"); if (testProcess.Length == 0) File.WriteAllText(@"C:\Users\User1\Desktop\service.txt", "nothing"); else File.WriteAllText(@"C:\Users\User1\Desktop\service.txt", "run");

Have you refreshed the services list? If it is still not there, the installation probably failed. See the install.log file to see for certain. — Oded
– Oded, Commented May 23, 2012 at 8:38
@Oded: Yes, I refreshed nd resrtaed Visual Studio but the service does not appear. Install.log shows the service insatlled successfully pastebin.com/8QJhi97H — user1240679
– user1240679, Commented May 23, 2012 at 8:48
It won't show TestService.exe, unless that's the display name you've set on the Service component in your project - this defaults to Service1. Is Service1 in the list? — Damien_The_Unbeliever
– Damien_The_Unbeliever, Commented May 23, 2012 at 8:49
Restarting Visual Studio won't help. It's the service control manager that needs to be refreshed. — David Heffernan
– David Heffernan, Commented May 23, 2012 at 8:51
@Damien_The_Unbeliever: No, Service1 is also not in the list (The File name inside the project for the Service is Service1) — user1240679
– user1240679, Commented May 23, 2012 at 9:09

Bali C · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-23 08:47:57Z

10

I have had problems with installutil before and found using the sc command works whereas installutil didn't.

Try installing your service with this command:

sc create servicename binPath= serviceexe.exe

answered May 23, 2012 at 8:47

Bali C

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7 Comments

Damien_The_Unbeliever Over a year ago

The problem with sc create is that it doesn't understand .NET installer classes, so it will not run them. This can cause problems with e.g. the event source not being created.

user1240679 Over a year ago

@Bali C: This kind of worked and the service appears in the Services inside Server explorer. But now, I am not able to start this (since there's no start option here ) screenshot: i.imgur.com/oRaXs.png

Bali C Over a year ago

@user1240679 Can you start the service in Services console? services.msc

Bali C Over a year ago

@user1240679 Or try net start servicename

user1240679 Over a year ago

@BaliC: No, there appear some error when I tried from services.msc. Screenshot: i.imgur.com/gTOcz.png

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Darin Kolev · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-06 21:10:27Z

I just had this issue and was able to resolve it with the following steps. If you skip these steps, your setup project will build and copy your files to the correct directory; however, they will not register your binary as a service without these steps.

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

This one worked for me. Couldn't figure out why the service was missing from the services.msc and had forgotten (doh!)to add the service to the installer.
In vs2012 have no "Setup project" option how to solve it there ??

JabberwockyDecompiler · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-31 14:39:16Z

While working in VS 2013, I ran into this issue when I added the installer by right clicking on the project and adding a new item of type Installer Class. The key difference is that you need to right click on the Design View of the Windows Service and click Add Installer.

For full details on .Net 4.5 and 4.6 see Creating a service, Adding Installers, and Installing a Service

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