Install a Windows Service Application Windows Development Fundamentals LESSON 3.2

Windows Development Fundamentals LESSON 3.2 Lesson Overview How are Windows ® Service applications installed? In this lesson, you will learn about:  Installing a Windows Service application manually  Using the Component Designer to create installers

Windows Development Fundamentals LESSON 3.2 Anticipatory Set  List the stages in the lifetime of a Windows Service application; give a brief description of each stage, including the related ServiceBase methods.

Windows Development Fundamentals LESSON 3.2 The Need to Install a Service Application  Unlike Windows Forms and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) projects, Windows Service applications cannot be run directly from Microsoft Visual Studio ® by simply pressing F5.  Instead, services must be registered with the Services Control Manager—the mechanism that Windows uses to manage Windows Service applications.  Generally, developers can install their service application two different ways:  — Installing (and then uninstalling) the service manually  — Adding installers to your project  Note: A Windows Service application does not start when it is installed. It still must be started to trigger the OnStart method and being operating.

Windows Development Fundamentals LESSON 3.2 Installing a Service Manually  Installutil.exe is a command-line utility used to install—or uninstall—a Windows Services application manually. The user must have Administrator permissions to use Installutil.exe.  After building your project, use the command line and navigate to the folder that contains your executable file. Then run: installutil MyService.exe  To uninstall the Windows Service, repeat the process, adding the /u parameter: installutil /u MyService.exe Note: in these examples, MyService.exe is used to represent the name of your project’s output. You would replace MyService.exe with the file that was created when you built your project.

Windows Development Fundamentals LESSON 3.2 Installers (or Installer Classes)  Installer classes perform programmed actions when the project is installed.  For example, they can tell the setup to install a Windows Service application. To add installers to your project, perform the following steps: 1. Access the Component Designer for your services project. 2. Right-click the background of the Component Designer and select Add Installer. 3. A class called ProjectInstaller is added to the project. 4. Create a setup project (with a custom action). Next, you will need to create a setup project for your application.

Windows Development Fundamentals LESSON 3.2 Setup Projects A setup project creates the setup files necessary to install your application on a target computer. To create one, perform the following steps: 1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the solution and select Add, then New Project. 2. Select Setup And Deployment Projects and Setup Project; give the project a name, such as ServiceSetup. 3. In Solution Explorer, right-click the new project’s name, select Add, and choose Project Output. 4. In the Add Project Output Group dialog box, select Primary Output and click OK.

Windows Development Fundamentals LESSON 3.2 Setup Projects (Continued) – adding a custom action 1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the setup project, select View, and select Custom Actions. 2. When the Custom Actions editor appears, right-click the Custom Actions node and select Add Custom Action. 3. When the Select Item In Project dialog box appears, double-click Application Folder and select Primary Output From [project name] (Active). To install your service, in Solution Explorer, right-click the setup project and select Install; and then proceed through the Setup Wizard that appears.

Windows Development Fundamentals LESSON 3.2 Starting the Service Application  There are several ways to start a service that has been installed. For most users, the Services Control Manager is the typical method.  From Visual Studio, services can be started from the Server Explorer (View menu, Server Explorer) by expanding the Services node and right-clicking the service name.

Windows Development Fundamentals LESSON 3.2 Lesson Review  Using the notes you took during this presentation, create a Windows Service application and add installers and a setup project.