How Does One Install An Application As A Service In Windows Server 2008?

[Aroc]

Hi everybody.

 

I have been pulling my hair out for the last couple of days. I'm a new Windows Server 2008 user and was wondering if there is a way to install an application as a service.

 

I host an internet radio station from my server and am using two applications called shoutcast and winamp. The problem is that whenevr I disconnect from the server, the two programs stop running. They don't turn off but they just stop running so my stream basically goes down.

 

I asked the people in the winamp and shoutcast forums but they can't seem to help me. They said that I should use task scheduler to have winamp and shoutcast run at startup to fix the problem. I tried that and it doesn't work.

 

Someone said that the only way to make the programs keep working when i disconnect is to install the applications as a service. Can someone teach me how to do that or point me to some detailed instructions? I looked all over the web and can't seem to find it. Please help!!!

[ICTCity]

Hi,

 

You could try this first:

 

Add a scheduled task which is triggered at COMPUTER STARTUP and ON DISCONNECT FROM USER SESSION.

 

If this doesn't resolve your problem, well, you can't do everything more... you need a BACKGROUND process or a SERVICE, but both must be written (so, who has made this program must do something).

 

 

There are also 2 others ways:

 

The first one is taken from msdn:

 

I, too, am wanting to use a "svrany" situation on Windows Server 2008, but couldn't find anything much more useful than this thread! (Yes, that is pathetic!) ... other than some references (etc.) to "sc". So after much banging of my head against a wall with "sc", I decided to experiment , and ... SUCCESS!!!

 

Here's what to do ...

1. At the time of this posting, there is no Windows Server 2008 Resource Kit Tools, so get the "srvany.exe " from the "Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools " and copy it to a suitable location on your Win2008 server (e.g. C:\Windows\System32\ ).
   
2. Use "sc " to create a new service that launches "srvany " (e.g. sc create MyService binPath= C:\Windows\System32\srvany.exe DisplayName= "My Custom Service" )
   
3. Using RegEdit : create a "Parameters " key for your service (e.g. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MyService\Paramaters\ )
   
4. Using RegEdit : within the newly created "Parameters " key , create a string value called "Application " and enter the full path to the application you are wanting to run as a service. (No quotes required.)
   

 

And that should do it.

 

Note : some applications store their settings in a user hive, not under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, so you will need to run the application to configure it, and then configure the service to run as that user.

 

Ref: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverMigration/thread/98a97aee-c62b-4683-94ab-3777899cf7de/

 

The second one (non-free):

http://www.firedaemon.com/

 

 

I never tried the first solution, but if you try it, please report if successful.

 

Cheers