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c#windows-7permissionswindows-services
Matt Burland
Matt Burland

Reputation: 45135

How to set permissions on a Windows Service

So I created a Windows Service using C# and created an installer in Visual Studio for it. It's set up to run manually as I don't want it running all the time. I then have another application (C# WPF) that should have an option to turn the service on and off (the service itself creates a web service that in turn communicates back to my WPF application). This works fine in Windows XP, but testing it on a Windows 7 machine, it won't start. Surprisingly it does throw an exception and crash, it just does nothing. I believe this is a permissions problem. If I go to the services control panel using the same Windows 7 account, I'm not able to start or stop the service either.

So my question is, is there a way to set my service so that regular user accounts can start and stop it? And is there a way to set my installer to do this automatically.

I don't want my WPF application to have run as administrator!

Upvotes: 2

Views: 3090

Answers (2)

Andy
Andy

Reputation: 8562

Windows 8 has a feature to allow services to start on demand, basically in response to some kind of trigger. But for Windows 7, your only real option is to set it to start automatically on startup. You could set it to start delayed, so that its not adding to the time it takes windows to start.

Regular users cannot start and stop services.

EDIT: Reading the link in the comment above it sounds to me as that is a blanket ability for users to start and stop services. I think the question here is about how to do this for a particular service.

Also, while it may be possible to set the service to run as that particular user, it really means it only works for that particular user and other users on the work station would not be able to use the application as they'd not be able to start or stop the service, assuming that the service running as a user implies that the user may control it, which may not be the case.

Also in reading the comments and other answer, I'm left to wonder if the service can be used by any user which can run the application. That is, if user A logs on to the work station and starts this app (and thus the service), locks it and walks away, what happens when use B logs on and tries to run the same service? Can the service support multiple users at the same time, or will funny things begin to happen if the service is utlized by the application running multiple times.

This really sounds like what is desired is for a background to be started when the application starts. This thread (or threads) would do the work of the service, and by their nature would end when the application ends. Of course more detail in the question would help give a better answer.

Of course if it is appropriate as a service, I see no reason not to have a service with a worker thread that sleeps, and another timer thread that acts as a producer that checks if there's work to do.

Upvotes: 1

David Heffernan
David Heffernan

Reputation: 612784

Whilst I believe that it is possible to secure a service so that regular users can start and stop it, I do not recommend doing so. This will create a lot of complication and is a potential cause for confusion. I always prefer to keep things simple, especially when it comes to installation and security.

So, if we can't let the user start and stop the service we probably need to let the service run all the time. Since you don't want the service to be active all the time I suggest you give the service its own internal Running flag. When this is set true, the service is active and does busy things, otherwise the service remains idle. You can use your preferred IPC mechanism (sockets, named pipes, WCF etc.) to allow the user to toggle this switch.

Upvotes: 2

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