CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#.netwindowsbatch-fileapplication-restart
Noli
Noli

Reputation: 614

Restart an application by itself

I want to build my application with the function to restart itself. I found on codeproject

ProcessStartInfo Info=new ProcessStartInfo();
Info.Arguments="/C choice /C Y /N /D Y /T 3 & Del "+
               Application.ExecutablePath;
Info.WindowStyle=ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
Info.CreateNoWindow=true;
Info.FileName="cmd.exe";
Process.Start(Info); 
Application.Exit();

This does not work at all... And the other problem is, how to start it again like this? Maybe there are also arguments to start applications.

Edit:

http://www.codeproject.com/script/Articles/ArticleVersion.aspx?aid=31454&av=58703

Upvotes: 21

Views: 105510

Answers (11)

andy250
andy250

Reputation: 20464

In case the app is running as a Windows Service it's quite easy to restart it using powershell:

var psi = new ProcessStartInfo(
    "pwsh",
    "-Command \"Start-Sleep -Seconds 3; Restart-Service -Name 'TheServiceName';\""
);
Process.Start(psi);
Environment.Exit(0);

Upvotes: 0

bwall
bwall

Reputation: 1060

This worked for me:

Process.Start(Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName);
Application.Current.Shutdown();

Some of the other answers have neat things like waiting for a ping to give the initial application time to wind down, but if you just need something simple, this is nice.

Upvotes: 1

Pal
Pal

Reputation: 776

For .Net application solution looks like this:

System.Web.HttpRuntime.UnloadAppDomain()

I used this to restart my web application after changing AppSettings in myconfig file.

System.Configuration.Configuration configuration = WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration("~");
configuration.AppSettings.Settings["SiteMode"].Value = model.SiteMode.ToString();
configuration.Save();

Upvotes: 0

Martin.Martinsson
Martin.Martinsson

Reputation: 2154

My solution:

        private static bool _exiting;
    private static readonly object SynchObj = new object();

        public static void ApplicationRestart(params string[] commandLine)
    {
        lock (SynchObj)
        {
            if (Assembly.GetEntryAssembly() == null)
            {
                throw new NotSupportedException("RestartNotSupported");
            }

            if (_exiting)
            {
                return;
            }

            _exiting = true;

            if (Environment.OSVersion.Version.Major < 6)
            {
                return;
            }

            bool cancelExit = true;

            try
            {
                List<Form> openForms = Application.OpenForms.OfType<Form>().ToList();

                for (int i = openForms.Count - 1; i >= 0; i--)
                {
                    Form f = openForms[i];

                    if (f.InvokeRequired)
                    {
                        f.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(() =>
                        {
                            f.FormClosing += (sender, args) => cancelExit = args.Cancel;
                            f.Close();
                        }));
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        f.FormClosing += (sender, args) => cancelExit = args.Cancel;
                        f.Close();
                    }

                    if (cancelExit) break;
                }

                if (cancelExit) return;

                Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo
                {
                    UseShellExecute = true,
                    WorkingDirectory = Environment.CurrentDirectory,
                    FileName = Application.ExecutablePath,
                    Arguments = commandLine.Length > 0 ? string.Join(" ", commandLine) : string.Empty
                });

                Application.Exit();
            }
            finally
            {
                _exiting = false;
            }
        }
    }

Upvotes: 1

Christoph Fink
Christoph Fink

Reputation: 23113

Why not just the following?

Process.Start(Application.ExecutablePath); 
Application.Exit();

If you want to be sure the app does not run twice either use Environment.Exit(-1) which kills the process instantaneously (not really the nice way) or something like starting a second app, which checks for the process of the main app and starts it again as soon as the process is gone.

Upvotes: 9

dodgy_coder
dodgy_coder

Reputation: 13063

Another way of doing this which feels a little cleaner than these solutions is to run a batch file which includes a specific delay to wait for the current application to terminate. This has the added benefit of preventing the two application instances from being open at the same time.

Example windows batch file ("restart.bat"):

sleep 5
start "" "C:\Dev\MyApplication.exe"

In the application, add this code:

// Launch the restart batch file
Process.Start(@"C:\Dev\restart.bat");

// Close the current application (for WPF case)
Application.Current.MainWindow.Close();

// Close the current application (for WinForms case)
Application.Exit();

Upvotes: 2

Bali C
Bali C

Reputation: 31251

I use similar code to the code you tried when restarting apps. I send a timed cmd command to restart the app for me like this:

ProcessStartInfo Info = new ProcessStartInfo();
Info.Arguments = "/C ping 127.0.0.1 -n 2 && \"" + Application.ExecutablePath + "\"";
Info.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
Info.CreateNoWindow = true;
Info.FileName = "cmd.exe";
Process.Start(Info);
Application.Exit();

The command is sent to the OS, the ping pauses the script for 2-3 seconds, by which time the application has exited from Application.Exit(), then the next command after the ping starts it again.

Note: The \" puts quotes around the path, incase it has spaces, which cmd can't process without quotes.

Hope this helps!

Upvotes: 48

Mentezza
Mentezza

Reputation: 637

You have the initial application A, you want to restart. So, When you want to kill A, a little application B is started, B kill A, then B start A, and kill B.

To start a process:

Process.Start("A.exe");

To kill a process, is something like this

Process[] procs = Process.GetProcessesByName("B");

foreach (Process proc in procs)
   proc.Kill();

Upvotes: 7

JeremyK
JeremyK

Reputation: 1113

A lot of people are suggesting to use Application.Restart. In reality, this function rarely performs as expected. I have never had it shut down the application I am calling it from. I have always had to close the application through other methods such as closing the main form.

You have two ways of handling this. You either have an external program that closes the calling process and starts a new one,

or,

you have the start of your new software kill other instances of same application if an argument is passed as restart.

        private void Application_Startup(object sender, StartupEventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
                if (e.Args.Length > 0)
                {
                    foreach (string arg in e.Args)
                    {
                        if (arg == "-restart")
                        {
                            // WaitForConnection.exe
                            foreach (Process p in Process.GetProcesses())
                            {
                                // In case we get Access Denied
                                try
                                {
                                    if (p.MainModule.FileName.ToLower().EndsWith("yourapp.exe"))
                                    {
                                        p.Kill();
                                        p.WaitForExit();
                                        break;
                                    }
                                }
                                catch
                                { }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            catch
            {
            }
        }

Upvotes: 5

Avner Shahar-Kashtan
Avner Shahar-Kashtan

Reputation: 14700

Winforms has the Application.Restart() method, which does just that. If you're using WPF, you can simply add a reference to System.Windows.Forms and call it.

Upvotes: 2

Shai
Shai

Reputation: 25595

Why not use

Application.Restart();

??

More on Restart

Upvotes: 31

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