InWindows NT operating systems, aWindows service is acomputer program thatoperates in the background.[1] It is similar in concept to aUnixdaemon.[1] A Windows service must conform to the interface rules and protocols of theService Control Manager, the component responsible for managing Windows services. It is the Services and Controller app, services.exe, that launches all the services and manages their actions, such as start, end, etc.[2]
Windows services can be configured to start when the operating system is started and run in the background as long as Windows is running. Alternatively, they can be started manually or by an event. Windows NT operating systemsinclude numerous services which run in context of threeuser accounts: System, Network Service and Local Service. These Windows components are often associated withHost Process for Windows Services. Because Windows services operate in the context of their own dedicated user accounts, they can operate when a user is not logged on.
Prior toWindows Vista, services installed as an "interactive service" could interact with Windowsdesktop and show agraphical user interface. In Windows Vista, however, interactive services are deprecated and may not operate properly, as a result ofWindows Service hardening.[3][4]
Windows administrators can manage services via:
The Services snap-in, built uponMicrosoft Management Console, can connect to the local computer or a remote computer on the network, enabling users to:[1]
Thecommand-line tool to manage Windows services is sc.exe. It is available for all versions ofWindows NT.[7] This utility is included withWindows XP[8] and later[9] and also inReactOS.
Thesc command's scope of management is restricted to the local computer. However, starting withWindows Server 2003, not only cansc do all that the Services snap-in does, but it can also install and uninstall services.[9]
Thesc command duplicates some features of thenet command.[10]
The ReactOS version was developed by Ged Murphy and is licensed under theGPL.[11]
| Name | Description | Windows support | ReactOS support |
|---|---|---|---|
| query | Show service status | Yes | Yes |
| queryex | Show extended service info (e.g. pid, flags) | Yes | Yes |
| start | Start a service | Yes | Yes |
| pause | Pause a service | Yes | Yes |
| interrogate | Send an INTERROGATE control request to a service | Yes | Yes |
| continue | Continue a service | Yes | Yes |
| stop | Stop a service | Yes | Yes |
| config | permanently change the service configuration | Yes | Yes |
| description | Change a service description | Yes | Yes |
| failure | Change the actions taken by a service upon failure | Yes | Yes |
| failureflag | Yes | No | |
| sidtype | Yes | No | |
| privs | Yes | No | |
| managedaccount | Yes | No | |
| qc | Show the service config (e.g. dependencies, full path etc.) | Yes | Yes |
| qdescription | Query a service description | Yes | Yes |
| qfailure | Yes | No | |
| qfailureflag | Yes | No | |
| qsidtype | Yes | No | |
| qprivs | Yes | No | |
| qtriggerinfo | Yes | No | |
| qpreferrednode | Yes | No | |
| qmanagedaccount | Yes | No | |
| qprotection | Yes | No | |
| quserservice | Yes | No | |
| delete | Delete a service | Yes | Yes |
| create | Create a service | Yes | Yes |
| control | Send a control to a service | Yes | Yes |
| sdshow | Display a service's security descriptor using SDDL | Yes | Yes |
| sdset | Sets a service's security descriptor using SDDL | Yes | Yes |
| showsid | Yes | No | |
| triggerinfo | Yes | No | |
| preferrednode | Yes | No | |
| GetDisplayName | Show the service DisplayName | Yes | Yes |
| GetKeyName | Show the service ServiceKeyName | Yes | Yes |
| EnumDepend | Show the service Dependencies | Yes | Yes |
| boot | Yes | No | |
| Lock | Yes | No | |
| QueryLock | Yes | No |
The following example enumerates the status for active services & drivers.[12]
C:\>sc queryThe following example displays the status for theWindows Event log service.[12]
C:\>sc query eventlogThe Microsoft.PowerShell.Management PowerShell module (included with Windows) has several cmdlets which can be used to manage Windows services:
Windows also includes components that can do a subset of what the snap-in, Sc.exe and PowerShell do. Thenet command can start, stop, pause or resume a Windows service.[21] In Windows Vista and later,Windows Task Manager can show a list of installed services and start or stop them.MSConfig can enable or disable (see startup type description above) Windows services.
Windows services are installed and removed via *.INF setup scripts bySetupAPI; an installed service can be started immediately following its installation, and a running service can be stopped before its deinstallation.[22][23][24]
For a program to run as a Windows service, the program needs to be written to handle service start, stop, and pause messages from theService Control Manager (SCM) through theSystem Services API. SCM is the Windows component responsible for managing service processes.
TheWindows Resource Kit forWindows NT 3.51,Windows NT 4.0 andWindows 2000 provides tools to control the use and registration of services:SrvAny.exe acts as aservice wrapper to handle the interface expected of a service (e.g. handle service_start and respond sometime later with service_started or service_failed) and allow any executable or script to be configured as a service.Sc.exe allows new services to be installed, started, stopped and uninstalled.[25]
The service CmdAsSystem is configured as interactive whose support is being deprecated. The service may not function properly. The problem is that this script tries to create and start an interactive service. Interactive services will not function correctly due to Session 0 Isolation in Windows Vista.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Vista
