Windows Service not showing up when installed with Setup project

Question

Hello, I have a simple windows Service developed in VS.net 2008 and VB.net. When I install the service using Installutil.exe from the command prompt it is working like a charm.

When I try to add a setup project and set the output and build and install it though it says successfully installed, it is not showing up in the services.

The event log shows that it is successfully installed. I just did check the registry, it did place the assemblies in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\installer\assemblies.

But I don't understand why it is not showing up in the services listing. I refreshed and restarted.

Any thoughts??

Thanks

Answer 1

A couple of ideas:

Are you installing under the same Windows account that you are attempting to run it under? Do you have the Setup Project's "InstallAllUsers" property set to True?

Are you sure that you have the ProductName and Title properties in the Setup Project set correctly? Maybe the service is showing up in the list under a different name, i.e., "SetupProject1" or something.

Similarily, in your service's ProjectInstaller class, in design view, look at the properties of the ServiceInstaller and make sure the ServiceName and DisplayName properties are set to what you want.

Answer 2

Found solution You have to add a custom action in your MSI project. So in custom actions, add the output of your service to the Install section. This will then run the required installation code for your service. i.e. the same as what the installutil.exe does

Thanks for all the help