Using InstallUtil and silently setting a windows service logon username/password

Question

I need to use InstallUtil to install a C# windows service. I need to set the service logon credentials (username and password). All of this needs to be done silently.

Is there are way to do something like this:

installutil.exe myservice.exe /customarg1=username /customarg2=password

Answer 1

No, installutil doesn't support that.

Of course if you wrote an installer; with a custom action then you would be able to use that as part of an MSI or via installutil.

Answer 2

Bravo to my co-worker (Bruce Eddy). He found a way we can make this command-line call:

installutil.exe /user=uname /password=pw myservice.exe

It is done by overriding OnBeforeInstall in the installer class:

namespace Test
{
    [RunInstaller(true)]
    public class TestInstaller : Installer
    {
     private ServiceInstaller serviceInstaller;
     private ServiceProcessInstaller serviceProcessInstaller;

     public OregonDatabaseWinServiceInstaller()
     {
      serviceInstaller = new ServiceInstaller();
      serviceInstaller.StartType = System.ServiceProcess.ServiceStartMode.Automatic;
      serviceInstaller.ServiceName = "Test";
      serviceInstaller.DisplayName = "Test Service";
      serviceInstaller.Description = "Test";
      serviceInstaller.StartType = ServiceStartMode.Automatic;
      Installers.Add(serviceInstaller);

      serviceProcessInstaller = new ServiceProcessInstaller();
      serviceProcessInstaller.Account = ServiceAccount.User; 
      Installers.Add(serviceProcessInstaller);
     }

     public string GetContextParameter(string key)
     {
      string sValue = "";
      try
      {
       sValue = this.Context.Parameters[key].ToString();
      }
      catch
      {
       sValue = "";
      }
      return sValue;
     }


     // Override the 'OnBeforeInstall' method.
     protected override void OnBeforeInstall(IDictionary savedState)
     {
      base.OnBeforeInstall(savedState);

      string username = GetContextParameter("user").Trim();
      string password = GetContextParameter("password").Trim();

      if (username != "")
       serviceProcessInstaller.Username = username;
      if (password != "")
       serviceProcessInstaller.Password = password;
     }
    }
}

Answer 3

Check out the answer I posted at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/255056/install-a-net-windows-service-without-installutilexe#255097

Answer 4

You can also force your service to run as User using ServiceProcessInstaller::Account = ServiceAccount.User;

A popup asking "[domain\]user, password" will appear during service installation.

public class MyServiceInstaller : Installer
{
    /// Public Constructor for WindowsServiceInstaller
    public MyServiceInstaller()
    {
        ServiceProcessInstaller serviceProcessInstaller = new ServiceProcessInstaller();
        ServiceInstaller serviceInstaller = new ServiceInstaller();

        //# Service Account Information
        serviceProcessInstaller.Account = ServiceAccount.User; // and not LocalSystem;
     ....

Answer 5

A much easier way than the posts above and with no extra code in your installer is to use the following:

installUtil.exe /username=domain\username /password=password /unattended C:\My.exe

Just ensure the account you use is valid. If not you will receive a "No mapping between account names and security id's was done" exception