How do I change a Windows Service's startup type in .NET (post-install)?

Question

I have a program that installs a service, and I'd like to be able to give the user the option later on to change the startup type to "Automatic".

The OS is XP - if it makes any difference (Windows APIs?).

How can I do this in .NET? C# if possible! :)

Answer 1

In the service installer you have to say

[RunInstaller(true)]
public class ProjectInstaller : System.Configuration.Install.Installer 
{
    public ProjectInstaller()
    {
        ...
        this.serviceInstaller1.StartType = System.ServiceProcess.ServiceStartMode.Automatic;
    }
}

You could also ask the user during installation and then set this value. Or just set this property in the visual studio designer.

Answer 2

ServiceInstaller myInstaller = new System.ServiceProcess.ServiceInstaller();
myInstaller.StartType = System.ServiceProcess.ServiceStartMode.Automatic;

Answer 3

In ProjectInstaller.cs, click/select the Service1 component on the design surface. In the properties windo there is a startType property for you to set this.

Answer 4

One way would be to uninstall previous service and install new one with updated parameters directly from your C# application.

You will need WindowsServiceInstaller in your app.

[RunInstaller(true)]
public class WindowsServiceInstaller : Installer
{
    public WindowsServiceInstaller()
    {
        ServiceInstaller si = new ServiceInstaller();
        si.StartType = ServiceStartMode.Automatic; // get this value from some global variable
        si.ServiceName = @"YOUR APP";
        si.DisplayName = @"YOUR APP";
        this.Installers.Add(si);

        ServiceProcessInstaller spi = new ServiceProcessInstaller();
        spi.Account = System.ServiceProcess.ServiceAccount.LocalSystem;
        spi.Username = null;
        spi.Password = null;
        this.Installers.Add(spi);
    }
}

and to reinstall service just use these two lines.

ManagedInstallerClass.InstallHelper(new string[] { "/u", Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location });
ManagedInstallerClass.InstallHelper(new string[] { Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location });

Answer 5

You can do it in the Installer class for the service by setting ServiceInstaller.StartType property to whatever value you get (you'll probably have to do this in a custom action since you want the user to specify) or you can modify the Service's "Start" REG_DWORD entry, the value 2 is automatic and 3 is manual. Its in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Services\YourServiceName

Answer 6

You can use the OpenService() and ChangeServiceConfig() native Win32 APIs for that purpose. I believe that there is some information on pinvoke.net and of course on MSDN. You might want to check out the P/Invoke Interopt Assistant.