Creating Windows Service In .NET with Topshelf

Sushil Kumar

C#.NET Windows ServiceCreating Windows ServiceTopshelf

17 Comments

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Guru Prasad7y ago
How to stop the service after finishing my task.(Automatically quit the service. No more execution). Is that possible then please let me know
Sushil Kumar7y ago
For any assistance contact me at [email protected]
Amith Basha8y ago
How to get arguments while starting service?
Maninder Singh8y ago
Is there a way I can package this application as an MSI installer as deliverable so it can be installed as a windows service on client's machine?
- Jim Daniels7y ago
  Take a look at Wix#, which is a C# front end for the WiX Installer Toolset. See here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/26642909/can-i-install-a-windows-service-with-wixsharp File service;var project = new Project("My Product", new Dir(@"%ProgramFiles%\My Company\My Product", service = new File(@"..\SimpleService\MyApp.exe"))); service.ServiceInstaller = new ServiceInstaller { Name = "WixSharp.TestSvc", StartOn = SvcEvent.Install, StopOn = SvcEvent.InstallUninstall_Wait, RemoveOn = SvcEvent.Uninstall_Wait, };
- Jim Daniels7y ago
  GitHub link for Wix#: https://github.com/oleg-shilo/wixsharp
Sibeesh Venu10y ago
Nice Share
Vignesh Mani10y ago
Good
Mohammed Ibrahim10y ago
nice
Raja T10y ago
Nice, Thanks for sharing
- Sushil Kumar10y ago
  Thanks
Asfend Yar10y ago
nice
- Sushil Kumar10y ago
  Thanks
Humayun Kabir Mamun10y ago
Nice...
- Sushil Kumar10y ago
  Thanks
Ankit Bansal10y ago
Topshelf is new to me..nice sharing..create more articles using topshelf..
- Sushil Kumar10y ago
  Sure, Thanks Ankit.

Microsoft Windows Services/NT services, allow us to create long-running applications that run in the background repetitively without the need of any user interface or user interaction like Windows Forms Application, WPF Application, Console Application.

There are different ways to create Windows Services applications using the .NET Framework, but the one way is to use open source project Topshelf.

Topshelf is an open source Windows service framework for the .NET platform that makes it easy to create a Windows service.

Why would I use Topshelf to create Windows service?

It makes it easy to create a Windows service as well as test the service, debug the service, and install it into the Windows Service Control Manager (SCM) with simple commands.

By using Topshelf, we don’t need to understand the complex details of service classes, perform installation via InstallUtil, or learn how to attach the debugger to services for troubleshooting issues.

With Topshelf, creating a Windows service is as easy as creating a console application. Once the console application is created, we need to create a single service class with public Start and Stop methods and configure asa service using Topshelf’s configuration API.

Now, we have a complete Windows service that can be debugged using the debugger (just by pressing F5) and installed using the Topshelf command (install/uninstall).

Here is link to Topshelf open source project documentation.

Following are the steps to create Windows service in .Net with Topshelf:

Create a New Project with Console Application Template using Visual Studio.
Install Topshelf using NuGet Package Manager.
Create a class that contain our service logic: MyService.cs.
1. namespace WindowsServiceWithTopshelf
2. {
3. public class MyService
4. {
5. public void Start()
6. {
7. // write code here that runs when the Windows Service starts up.
8. }
9. public void Stop()
10. {
11. // write code here that runs when the Windows Service stops.
12. }
13. }
14. }
Create a class to configure our service logic using the Topshelf project: ConfigureService.cs.
1. using Topshelf;
2. namespace WindowsServiceWithTopshelf
3. {
4. internal static class ConfigureService
5. {
6. internal static void Configure()
7. {
8. HostFactory.Run(configure =>
9. {
10. configure.Service < MyService > (service =>
11. {
12. service.ConstructUsing(s => new MyService());
13. service.WhenStarted(s => s.Start());
14. service.WhenStopped(s => s.Stop());
15. });
16. //Setup Account that window service use to run.
17. configure.RunAsLocalSystem();
18. configure.SetServiceName("MyWindowServiceWithTopshelf");
19. configure.SetDisplayName("MyWindowServiceWithTopshelf");
20. configure.SetDescription("My .Net windows service with Topshelf");
21. });
22. }
23. }
24. }
Call configure service in Main():
1. namespace WindowsServiceWithTopshelf
2. {
3. class Program
4. {
5. static void Main(string[] args)
6. {
7. ConfigureService.Configure();
8. }
9. }
10. }
Build Console application.
Install/uninstall Console Application using Topshelf command.
1. Run Command Prompt as an Administrator and navigate to the bin/debug folder of Console Application.
  
  > WindowsServiceWithTopshelf.exe install
2. To uninstall windows service run this command.
  
  > WindowsServiceWithTopshelf.exe uninstall
How to Debug Window service created using Topshelf?

Just by pressing F5 like console application.

References:

Topshelf Documentation