Crash when attempting to install 32bit delphi service on 2008 r2

32bit-64bitdelphiwindows-server-2008-r2windows-service

I have an old 32bit delphi application (with no source code), that is used as a windows service. It runs fine on windows 2003 32bit.

I do not know if it has been created as a service originally, or converted to one later on. It is supposed to get installed to the server using a /install flag on the command line.

When attempting to install it on a Windows 2008 R2 virtual machine, I am getting an APPCRASH event in the event log.

The service is supposed to read a blob from a remote SQL Server instance and write it out to the local HD. It also reads some initialization data from the registry.

Is there any way I can install this application as a service on windows 2008 r2 64bit?

If not, are there any workarounds I can try?

What are your suggestions?

Best Answer

We've written quite a few of those Delphi 32-bits services ourselves, and the only thing that actually helps us "debug" the services running on servers (64-bit included) without the source code is Sysinternal's (now Microsoft Technet) Process Monitor.

In your specific case, I'd download Process Monitor (it's a simple executable) and run it and then set it up to filter only your service's .exe application. Look around for it's docs, but this is actually a very simple filter.

Keep Process Monitor running (filtered) on both machines while you start the service. Compare results from Process Monitor. I bet you have something like a missing registry key, or a missing directory or permission which causes the Delphi app to raise and Exception. This should be easy to spot on Process Monitor. Even more if you have a working machine to compare to.

Related Solutions

VSS error 521 when attempting backup

Try running the DOS command "vssadmin list writers" and "vss admin list providers". Capture the output of these command, as they will help in debugging the issue. If a particular writer reports any unexpected state, search the web for conditions that may be causing this issue.

A quick way to reset the writers is to reboot the server.

If VSS errors continue to persist, try re-registering VSS. Follow the steps outlined in MS KB article 940184. Doublecheck for other VSS providers, i.e. any backup software that installs any sort of Open File agent (examples would be St Bernard, older versions of Backup Exec Open File Option, etc). These can be shown by typing "vssadmin list providers" at a command prompt. Providers from uninstalled software can be deleted by removing the offending CLSID of the VSS provider and rebooting the machine.

Is the machine a 64-bit machine? Are you getting "A function call was invalid because of the state of either the backup extensions or the coordinator. For example calling AddToSnapshot set prior to calling StartSnapshotSet." ? If so, try deleting the Subscription key per MS KB 940184

  1.    Click Start, click Run, type Regedit, and then click OK.
  2.    Locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\EventSystem\{26c409cc-ae86-11d1-b616-00805fc79216\Subscriptions
  3.    On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm that you want to delete the subkey.
  4.    Exit Registry Editor.
  5.    Reboot the machine

Next you can try running a utility called vshadow. It's part of the windows SDK.

To do a single manual snapshot, run

vshadow [drive letter]

which would take and immediately destroy a VSS snapshot of C: and D:. If that works, VSS is probably OK; if not it's a VSS problem.

All of this is where I would start to troubleshoot VSS problems.

As with anything, be extremely careful when modifying the registry

Trying to get an old 32-bit service (.dll) to run on a Windows 2008 server

If it uses an ODBC DSN to connect, did you have to set this up manually?

It's worth noting that there are two versions of the ODBC admin console, one 32-bit and the other 64-bit. Data sources defined in one version do not appear in the other.

The 64-bit one is the default that gets opened via the Administrative Tools folder. The 32-bit one lives in %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64. Confusingly enough, both executables are called odbcad32.

Try running the 32-bit console and defining the System DSN in there. It may be that your DLL is looking in the wrong part of the registry for the data source and not finding anything.

Best Answer

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VSS error 521 when attempting backup

Trying to get an old 32-bit service (.dll) to run on a Windows 2008 server

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