C# – Windows service – how to make name configurable

cwindows-services

I have written a windows service in C#. The requirement at the beginning was that I should be running only one instance of that service, but that has changed and now I need multiple instances. This is why I need to change the service name according to the configuration file.

What would be the best way to make it register with the correct name ? Should I write another tool to do it? Can I just read the name from App.config file and set it in the service and installer classes accordingly ?

PS> I do not really understand how that thing with names work – one should set names in service and installer classes, but then when installing with installutil.exe or even powershell new-service the name also should be specified. Does that have to be the same? Or one overrides another?

Best Answer

You can simply read it from the app.config and set it in the installer classes.
Normally, a class that inherits from Installer is automatically created. It contains a member of type System.ServiceProcess.ServiceInstaller, most likely named serviceProcessInstaller1. This has a property ServiceName you can set. Additionally, you need to set the ServiceName property of the ServiceBase derived class to the same value.
In a default implementation, these are set to constant values in the respective InitializeComponent methods, but there is no reason to stick with this. It can be done dynamically without problems.

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From an int:

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From a string:

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From number you can also

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