WindowsServices - skilchen/bots GitHub Wiki

Creating Windows Services

If running Bots on a Windows server, you can create services to keep the important background processes running. This is the equivalent of a "daemon" process in Linux.

Prerequisites

  • srvany.exe - This is a Microsoft utility included in the Windows Server Resource Kit Tools.
  • sc.exe - The SC command is included by default in most Windows installations and is also available in the resource kit.
  • Python and Bots are already installed and working, of course!

Procedure

  • Copy srvany.exe to C:\Windows\System32
  • Open a command prompt and enter the following commands, according to the service required. Note: position of equal signs and spaces must be exactly as shown. 
        start= auto DisplayName= "Bots Webserver" sc description "Bots
    Webserver" "This is the webserver for Bots EDI translator." 

        "C:\\Windows\\System32\\srvany.exe" start= auto DisplayName= "Bots Job
    Queue" sc description "Bots Job Queue" "Provides job queue and launch
    functionality for Bots EDI Translator" 

        auto DisplayName= "Bots Directory Monitor" sc description "Bots
    Directory Monitor" "Monitors one or more directories for new files and
    creates Bots jobs to process them"
  • Run regedit and navigate to `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\`
  • In the right hand pane of regedit, right click, New, Key, call it `Parameters`.
  • Click the new Parameters key to select it.
  • In the right hand pane, right click, New, String value, call it `Application`.
  • Double click Application, enter the command to run the required Bots script. This will vary according to your installed location and Bots version, eg. 
        C:\\Python27\\Scripts\\bots-webserver.py 
    C:\\Python27\\python.exe C:\\Python27\\Scripts\\bots-jobqueueserver.py 
    C:\\Python27\\python.exe C:\\Python27\\Scripts\\bots-dirmonitor.py
  • Run `services.msc` to start/stop/configure your new services.

Reference links

If any of the above doesn't make sense to you, I have created a small free utility program to do it all. This is a general purpose program for creating services. My service configuration for Bots is included; you may need to edit the paths to suit your installation. You can download the program from here.