Introduction to Windows Service Applications

Microsoft Windows services, formerly known as NT services, enable you to create long-running executable applications that run in their own Windows sessions. These services can be automatically started when the computer boots, can be paused and restarted, and do not show any user interface. These features make services ideal for use on a server or whenever you need long-running functionality that does not interfere with other users who are working on the same computer. You can also run services in the security context of a specific user account that is different from the logged-on user or the default computer account. For more information about services and Windows sessions, see the Windows SDK documentation.

You can easily create services by creating an application that is installed as a service. For example, suppose you want to monitor performance counter data and react to threshold values. You could write a Windows Service application that listens to the performance counter data, deploy the application, and begin collecting and analyzing data.

You create your service as a Microsoft Visual Studio project, defining code within it that controls what commands can be sent to the service and what actions should be taken when those commands are received. Commands that can be sent to a service include starting, pausing, resuming, and stopping the service; you can also execute custom commands.

After you create and build the application, you can install it by running the command-line utility InstallUtil.exe and passing the path to the service’s executable file. You can then use the Services Control Manager to start, stop, pause, resume, and configure your service. You can also accomplish many of these same tasks in the Services node in Server Explorer or by using the ServiceController class.

Service Applications vs. Other Visual Studio Applications

Service applications function differently from many other project types in several ways:

The compiled executable file that a service application project creates must be installed on the server before the project can function in a meaningful way. You cannot debug or run a service application by pressing F5 or F11; you cannot immediately run a service or step into its code. Instead, you must install and start your service, and then attach a debugger to the service’s process. For more information, see How to: Debug Windows Service Applications.

Unlike some types of projects, you must create installation components for service applications. The installation components install and register the service on the server and create an entry for your service with the Windows Services Control Manager. For more information, see How to: Add Installers to Your Service Application.

The Main method for your service application must issue the Run command for the services your project contains. The Run method loads the services into the Services Control Manager on the appropriate server. If you use the Windows Services project template, this method is written for you automatically. Note that loading a service is not the same thing as starting the service. See «Service Lifetime» below for more information.

Windows Service applications run in a different window station than the interactive station of the logged-on user. A window station is a secure object that contains a Clipboard, a set of global atoms, and a group of desktop objects. Because the station of the Windows service is not an interactive station, dialog boxes raised from within a Windows service application will not be seen and may cause your program to stop responding. Similarly, error messages should be logged in the Windows event log rather than raised in the user interface.

The Windows service classes supported by the .NET Framework do not support interaction with interactive stations, that is, the logged-on user. The .NET Framework also does not include classes that represent stations and desktops. If your Windows service must interact with other stations, you will need to access the unmanaged Windows API. For more information, see the Windows SDK documentation.

The interaction of the Windows service with the user or other stations must be carefully designed to include scenarios such as there being no logged on user, or the user having an unexpected set of desktop objects. In some cases, it may be more appropriate to write a Windows application that runs under the control of the user.

Windows service applications run in their own security context and are started before the user logs into the Windows computer on which they are installed. You should plan carefully what user account to run the service within; a service running under the system account has more permissions and privileges than a user account.

Service Lifetime

A service goes through several internal states in its lifetime. First, the service is installed onto the system on which it will run. This process executes the installers for the service project and loads the service into the Services Control Manager for that computer. The Services Control Manager is the central utility provided by Windows to administer services.

After the service has been loaded, it must be started. Starting the service allows it to begin functioning. You can start a service from the Services Control Manager, from Server Explorer, or from code by calling the Start method. The Start method passes processing to the application’s OnStart method and processes any code you have defined there.

A running service can exist in this state indefinitely until it is either stopped or paused or until the computer shuts down. A service can exist in one of three basic states: Running, Paused, or Stopped. The service can also report the state of a pending command: ContinuePending, PausePending, StartPending, or StopPending. These statuses indicate that a command has been issued, such as a command to pause a running service, but has not been carried out yet. You can query the Status to determine what state a service is in, or use the WaitForStatus to carry out an action when any of these states occurs.

You can pause, stop, or resume a service from the Services Control Manager, from Server Explorer, or by calling methods in code. Each of these actions can call an associated procedure in the service (OnStop, OnPause, or OnContinue), in which you can define additional processing to be performed when the service changes state.

Types of Services

There are two types of services you can create in Visual Studio using the .NET Framework. Services that are the only service in a process are assigned the type Win32OwnProcess. Services that share a process with another service are assigned the type Win32ShareProcess. You can retrieve the service type by querying the ServiceType property.

You might occasionally see other service types if you query existing services that were not created in Visual Studio. For more information on these, see the ServiceType.

Services and the ServiceController Component

The ServiceController component is used to connect to an installed service and manipulate its state; using a ServiceController component, you can start and stop a service, pause and continue its functioning, and send custom commands to a service. However, you do not need to use a ServiceController component when you create a service application. In fact, in most cases your ServiceController component should exist in a separate application from the Windows service application that defines your service.

For more information, see ServiceController.

Requirements

Services must be created in a Windows Service application project or another .NET Framework–enabled project that creates an .exe file when built and inherits from the ServiceBase class.

Projects containing Windows services must have installation components for the project and its services. This can be easily accomplished from the Properties window. For more information, see How to: Add Installers to Your Service Application.

See all your apps in Windows 10

You can customize your Start menu and taskbar. You can also make sure that installation errors, antivirus software, or pending Windows updates aren’t getting in the way.

Here’s how to customize what you see on the Start menu and taskbar:

To see a list of your apps, select Start and scroll through the alphabetical list. Some apps are in folders within the app list—like Notepad, which is in the Windows Accessories folder.

To choose whether your Start menu settings show all your apps or only the most used ones, select Start > Settings > Personalization > Start and adjust each setting you want to change.

To adjust which folders you see on your Start menu, select Choose which folders appear on Start and follow the instructions.

You can pin your favorite apps to the Startmenu or to the taskbar. Select and hold (or right-click) the app you want to pin. Then select Pin to Start or More > Pin to taskbar .

To quickly find a specific app, type the name of the app in the search box on the task bar. If an app you downloaded didn’t install correctly, it won’t show up in the Start menu or when you search for it. You can try to repair the app.

If you still don’t see the app you searched for, it’s possible the app’s installation is blocked by a pending Windows Update or your antivirus software. You can temporarily disable your antivirus software while you try to install the app again. If you do disable your antivirus software, make sure you turn Real-time protection back on after you’ve finished installing.

Connect to all Microsoft 365 services in a single PowerShell window

When you use PowerShell to manage Microsoft 365, you can have multiple PowerShell sessions open at the same time. You might have different PowerShell windows to manage user accounts, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams, and the Security & Compliance center.

This scenario isn’t optimal for managing Microsoft 365, because you can’t exchange data among those windows for cross-service management. This article describes how to use a single instance of PowerShell to manage Microsoft 365 accounts, Skype for Business Online, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Teams, and the Security & Compliance Center.

This article currently only contains the commands to connect to the Worldwide (+GCC) cloud. Notes provide links to articles about connecting to the other Microsoft 365 clouds.

Before you begin

Before you can manage all of Microsoft 365 from a single instance of PowerShell, consider the following prerequisites:

The Microsoft 365 work or school account that you use must be a member of a Microsoft 365 admin role. For more information, see About admin roles. This is a requirement for PowerShell for Microsoft 365, but not necessarily for all other Microsoft 365 services.

You can use the following 64-bit versions of Windows:

Windows 8.1 or Windows 8

Windows Server 2019

Windows Server 2016

Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1)*

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1*

* You need to install Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.x and then Windows Management Framework 3.0 or 4.0. For more information, see Windows Management Framework.

You need to use a 64-bit version of Windows because of the requirements for the Skype for Business Online module and one of the Microsoft 365 modules.

You need to install the modules that are required for Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Skype for Business Online and Teams:

PowerShell must be configured to run signed scripts for Skype for Business Online and the Security & Compliance Center. Run the following command in an elevated PowerShell session (a PowerShell session that you Run as administrator).

Connection steps when using just a password

Follow these steps to connect to all the services in a single PowerShell window when you’re using just a password for sign-in.

Open Windows PowerShell.

Run this command and enter your Microsoft 365 work or school account credentials.

Run this command to connect to Azure AD by using the Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph module.

Or if you’re using the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell module, run this command.

PowerShell Core doesn’t support the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell module and cmdlets with Msol in their name. You must run these cmdlets from PowerShell.

Run these commands to connect to SharePoint Online. Specify the organization name for your domain. For example, for «litwareinc.onmicrosoft.com», the organization name value is «litwareinc».

Run these commands to connect to Skype for Business Online. A warning about increasing the WSMan NetworkDelayms value will appear the first time that you connect. Ignore it.

Skype for Business Online Connector is currently part of the latest Teams PowerShell module. If you’re using the latest Teams PowerShell public release, you don’t need to install the Skype for Business Online Connector.

Run these commands to connect to Exchange Online.

To connect to Exchange Online for Microsoft 365 clouds other than Worldwide, see Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell.

Run these commands to connect to the Security & Compliance Center.

To connect to the Security & Compliance Center for Microsoft 365 clouds other than Worldwide, see Connect to Security & Compliance Center PowerShell.

Run these commands to connect to Teams PowerShell.

To connect to Microsoft Teams clouds other than Worldwide, see Connect-MicrosoftTeams.

Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph module

Here are the commands for all the services in a single block when you use the Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph module. Specify the name of your domain host and the UPN for the sign-in and run them all at the same time.

Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell module

Here are the commands for all the services in a single block when you use the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell module. Specify the name of your domain host and the UPN for the sign-in and run them all at one time.

Connection steps when using multi-factor authentication

Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph module

Here are all the commands in a single block to connect to multiple Microsoft 365 services when you use multi-factor authentication with the Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph module.

Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell module

Here are all the commands in a single block to connect to multiple Microsoft 365 services when you use multi-factor authentication with the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell module.

Close the PowerShell window

To close down the PowerShell window, run this command to remove the active sessions to Skype for Business Online, SharePoint Online, and Teams: