Using the ServiceController in C# to stop and start a service

• Download source code - 6.47 KB

Introduction

Have you ever searched for something small on the Internet, only to find it blown up and confusing? If so, you are like me. Below, I have listed how to use the ServiceController to control installed services. After understanding the code below, you will be able to start, stop, and get the status of a service.

Using the code

The first thing you need to do is, make a reference to System.ServiceProcess in the Solution Explorer of Visual Studio. Some of the veterans out there are probably asking why I am putting these pictures in here. The reason: it is for newbies like me who are not that familiar with adding namespaces and components.

You will see that I added what I call [QUICK CODE]. This is for those who know what they are doing, or if you are like me and you are impatient. I stripped out most comments, and it doesn't display any thing.

The larger section of code is what I use in the downloadable content. It is a console application that checks the status of the ImapiService and performs the opposite operation that it is already doing. Meaning, if the service is stopped, then I start it. If it is running, I stop it.

Once again, this is a very basic description of the ServiceController class. I hope this helps.

//[QUICK CODE] FOR THE IMPATIENT
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
// ADD "using System.ServiceProcess;" after you add the 
// Reference to the System.ServiceProcess in the solution Explorer
using System.ServiceProcess;
namespace Using_ServiceController{
    class Program{
        static void Main(string[] args){
            ServiceController myService = new ServiceController();
            myService.ServiceName = "ImapiService";
            string svcStatus = myService.Status.ToString();
                if (svcStatus == "Running"){
                    myService.Stop();
                }else if(svcStatus == "Stopped"){
                    myService.Start();
                }else{
                    myService.Stop();
                }
        }
    }
}

The complete code is here:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
// ADD "using System.ServiceProcess;" after you add the 
// Reference to the System.ServiceProcess in the solution Explorer
using System.ServiceProcess;
namespace Using_ServiceController
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Create an Instance of ServiceController
            ServiceController myService = new ServiceController();
            // Define the name of your service here. 
            // I am using the 'ImapiService' for this example
            // because everyone should have this service
            // After this point, myService is now refering to "ImapiService"
            myService.ServiceName = "ImapiService";
            // Get the status of myService
            // Possible Status Returns: { StartPending, Running, PausePending, Paused, 
            //          StopPending, Stopped, ContinuePending }
            // For more info on Service Status,
            // go to: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/
            //             system.serviceprocess.servicecontrollerstatus.aspx
            string svcStatus = myService.Status.ToString();
            if (svcStatus == "Running")
            {
                Console.WriteLine(myService.ServiceName + " is in a " + 
                                  svcStatus + "State");
                Console.WriteLine("Attempting to Stop!");
                myService.Stop();   // STOP the service if it is already Running
                // This next block is for example only to show you the states 
                // that the service is going through when it is stopping
                string svcStatusWas = "";   // This is used for this example only
                while (svcStatus != "Stopped")
                {
                    svcStatusWas = svcStatus;
                    myService.Refresh();
                    // REMEMBER: svcStatus was SET TO myService.Status.ToString above. 
                    // Use the Refresh() Method to refresh the value of myService.Status and 
                    // reassign it to svcStatus

                    svcStatus = myService.Status.ToString();
                }
                Console.WriteLine("Service Stopped!!");
            }
            else if (svcStatus == "Stopped")
            {
                Console.WriteLine(myService.ServiceName + 
                        " is in a " + svcStatus + "State");
                Console.WriteLine("Attempting to Start!");
                // START the service if it is already Stopped
                myService.Start();
                // This is used for this example only
                string svcStatusWas = "";
                while (svcStatus != "Running")
                {
                    if (svcStatus != svcStatusWas)
                    // Check to see if the Staus is the same as it was before
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine("Status: " + svcStatus);
                    }
                    svcStatusWas = svcStatus;
                    myService.Refresh();
                    svcStatus = myService.Status.ToString();
                }
                Console.WriteLine("Service Started!!");
            }
            else
            {
                // STOP the service if it is in any other state
                myService.Stop();
                Console.WriteLine("Status: " + svcStatus);
                while (svcStatus != "Stopped")
                {
                    myService.Refresh();
                    svcStatus = myService.Status.ToString();
                }
                Console.WriteLine("Service Stopped!!");
            }
            // Notification that the program is going into a sleep state
            Console.WriteLine("----Sleeping----");
            // This is a way to pause your program. This is set to 30 seconds.
            System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(30000);
        }
    }
}

Points of interest

For more information on the ServiceController class, check out MSDN.