Create a web service method to manage a NT service

Recently, I created a mobile application-Siccolo that allows me to manage SQL Servers by using web services hosted on public domain (see more information here about how to develop a mobile management tool)
Among other problems, I had to be able to restart SQL Server service on machine(s) other than web service host from within web method. And I wanted not just to stop and start MSSQLSERVER service, but also restart all the services that are dependent on MSSQLSERVER service, e.g. SQL Server Agent, Crystal Reports Engine, CRM Security Service etc.

The code presented allows to restart (or just stop, or start) NT Service.

Background (optional, but needed)

My "managing" web service is hosted under SSL with "Integrated Windows" authenication being set. Therefore, mobile application required to pass network credentials. And this is needed to be able remote access SQL Server machine to control MSSQLSERVER service.

Using the code

Components used :
• serviceprocessor.asmx.cs - web service interface
• NTServiceInfo.cs - a small "wrapper" to control NT Service

Let's see how to restart SQL Server service. .NET provides just the tool for this task - System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController class. To create an instance of System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController:

    // C# //
    ...
    System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController <CODE>Service;
    if (this.m_MachineName!="")
        {Service = new ServiceController(this.m_ServiceName, this.m_MachineName ) ;}
    else
    {Service = new ServiceController(this.m_ServiceName ) ;}
    ...

And the fact that authenication (Integrated Windows authenication or Basic) is in place on IIS, actually helps here. In order to be able to access service(s) on the different machine than web service host, web service needs to "assume" an identity of authenicated user. Normally, web service is running under ASP.NET user with minimum privileges and I needed to impersonate authenicated user with the web service.
On the server side, to retrieve authenicated user, we need to use System.Web.Services.WebService.User and then impersonate: and code does just that - "Impersonates the user represented by the WindowsIdentity object."

    // C# //
    ...
    
    System.Security.Principal.WindowsImpersonationContext <CODE>impersonationContext;
            impersonationContext = 
                ((System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity)User.Identity).Impersonate();
    ...    

To enumerate dependent services - System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController has DependentServices property:

    // C# //
    ...
    foreach (System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController <CODE>dependent_service 
                        in Service.DependentServices)
    {    
        ...
    }
    ...    

To handle reqursive stopping and starting, I added small "wrapper" NTServiceInfo class:

    // NTServiceInfo :
    public bool RestartServervice(WindowsPrincipal User, 
                bool ToDebug, 
                out string ErrorInfo)
    {
        try
        {
            ErrorInfo ="";
        
            if (this.StopService(User, ToDebug, out ErrorInfo))
            {
                if (this.StartService(User, ToDebug, out ErrorInfo))
                {return true;}
                else{return false;}
            }
            else
            {return false;}

        }
        catch (Exception ex_restart_service)
        {
            ErrorInfo = "Restart Service [" + this.m_ServiceName + "] [" + ex_restart_service.Message + "]";
            return false;
        }
    }

Where StopService() and StartService() methods are:

// NTServiceInfo :
public bool StopService(WindowsPrincipal User, 
                bool ToDebug, 
                out string ErrorInfo)
    {
        try
        {
            System.Security.Principal.WindowsImpersonationContext impersonationContext;
                impersonationContext = 
                    ((System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity)User.Identity).Impersonate();

            System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController Service;
            if (this.m_MachineName!="")
            {Service = new ServiceController(this.m_ServiceName, this.m_MachineName ) ;}
            else
            {Service = new ServiceController(this.m_ServiceName ) ;}

            //stop all the Dependent services...
            foreach (System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController dependent_service 
                            in Service.DependentServices)
            {                    
                switch ( dependent_service.Status)
                {
                    case ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped:
                        //already stopped...nothing to do
                        break;

                    case ServiceControllerStatus.StopPending:
                        dependent_service.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped);
                        break;

                    default:
                        Service.Stop();
                        Service.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped);
                        break;
                }
            }

            //stop main service...
            switch ( Service.Status)
            {
                case ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped:
                    //already stopped...nothing to do
                    break;

                case ServiceControllerStatus.StopPending:
                    Service.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped);
                    break;

                default:
                    // *-*************************************************************************
                    //check all dependent services?
                    foreach (System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController dependent_service 
                                        in Service.DependentServices)
                    {                    
                        switch ( dependent_service.Status)
                        {
                            case ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped:
                                //already stopped...nothing to do
                                break;

                            case ServiceControllerStatus.StopPending:
                            dependent_service.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped);
                                break;

                            default:
                                Service.Stop();
                                Service.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped);
                                break;
                        }
                            

                        }

                        if ( !Service.CanStop )
                        {
                            throw new Exception ("Cannot stop service [" + 
                                    this.m_ServiceName + "]");
                        }
                        Service.Stop();
                        Service.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped);
                        break;
                }

                Service.Close();

                impersonationContext.Undo();

                ErrorInfo="";
                return true;
            }

        catch (Exception ex_stop_service)
        {
            ErrorInfo = ex_stop_service.Message;
            return false;
        }

    }


    public bool StartService(WindowsPrincipal User, 
                bool ToDebug, 
                out string ErrorInfo)
    {
        try
        {
            System.Security.Principal.WindowsImpersonationContext impersonationContext;
            impersonationContext = 
                ((System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity)User.Identity).Impersonate();

            System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController Service;
            if (this.m_MachineName!="")
            {Service = new ServiceController(this.m_ServiceName, this.m_MachineName ) ;}
            else
            {Service = new ServiceController(this.m_ServiceName ) ;}
            
            switch ( Service.Status)
            {
                case ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped:
                    Service.Start();
                    Service.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Running);
                    break;

                case ServiceControllerStatus.StopPending:
                    //wait for it to stop
                    Service.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped);
                    //... and then start
                    Service.Start();
                    Service.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Running);
                    break;

                case ServiceControllerStatus.StartPending:
                    //nothing to do...just wait
                    Service.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Running);
                    break;

                case ServiceControllerStatus.Running:
                    //nothing to do.already running...
                    break;
                
                default:
                    Service.Start();
                    Service.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Running);
                    break;
            }

            //start all the Dependent services...
            foreach (System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController dependent_service 
                            in Service.DependentServices)
            {
                
                switch (dependent_service.Status )
                {
                    case ServiceControllerStatus.StartPending:
                        //just wait for it to start
                        dependent_service.WaitForStatus (ServiceControllerStatus.Running);
                        break;

                    case ServiceControllerStatus.Running:
                        //already running.nothing to do
                        break;

                    default:
                        NTServiceInfo si = 
                                new NTServiceInfo( dependent_service.ServiceName, this.m_MachineName);
                        if ( !si.StartService(User, ToDebug, out ErrorInfo))
                        {
                            throw new Exception ("Failed to start Dependent Service [" +  
                                            dependent_service.ServiceName + 
                                            "] - Error [" + ErrorInfo + "]") ;
                        }
                        break;
                }
            }
            
            Service.Close();

            impersonationContext.Undo();

            ErrorInfo="";
            return true;
        }
        catch (Exception ex_start_service)
        {
            ErrorInfo = ex_start_service.Message;
            return false;
        }

    }

So, after all, web method looks like this:

[WebMethod]
    public bool RestartSQLServerService(string RemoteServerAddress,
                    out string NewServiceStatus, 
                    out string ErrorInfo )
    {
        try
        {
            string ToDebugSetting = 
                    System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings.Get("DebugMode");
            bool ToDebug = (ToDebugSetting!="");

            string NTServiceName = "MSSQLSERVER";

            ErrorInfo="";
            NewServiceStatus ="";

            System.Security.Principal.WindowsImpersonationContext impersonationContext;
                impersonationContext = 
                    ((System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity)User.Identity).Impersonate();
            
            NTServiceInfo si = new NTServiceInfo(NTServiceName, RemoteServerAddress);

            if ( ! si.RestartServervice ((WindowsPrincipal) this.User,ToDebug,  out ErrorInfo))
            {return false;}

            NewServiceStatus =  si.ServiceStatus();

            impersonationContext.Undo();
                
            ErrorInfo = "";
            return true;
        }
        catch (Exception ex_get_service_info)
        {
            NewServiceStatus ="";
            ErrorInfo = ex_get_service_info.Message;
            return false;
        }
    }
    

Or, to make functionality more generic:

[WebMethod]
        public bool RestartNTService(string RemoteServerAddress , 
                                    string NTServiceName, 
                                    out string NewServiceStatus  , 
                                    out bool CanStop, 
                                    out bool CanPauseAndContinue,
                                    out string ErrorInfo )
        {
    
            try
            {
        
                string ToDebugSetting = System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings.Get("DebugMode");
                bool ToDebug = (ToDebugSetting!="");

                ErrorInfo="";
                NewServiceStatus ="";
                CanStop = false;
                CanPauseAndContinue = false;

                System.Security.Principal.WindowsImpersonationContext impersonationContext;
                impersonationContext = 
                    ((System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity)User.Identity).Impersonate();
            
                NTServiceInfo si = new NTServiceInfo(NTServiceName, RemoteServerAddress);

                if ( ! si.RestartServervice ((WindowsPrincipal) this.User,ToDebug,  out ErrorInfo))
                {return false;}

                NewServiceStatus =  si.ServiceStatus();
                CanStop = si.CanStop();
                CanPauseAndContinue = si.CanPauseAndContinue();

                impersonationContext.Undo();

                ErrorInfo = "";
                return true;
            }
            catch (Exception ex_get_service_info)
            {
                NewServiceStatus ="";
                CanStop = false;
                CanPauseAndContinue = false;
                ErrorInfo = ex_get_service_info.Message;
                return false;
            }

        }

Points of Interest

If you would like to read more on this store - please take a look at Siccolo - Free Mobile Management Tool For SQL Server and full article at How to Develop Mobile Management Tool

History

no improvements so far. nearly perfect.

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Accessing by Another Username Burak Donbay 1:25 13 Jun '07   How can i start/stop windows services on other machines with another username? You wrote: System.Security.Principal.WindowsImpersonationContext impersonationContext; impersonationContext = ((System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity)User.Identity).Impersonate(); How can i add another username to impersonate? Regards.. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 1.00/5 (1 vote) Re: Accessing by Another Username aleksisa 3:09 28 Jun '07   This web service is being called from Windows Mobile app - that app passes user name/password/domain information : Dim objNetworkCredential As System.Net.NetworkCredential = _ New System.Net.NetworkCredential(NetworkUserName, _ NetworkUserPwd, _ NetworkDomain) objSQLWebServiceManager = New siccolo.Siccolo() objSQLWebServiceManager.Credentials = objNetworkCredential objSQLWebServiceManager.PreAuthenticate = True objSQLWebServiceManager.().... Got SQL Server? Manage it with Siccolo! Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink sql 2005 help me please serhaneker 0:48 14 Jan '07   please help me when ı run my c# project ı take message "cannot open database "mycompany" the login failed for user"serhan" what is the problem about this ı really need your help my email serhaneker1@hotmail.com Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 1.00/5 (1 vote) Re: sql 2005 help me please aleksisa 3:50 16 Jan '07   i don't quite understand what "cannot open database" has to do with restarting a service? what am I missing? aside from that - that error message tells you that login information you provided to connect to SQL Server is incorrect. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Completed code example? DEWright_CA 10:34 27 Dec '06   Ok, I am trying to go through and put together something along these lines myself and would like to see your completed example, from your code inserts I can't seem to see a complete workflow. My tool with use a smart-client front end to handle the services. Can you upload a complete example? Thanks; David You are only as good as your last project. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Completed code example? aleksisa 6:01 9 Jan '07   goto www.siccolo.com for more information, or email me at siccolo_mobile_management@yahoo.com Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink a little boo-boo aleksisa 12:11 17 Nov '06   spell check missed a "spot": "...read more on this store.." should read "...read more on this story.." Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink

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