How to install driver dynamically or install driver as a service for Windows

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Introduction

Usually when we complete a driver compilation, we use the inf file to install the driver. But sometimes we hope to install drivers dynamically or install a driver as a service for Windows. In this article, we assume that the driver has been compiled and used directly. The driver must have 32-bit and 64-bit versions so that we can experiment under 32-bit and 64-bit Operating Systems. How to compile a driver is not the task of this article.

About the path of the driver file which will be installed: usually we may place the installation program and driver file in the same directory. In most cases, it is feasible. But if you want to install the driver as a service for Windows on a 64-bit Operating System environment, it will fail. In this case the directory of the driver file must be "C:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers" so we use "C:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers" instead of the current directory. The driver file is copied to the directory in advance.

Using the code

1. Install a driver invoke function GJ_Install_ADL_Driver_BOOT_START(). Uninstall a driver invoke function GJ_Uninstall_ADL_Driver().

Code example:

//
#include "install.h"
void CInstall_ADL_driver_BOOT_STARTDlg::OnBnClickedIntsall()
{
 // TODO: Add your control notification handler code here
 //Because if the current OS is 64bit,gjglly.sys must
 //copy to "C:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers",
 //so we use "C:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers" instead of current directory.
 //Refer to function SetupDriverName.
 GJ_Install_ADL_Driver_BOOT_START();
}
void CInstall_ADL_driver_BOOT_STARTDlg::OnBnClickedUninstall()
{
 // TODO: Add your control notification handler code here
 GJ_Uninstall_ADL_Driver();
}//

2. Setting the directory of the driver file refers to the function SetupDriverName. The code for how to set the current path is available in the full source code.

//
BOOLEAN
SetupDriverName(
    __inout_bcount_full(BufferLength) PCHAR DriverLocation,
    __in ULONG BufferLength
    )
{
    HANDLE fileHandle;
    DWORD driverLocLen = 0;
 //
 //
 //Because if the current OS is 64bit,gjglly.sys must copy to "C:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers",
 //so we use "C:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers" instead of current directory.
 //
 //
 /* //Get the current directory.
    GetModuleFileNameA(GetModuleHandle(NULL), DriverLocation, BufferLength);
 char* pszSlash = strrchr(DriverLocation, '\\');
 pszSlash[0]=0;
 *///Get the current directory.
 //
 GetSystemDirectory(DriverLocation, BufferLength);//"C:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers"
    //
    //
    // Setup path name to driver file.
    //
    //if (FAILED( StringCbCatA(DriverLocation, BufferLength, 
    //    "<a href="file://%22driver_name%22.sys/">\\"DRIVER_NAME".sys</a>") )) //Get the current directory.
    if (FAILED( StringCbCatA(DriverLocation, BufferLength, 
        "<a href="file://drivers//%22DRIVER_NAME%22.sys">\\drivers\\"DRIVER_NAME".sys</a>") )) 
 {
        return FALSE;
    }
 //
 //Following code will failed in 64bit OS
 /*
    //
    // Insure driver file is in the specified directory.
    //
    //
    //
    if ((fileHandle = CreateFileA(DriverLocation,
                                 GENERIC_READ,
                                 0,
                                 NULL,
                                 OPEN_EXISTING,
                                 FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,
                                 NULL
                                 )) == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
        //
        //
        //printf("%s.sys is not loaded.\n", DRIVER_NAME);
        //
        //
        // Indicate failure.
        //
        //
        return FALSE;
    }
    //
    //
    // Close open file handle.
    //
    //
    if (fileHandle) {
        CloseHandle(fileHandle);
    }
    //
    // Indicate success.
    //
 */
    //
    return TRUE;
    //
}   // SetupDriverName

//

3. The key to installing drivers dynamically or installing a driver as a service is the API function CreateService.

//
schService = CreateService(SchSCManager,          // handle of service control manager database
     DriverName,            // address of name of service to start
     DriverName,            // address of display name
     SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS,    // type of access to service
     SERVICE_KERNEL_DRIVER, // type of service
     SERVICE_BOOT_START,    // when to start service !!! SERVICE_DEMAND_START SERVICE_AUTO_START
     SERVICE_ERROR_NORMAL,  // severity if service fails to start
     ServiceExe,            // address of name of binary file
     NULL,                  // service does not belong to a group
     NULL,                  // no tag requested
     NULL,                  // no dependency names
     NULL,                  // use LocalSystem account
     NULL                   // no password for service account
     );
//

You can change the sixth parameter "dwStartType" to set the startup type.

dwStartType [in]

The service start options can be one of the following values:

Value	Meaning
SERVICE_AUTO_START 0x00000002	A service started automatically by the service control manager during system startup. For more information, see Automatically Starting Services.
SERVICE_BOOT_START 0x00000000	A device driver started by the system loader. This value is valid only for driver services.
SERVICE_DEMAND_START 0x00000003	A service started by the service control manager when a process calls the StartService function. For more information, see Starting Services on Demand.
SERVICE_DISABLED 0x00000004	A service that cannot be started. Attempts to start the service results in the error code ERROR_SERVICE_DISABLED.
SERVICE_SYSTEM_START 0x00000001	A device driver started by the IoInitSystem function. This value is valid only for driver services.