c# - Multiple Windows Services in One exe

Question

I am trying to build several Windows services to do different things. For instance, I need Windows services that will:

1. Send a daily report via email
2. Periodically cleanup some archived info every 30 minutes
3. etc.

The tasks I need the windows services to do are distinct so I don't really like the idea of having them all in one service.

What I've got so far is a project in Visual Studio 2008. I've created a windows service, I've set up a timer on the OnStart event (it just writes to a text file every 5 seconds for testing purposes). I then added an Installer to the project and when I run InstallUtil.exe, everything works fine.

The problem comes in when I add a second windows service to the same project. I set up the OnStart code again, with the same logging info (slightly different so I can tell which service is writing to the log). With the second windows service, I changed the Main event in Program.cs from:

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        ServiceBase[] ServicesToRun = new ServiceBase[] 
        { 
            new Service1()
        };

        ServiceBase.Run(ServicesToRun);
    }

to:

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        ServiceBase[] ServicesToRun = new ServiceBase[] 
        { 
            new Service1(),
            new Service2()
        };

        ServiceBase.Run(ServicesToRun);
    }

At this point, there are no compile time errors, but the Service2 service never does anything...the logging task never fires.

I narrowed it down to the fact that the second service has no "Installer" associated with it. I then tried to add an Installer the way I did with the first service (i.e., right click on the service designer, and click "Add Installer"). Now, when I go to the ProjectInstaller.cs file, there is another serviceInstaller there (serviceInstaller2).

Now when I build the project and try to install the services, and I go to the "Services" control panel window, and I try to start Service1, I get the following error message:

Windows could not start the Service1 service on the Local Computer.

Error 1083: The executable program that this service is configured to run in does not implement the service.

I get the same error message if I try to start Service2 as well (with the exception that the error message identifies Service2, of course).

Is there something I am missing in order to get two services running from one exe?

Answer 1

I have figured out how to have one executable but two services. Each service installs to the service manager with its own name and ability to start/stop. I think this is what you're wanting, correct? Here is what I did:

1. Created a service project.
2. Added a second service to the same project (with a unique service name).
3. Added an installer to both services (ServiceA and ServiceB).
4. In the ProjectInstaller.Designer.vb file I changed the Me.Installers.AddRange line to show both of the service installers. (Me.ServiceInstaller1, Me.ServiceInstaller2)
5. In the Main entry point of the main service (ServiceA in my case), I set the ServicesToRun variable to an array of ServiceBase containing all the services that I want it to run (ServiceA and ServiceB). This is an important step as the service manager sets a property based on the number of arguments here - either to allow multiple instances of the same exe or only a single instance.
6. Add an installer project and use the output of Services.
7. Add a custom action using the output from Services.

You can find the demo code here:
http://code.google.com/p/multi-service-install/

Enjoy!