How to install windows service with visual studio express

Question

I have successfully created a Windows Service in c# in Visual Studio 2010 on my local machine. I have to deploy it on the server that has only Visual Studio Express edition. This means no command prompt available with the VS. How do I install the service this? Should it be through the computer command prompt?

Answer 1

You don't need VS to get the service installed, nor does it help in any way. Windows still provides you with the command prompt of course. Be sure to start it by right-clicking the shortcut with "Run as Administrator" so you have sufficient rights to modify the registry. Then type the full path of the install command:

 cd \where\you\copied\it
 C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe yourservice.exe

Replace "Framework64" with "Framework" if this is a 32-bit machine. Be sure to get the server admin involved, he probably cares about you making changes to the machine. Most do anyway. And he can be helpful of course, including getting the account+password you need at the UAC prompt.

Answer 2

You should make program install himself as a service when run in non-service mode, the most reliable way (to me) to do it is using some P/Invoke, see CreateService.