Issue installing Windows Service

Question

I'm trying to create an installer for a Windows Service, and I have no idea why it's failing.

Here's the fragment where I define the service-related pieces:

<ComponentGroup Id="ServiceComponents" Directory="InstallDirectory">
  <Component Id="ThingService" Guid="1F4D7F24-BC66-4E7A-AC33-A7E2133FC5B8" KeyPath="yes">
    <ServiceInstall Id="ThingServiceInstaller"
                    Type="ownProcess"
                    Name="ThingService"
                    DisplayName="Thing"
                    Description="Does Thing."
                    Start="auto"
                    ErrorControl="normal"
                    Vital="yes" />
    <ServiceControl Id="StartService"
                    Start="install"
                    Stop="both"
                    Remove="uninstall"
                    Name="ThingService"
                    Wait="yes" />
  </Component>
</ComponentGroup>

This is the last part that runs - the files are all deployed earlier, and I can see that they get where they're supposed to. When it gets to starting the service, I get the following error:

Service 'ThingService' (ThingService) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient priveleges to start system services.

However, I don't see the service in the service list at all, so I don't know what it's even trying to start. I feel like I'm missing some sort of pointer to Thing.exe, but the examples I see around don't seem to have it either.

Here are the pieces from the verbose log that seem to be relevant:

1:

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:38:880]: Component: ThingService; Installed: Absent; Request: Local; Action: Local

2:

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:736]: Doing action: StopServices

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:736]: Note: 1: 2205 2: 3: ActionText

Action 16:14:40: StopServices. Stopping services

Action start 16:14:40: StopServices.

StopServices: Service: Stopping services

Action ended 16:14:40: StopServices. Return value 1.

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:740]: Doing action: DeleteServices

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:740]: Note: 1: 2205 2: 3: ActionText

Action 16:14:40: DeleteServices. Deleting services

Action start 16:14:40: DeleteServices.

Action ended 16:14:40: DeleteServices. Return value 1.

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:747]: Doing action: RemoveRegistryValues

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:747]: Note: 1: 2205 2: 3: ActionText

Action 16:14:40: RemoveRegistryValues. Removing system registry values

Action start 16:14:40: RemoveRegistryValues.

Action ended 16:14:40: RemoveRegistryValues. Return value 1.

3:

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:944]: Doing action: InstallServices

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:944]: Note: 1: 2205 2: 3: ActionText

Action 16:14:40: InstallServices. Installing new services

Action start 16:14:40: InstallServices.

Action ended 16:14:40: InstallServices. Return value 1.

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:945]: Doing action: StartServices

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:945]: Note: 1: 2205 2: 3: ActionText

Action 16:14:40: StartServices. Starting services

Action start 16:14:40: StartServices.

StartServices: Service: Starting services

Action ended 16:14:40: StartServices. Return value 1.

4:

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:994]: Executing op: ActionStart(Name=StopServices,Description=Stopping services,Template=Service: [1])

Action 16:14:40: StopServices. Stopping services

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:996]: Executing op: ProgressTotal(Total=1,Type=1,ByteEquivalent=1300000)

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:996]: Executing op: ServiceControl(,Name=ThingService,Action=2,Wait=1,)

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:40:996]: Executing op: ActionStart(Name=CreateFolders,Description=Creating folders,Template=Folder: [1])

5:

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:41:817]: Executing op: ActionStart(Name=StartServices,Description=Starting services,Template=Service: [1])

Action 16:14:41: StartServices. Starting services

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:41:817]: Executing op: ProgressTotal(Total=1,Type=1,ByteEquivalent=1300000)

MSI (s) (50:F8) [16:14:41:817]: Executing op: ServiceControl(,Name=ThingService,Action=1,Wait=1,)

StartServices: Service: ThingService

Error 1920. Service 'ThingService' (ThingService) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services.

EDIT1: It looks like the issue is with splitting the ServiceInstall/ServiceControl out into their own component, because it works if I put them into the same component as where the Files are defined.

Answer 1

The ServiceInstall must be in the same Component as the service executable, because

Windows Installer defines the ServiceInstall table with a foreign key to the Component table and not a path to the executable (see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa371637(VS.85).aspx).

Reference here.