[2008] Services - Advice on usage, implementation and code

Hi,

I'm trying to sort of run a web server. It works fine as a standard executable, but unfortunately on Vista, "some blocked programs do not run on startup". I did fix this by using another short script that does not require admin permissions to run to open the program on system startup and it worked... with a big UAC dialogue.

Running a webserver, I noticed it must be installed with servicutil.exe, can I not use my SC.exe? It is part of a pre-existing suite of applications, all doing bits and I wish my installer could just run the sc create command to create the service.

Is this practical? The application is supposed to run all the time the PC is on, I think it might be as stopping, starting, pausing makes it much easier than normal.

I noticed there is no onload event in the Service, so I just put all my code (which loops and stuff) in the bit where it says I should startup, that should work right?

Also, I tried a copy and paste from my application which worked. After a few tricks like getting rid of Public it still didn't work. Claims ListenSocket has an error. Can I use sockets?

Windows Form Application Code:

Option Strict On
Imports System.Net.Sockets
Imports System.Net
Public Class WebFilter
    Public listenThread As System.Threading.Thread
    Public listenSocket As System.Net.Sockets.Socket
    Public Const PORT_NUMBER As Integer = 80
    Public Const BACKLOG As Integer = 10
    Public Sub webFilter_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        listenSocket = New System.Net.Sockets.Socket(Net.Sockets.AddressFamily.InterNetwork, Net.Sockets.SocketType.Stream, Net.Sockets.ProtocolType.Tcp)
        listenSocket.Bind(New System.Net.IPEndPoint(System.Net.IPAddress.Parse("127.0.0.1"), PORT_NUMBER))
        listenSocket.Listen(BACKLOG)
        listenThread = New System.Threading.Thread(AddressOf doListen)
        listenThread.IsBackground = True
        listenThread.Start()
    End Sub
    Public Sub doListen()
 
        Dim client As System.Net.Sockets.Socket
        Dim clientThread As System.Threading.Thread
        Do
            client = listenSocket.Accept()
            clientThread = New System.Threading.Thread(AddressOf RespondToHost)
            clientThread.IsBackground = True
            clientThread.Start(client)
        Loop
    End Sub
    Private Sub RespondToHost(ByVal obj As Object)
        Dim resp() As Byte
        Dim client As System.Net.Sockets.Socket = DirectCast(obj, System.Net.Sockets.Socket)
        Dim rbuff(client.Available - 1) As Byte
        client.Receive(rbuff, rbuff.Length, SocketFlags.None)
        resp = BuildResponse("D:\EI\databound\dt.xDms")
        client.Send(resp, resp.Length, Net.Sockets.SocketFlags.None)
        client.Close()
 
    End Sub
 
 
 
    Public Sub webFilter_Shown(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Shown
        Me.Visible = False
    End Sub
 
 
 
    Public Function BuildResponse(ByVal file As String) As Byte()
        Dim response As New System.Text.StringBuilder
        Dim sReader As System.IO.StreamReader
        Dim fileContents As String
        If System.IO.File.Exists(file) Then
            sReader = New System.IO.StreamReader(file)
            fileContents = sReader.ReadToEnd()
            response.AppendLine("HTTP/1.1 200 OK")
            response.AppendLine("Content-type: text/html")
            response.AppendLine(fileContents.Length.ToString())
            response.Append(Environment.NewLine)
            response.Append(fileContents)
            sReader.Close()
 
        Else
            response.AppendLine("HTTP/1.1 404 OK")
            response.Append(Environment.NewLine)
        End If
        Return System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(response.ToString())
    End Function

That is the normal code, any chance of getting it into a service? Also, if I must use VS2K8s service installer, can I automate it so I can run it hidden during installation part of my app?

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