README
srvany-ng: Run any Windows application as a Service
A drop in, compatible, replacement for the useful "srvany.exe", found in the Windows Server Resource Kit.
Written in C, for Windows XP and newer.
Support Me
Differences to the original
- Open Source
- 32 and 64 bit binary available
- Unicode (default) and Multibyte Character Set (MBCS) binaries available
- No OS/2 application support
- Service will stop if the launched application exits
- Added optional configuration to automatically restart the target application on exit
- Application environment variables will inherit the global environment by default, see Application Environment below
- Added optional configuration to allow terminating of sub processes spawned by the service
Building
Solution is known to build with Visual Studio 2022, no additional dependencies are needed. The project uses the "v141_xp" toolset to ensure XP / 2003 support, and links to the MSVCRT statically.
Installing
Place srvany-ng in an accessible folder on your system. Install it as a service from an Elevated (Administrator) Command Prompt:
sc create "MyServiceName" start= auto binPath= "C:\Path\To\srvany-ng.exe"
sc description MyServiceName "My services description"
Note the spaces between start=, binPath= and their parameters. This is intended.
Now, open the Registry editor (regedit.exe), and browse to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MyServiceName
Create a new Key named "Parameters". In the parameters key, create a new String value named "Application". The value should be the file path to the application you wish to run as a service.
Optional Parameters
| Value name | Value type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AppDirectory | String value | The starting directory for your application. Usually the same as the folder its executable is in. |
| AppParameters | String value | Command line arguments to pass to your application on startup. |
| AppEnvironment | Multi-String value | Environment variables to set for your application. |
| RestartOnExit | DWORD value | If set to 1, and the application exits, srvany-ng will automatically restart it. |
| OverrideEnvironment | DWORD value | Default 0, if set to 1 will enable the original srvany environment behaviour described below |
| TerminateSubProcesses | DWORD value | If set to 1, will use a JobObject to terminate sub processes spawned by the service |
Application Environment
The original srvany will overwrite the global environment variables if AppEnvironment is configured. If AppEnvironment is not configured, the default global environment would be
passed to the running application.
srvany-ng changes this behaviour, to always pass the global environment variables to the running application, in addition to anything configured in AppEnvironment.
This behaviour can be restored to the original srvany behaviour by setting DWORD OverrideEnvironment = 1 in the registry parameters.
Further Reading
Microsoft support article describing the use of the original srvany.exe: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/137890
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README
srvany-ng: Run any Windows application as a Service
A drop in, compatible, replacement for the useful "srvany.exe", found in the Windows Server Resource Kit.
Written in C, for Windows XP and newer.
Support Me
Differences to the original
- Open Source
- 32 and 64 bit binary available
- Unicode (default) and Multibyte Character Set (MBCS) binaries available
- No OS/2 application support
- Service will stop if the launched application exits
- Added optional configuration to automatically restart the target application on exit
- Application environment variables will inherit the global environment by default, see Application Environment below
- Added optional configuration to allow terminating of sub processes spawned by the service
Building
Solution is known to build with Visual Studio 2022, no additional dependencies are needed. The project uses the "v141_xp" toolset to ensure XP / 2003 support, and links to the MSVCRT statically.
Installing
Place srvany-ng in an accessible folder on your system. Install it as a service from an Elevated (Administrator) Command Prompt:
sc create "MyServiceName" start= auto binPath= "C:\Path\To\srvany-ng.exe"
sc description MyServiceName "My services description"
Note the spaces between start=, binPath= and their parameters. This is intended.
Now, open the Registry editor (regedit.exe), and browse to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MyServiceName
Create a new Key named "Parameters". In the parameters key, create a new String value named "Application". The value should be the file path to the application you wish to run as a service.
Optional Parameters
| Value name | Value type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AppDirectory | String value | The starting directory for your application. Usually the same as the folder its executable is in. |
| AppParameters | String value | Command line arguments to pass to your application on startup. |
| AppEnvironment | Multi-String value | Environment variables to set for your application. |
| RestartOnExit | DWORD value | If set to 1, and the application exits, srvany-ng will automatically restart it. |
| OverrideEnvironment | DWORD value | Default 0, if set to 1 will enable the original srvany environment behaviour described below |
| TerminateSubProcesses | DWORD value | If set to 1, will use a JobObject to terminate sub processes spawned by the service |
Application Environment
The original srvany will overwrite the global environment variables if AppEnvironment is configured. If AppEnvironment is not configured, the default global environment would be
passed to the running application.
srvany-ng changes this behaviour, to always pass the global environment variables to the running application, in addition to anything configured in AppEnvironment.
This behaviour can be restored to the original srvany behaviour by setting DWORD OverrideEnvironment = 1 in the registry parameters.
Further Reading
Microsoft support article describing the use of the original srvany.exe: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/137890
Similar repos
Languages
C
59.1%
PowerShell
39.6%
Batchfile
1.3%