Check if a service exists on a particular machine without using exception handling

Question

Don\'t know if there is a better way to do this, so that is the reason for the question. I can check if a service exists on a particular machine with the following code:

Answer 1

You can use the ServiceController.GetServices() method to get all of the services on the machine, then look through them to see if one exists named what you are looking for:

bool DoesServiceExist(string serviceName, string machineName)
{
    ServiceController[] services = ServiceController.GetServices(machineName);
    var service = services.FirstOrDefault(s => s.ServiceName == serviceName);
    return service != null;
}

The FirstOrDefault() extension method (from System.Linq) will return either the first service with the given name, or a null if there is no match.

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To address your speed issue:

The difference between the two approaches for a single method call is negligible, regardless of whether the service is found or not. It will only be a problem if you are calling this method thousands of times—in which case get the list of services once and remember it.