Converting a c# commandline app to a Windows service

Question

I found plenty of partial answers, but nothing really sufficient.

The case: App is a working command line app, with no user interaction, except for the ability to re

Answer 1

Keep C# application running

public partial class DemoService : ServiceBase
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        DemoService service = new DemoService();

        if (Environment.UserInteractive)
        {
            service.OnStart(args);
            Console.WriteLine("Press any key to stop program");
            Console.Read();
            service.OnStop();
        }
        else
        {
            ServiceBase.Run(service);
        }
    }

Check the link above. I provide some code as well as a link describing using a console for double-duty as Console and Service. I will use a console project and check for UserInteractive before running as a service. This way you can debug as if it's a console, but install it as a service on a production server.

With regards to installing, I don't have experience with installing from .msi, but we use a batch script to install the service (using sc.exe) and then its just a matter of replacing files if you update the code.