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

Same approach as adrianbanks but a slight more compact code. If your're using LINQ you can use any statement to return what you want. In addition if you are checking on local computer there's no need to give computer name.

bool DoesServiceExist(string serviceName)
{
   return ServiceController.GetServices().Any(serviceController => serviceController.ServiceName.Equals(serviceName));
}

Answer 2

Built on top of Mike's answer. Same concept as Dictionary.TryGetValue.

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets a <see cref="ServiceController"/> given the specified <see cref="pServiceName"/>.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="pServiceName">The name of the service.</param>
    /// <param name="pService">The <see cref="ServiceController"/> associated with the name.</param>
    /// <returns>
    /// <see cref="bool.True"/> if the <see cref="ServiceController"/> exists; otherwise <see cref="bool.False"/>.
    /// </returns>
    private static bool TryGetService(string pServiceName, out ServiceController pService)
    {
        pService = ServiceController.GetServices()
            .FirstOrDefault(serviceController => serviceController.ServiceName == pServiceName);

        return pService != null;
    }

Answer 3

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.