Windows Service Wrapper in a permissive license

WinSW is an executable binary, which can be used to wrap and manage a custom process as a Windows service. Once you download the installation package, you can rename WinSW.exe to any name, e.g. MyService.exe.

We are actively developing WinSW v3. Please refer to the v2 branch for previous version documentation.

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Why?

See the project manifest.

Supported platforms

WinSW 3 can run on Windows platforms with .NET Framework 4.6.1 or later versions installed. For systems without .NET Framework, the project provides native 64-bit and 32-bit executables based on .NET Core.

More executables can be added upon request.

Download

WinSW binaries are available on GitHub Releases and NuGet.

Alternative sources:

• Maven packaging for executables, hosted by the Jenkins project. Binaries are available here.

Usage

WinSW is being managed by the XML configuration file.

Your renamed WinSW.exe binary also accepts the following commands:

Command	Description
install	Installs the service. This command requires some preliminary steps described in the installation guide.
uninstall	Uninstalls the service.
start	Starts the service.
stop	Stops the service.
restart	Stops and then starts the service.
status	Checks the status of the service.
test	Checks if the service can be started and then stopped without installation.
refresh	Refreshes the service properties without reinstallation.

Most commands require Administrator privileges to execute. Since 2.8, WinSW will prompt for UAC in non-elevated sessions.

Documentation

• Get started
• Migrate to WinSW 3.x
• Configuration:
  • XML configuration file
  • Logging and error reporting
  • Extensions
    • Shared Directory Mapper
• Use cases:
  • Self-restarting services
  • Deferred file operations

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See the contributing guidelines for more information.

License

WinSW is licensed under the MIT license.