Programmatically Installing Windows Service from Application

Question

I currently have a windows service that needs to run in the background while a main application I have written handles UI and other tasks. I install and maintain the GUI application using ClickOnce Deployment and would like to find a way to bundle my Windows Service in as well.

They are in separate projects at the moment since I was still learning how to use the Windows Service.

My question is, is it possible given MyService.exe that I install and start MyService.exe from MyApp.exe? I can assume that I have access to InstallUtil.exe and could write a script to install and run it manually, but I would like a cleaner solution if there is one.

The only resources I've found all seem to assume I want to have the Service install itself, which is not the case.

Answer 1

In general, ClickOnce can't be used to install services. There is typically a lack of permissions, but also the location is incorrect, etc. For details, see MSDN on Choosing Between ClickOnce and Windows Installer for more details.

If you want to install a service, you should do a traditional installation.