Topshelf does not call service start

Question

I am seeing different behaviour in Topshelf depending on whether I start the application in standalone mode or installed as a service. I have tried Topshelf 3.3.1 and 4.1.

I am using a service that implements ServiceControl, which works fine in standalone mode. When trying to start the installed service, I receive the message that the service took too long to respond to control requests.

var resultCode = HostFactory.Run(x =>
{
    x.Service<ServiceControl>(sc =>
    {
        sc.ConstructUsing(() =>
        {
            Console.WriteLine("GET INSTANCE!");
            return new WorkerService();
        });
        sc.WhenStarted((s, h) =>
        {
            Console.WriteLine("START!");
            return s.Start(h);
        });
        sc.WhenStopped((s, h) =>
        {
            Console.WriteLine("STOP!");
            return s.Stop(h);
        });
        sc.BeforeStartingService(() => Console.WriteLine("BEFORE START!"));
    });

    x.SetDescription("WorkerService");
    x.SetDisplayName("WorkerService");
    x.SetServiceName("WorkerService");
});

This is a very verbose version of calling a service (with lots of console output), but even the calls to ConstructUsing or BeforeStartingService do not produce any console output, while log calls inside the Service<> lambda produce output.

I am left quite clueless here, but also have not been able to reproduce this with a minimal sample. The timeout comes after about 3-4 seconds, without any visible attempt to start the service. Starting the service thread from the program main does work without exception.

Starting the service with WorkerService.exe works as expected, starting it with WorkerService.exe start (which starts the service) does not work.

As this happens with Topshelf 3 and 4, it most likely is something I am doing wrong inside the application. Any pointer into the right direction is very much appreciated.

Looks like something going wrong inside the WorkerService. Isn't that your implementation of ServiceControl? — Tony Mathew
It does not even get that far, Topshelf does not even call the ConstructUsing lambda (so there is no console log), but only as service, not in standalone — philip
console log? Aren't you installing this as a windows service via the topshelf command as its said here: docs.topshelf-project.com/en/latest/overview/… ? — Tony Mathew

Minu Minu · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-29T16:19:31

Have you registered WorkerService as ServiceControl? If not, register the service. (Do you use Autofac?). If not, try providing

x.Service<WorkerService>(sc => // Your code

instead of ServiceControl

Topshelf does not call service start

3 Answers