Running Perl code from a Windows service

[Anonymous Monk]

I'm using ActivePerl on Windows 2000. Code like system("myCApplication.exe param1 param2"); works fine when I run it at the command line. However, when this code is run by a Windows service, it fails to call myCApplication. I know that path is not the problem since I have tried hardcoding it. Do I have to open a command sheel in order to do this?

[Moonie]

Look at ActiveState's FAQ How do I run a Perl Script as a Windows NT Service

- Moon

[tye]

Services run in interesting security contexts. In WinNT, from the Services control panel you can click "Startup" and request that the server be given access to the desktop (unless you've configured a non-default security context for that service already). This might be the problem that you are having. I'll try to check later if this is the same on Win2K.

        - tye (but my friends call me "Tye")

[HamNRye]

A few things: Services can interact with the command line or the network, not both. Services will fail if they must do both.

Use the srvany.exe to run your perl script as a service.

~Hammy
Ommmmm.....

[$code or die]

Services can interact with the command line or the network

I think you mean desktop as opposed to command line.

By default, the service will probably run as LocalSystem - which has the option of accessing the desktop, but can't access the network. If you run it as a domain\workgroup user, it will be able to access the network and it will be able to spawn processes, but they won't be visible to the interactive user.

Finally, I prefer Win32::Daemon to srvany.exe - It's a bit more work, but so much more powerful.

update: No. I don't have shares in Dave Roth!

_________________________________________
Simon Flack ($code or die)
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[jbert]

The usual gotcha I find is that the services do not set the environment variables of the user they run as. Often this is the PATH, but you've covered that.

However, some external executables require their own environment variables to be set to work. You happily check that a given user account has them set, you happily set the service to run as that user, you log in as that user and check it all runs OK. But it doesn't work as a service.

So...check the environment of the user for which your script works and try setting likely things in %ENV before you run the command.

If nothing looks likely, you can eliminate this as the potential issue by simply importing the entire environment. Run a 'set > env.txt' command in a command prompt as the user which this works for, and then do something along the lines of:

open( ENVFILE, "< env.txt" ) or die_screaming_in_agony();
%ENV = map( split /=/, $_, 2 } <ENVFILE>; # Untested, looks cool thoug
+h

Good luck.