Readme for startstop_service
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Service functionality added by:
Mark Morrison
USGS - Golden, CO
(Some additional edits or comments in these docs by Stefan Lisowski)
Setup of startstop_service (Follow these instructions carefully.)
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startstop_service is identical to the old startstop_nt, except that it runs as a Windows service. This means that the parameters are all the same - read from startstop_nt.d - but that startstop isn't just executed from a command window or via the scheduler. Note that this version is taken from startstop_nt, so I haven't compiled or tested any of this under Solaris or other systems. I believe it's generally felt, however, that these modifications don't apply to Solaris.
To install startstop_service as a service, do the following:
- Open a command window. Switch to the directory containing the startstop executable (if it's not already in the Windows path).
- Type: startstop_service -install
This will install the service. You should get a message saying that installation
was successful.
- Open the Services Control Panel. (It's under Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services.) You should see something listed as "Earthworm start-stop". Verify that this service is set to run in Automatic mode (meaning it automatically starts after a reboot, without waiting for user intervention.)
- By default, startstop is set to run as the "Local Service" account. We need to change this to run as the Administrator, or else any Earthworm rings won't be accessible to other users, and typing "status" won't work. To change the user the service runs under, Select the Properties of the startstop service (double-clicking or selecting Properties from the toolbar). Select the Log On tab, select This account, and select Browse. For Win2000 machines, select the Administrator account from the list, then click OK. Type in the password twice, and click OK again. For WinXP machines, select Advanced, then click Find Now. The listbox at the bottom should show all the users locally set up on that computer. Select the Administrator, then click OK twice. Now type in the Administrator password twice, then click OK again.
NOTE: This whole rigamarole means that whenever the Administrator password is changed on a machine running startstop, the password must be changed again from the Services control panel.
- There's no way I've been able to find that allows environment variables
to be loaded via ew_nt.cmd (or a similar file) before startstop runs. So, any
environment variables required for Earthworm functionality have to be loaded
systemwide before starting the startstop service. To set environment variables,
select the System control panel, select the Advanced tab, and select Environment
Variables. Under the "System variables" window (NOT the "user
variables for XXX User" window), make sure that any environment variables
you'll need are defined here. A typical subset may include:
- EW_HOME
- EW_INSTALLATION
- EW_LOG
- EW_PARAMS
- SYS_NAME
- TZ
In addition, make sure \earthworm\bin directory (or whichever directory contains
your earthworm binaries) is included somewhere in the "Path" variable.
Once these are set, click OK, and reboot the machine.
(Note that setting the Timezone Here to UTC may affect how other non-earthworm applications on your machine keep track of and display time.)
- If you didn't have to change any environment variables and reboot, you can now start the startstop service by clicking Start from the Services Control Panel (the triangle "Play" button). If you reboot, the service will start automatically.
Notes on running startstop_service
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Apart from running as a Windows service, startstop_service behaves just as startstop_nt. One interesting note is that if you select startstop_service in the Services control panel and click Stop or Restart, then startstop will attempt to shut down all applications attached to its ring via an Earthworm TERMINATE message.
If you want to look at the Status of Earthworm, or if you want to Restart an
Earthworm module or Reconfigure Earthworm's modules and rings, and you aren't
logged in as Administrator, you can either use StartstopConsole,
or you can do the following if you know the Administrator password: (Instructions
for Windows XP, but may work on other versions of Windows):
- Go to the Windows Start menu, and choose "Run"
- Type the following:
runas /user:YOUR_MACHINE_NAME_HERE\administrator cmd
- This will open up a command window which should be able to connect to the running Earthworm, and thus allow you to type "restart", "reconfigure", "status", "pidpau" or "pau" here.
Removing startstop_service
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If you ever need to remove startstop_service from your machine, first stop
the service (as above), then open a command window and type: startstop_service
-uninstall
You should also perform this step if you ever need to move the startstop binary
to another directory on your hard drive; otherwise, Windows will not know where
to find the executable.