Weird Issue With Windows Service - Service Timing Out

Question

Hi there I have piece of legacy (VS2010) Windows Service code that I have imported into VS2017 and is causing me severe frustration. This code has worked well for about the

Answer 1

Core: The very most typical errors:

• Config problems: connection strings, faulty paths, etc...
• Boot startup problem (good list - from FAQ)
• Wrong password / login account when running as a real user with password.
• Files missing or runtimes missing.
• Permission problems (ACL / NT Privilege missing).

Maybe check this answer before the below.

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UPDATE: Maybe have a look at this previous answer. Service startup timing issue. Also check my ad-hoc answer there in the same page.

Debugger: Other than that - nothing like stepping through the code with a debugger. I haven't done that in a long time. Deploy debug binaries and try? Windows 10 now hides messages from services - not sure how that affects debuggers: No more switching to Session 0.

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I am not a service guru, but a deployment specialist. I'll just provide some links and see if that helps. Maybe I have not fully understood the whole problem. I tend to focus on the deployment side and not so much development side.

Ideas List / Debugging Check List: These are "ideas lists" for what could be wrong for applications in general - not just services (two first lists are similar - created some time apart):

1. Crash on launch
2. Desktop application won't launch
3. General purpose WiX / MSI links

Yes, these lists are very generic - too large to digest. Just skim the first two I think.

Debugging Tools: Also a reminder of the most useful service debugging tools: Event Viewer, Task Manager, Services.msc, Process Explorer (system internals), The NET command and SC.exe.

Good Service FAQ: https://www.coretechnologies.com/WindowsServices/FAQ.html

Answer 2

Your startup method should fire up a background worker and quickly return to the SCM that it has started. There is a system wide default setting of 30 seconds but honestly a proper service should respond in a few seconds.

Looking though your code, your connection to the database is probably the long pole causing the problem.