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Develop Windows service apps

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Note

This article doesn't apply to hosted services in .NET. For the latest content on Windows services using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.BackgroundService and the Worker Service template, see:

Using Visual Studio or the .NET Framework SDK, you can easily create services by creating an application that is installed as a service. This type of application is called a Windows service. With framework features, you can create services, install them, and start, stop, and otherwise control their behavior.

Note

In Visual Studio you can create a service in managed code in Visual C# or Visual Basic, which can interoperate with existing C++ code if required. Or, you can create a Windows service in native C++ by using the ATL Project Wizard.

In this section

Introduction to Windows Service Applications

Provides an overview of Windows service applications, the lifetime of a service, and how service applications differ from other common project types.

Walkthrough: Creating a Windows Service Application in the Component Designer

Provides an example of creating a service in Visual Basic and Visual C#.

Service Application Programming Architecture

Explains the language elements used in service programming.

How to: Create Windows Services

Describes the process of creating and configuring Windows services using the Windows service project template.

ServiceBase - Describes the major features of the ServiceBase class, which is used to create services.

ServiceProcessInstaller - Describes the features of the ServiceProcessInstaller class, which is used along with the ServiceInstaller class to install and uninstall your services.

ServiceInstaller - Describes the features of the ServiceInstaller class, which is used along with the ServiceProcessInstaller class to install and uninstall your service.

Create Projects from Templates - Describes the projects types used in this chapter and how to choose between them.