EventGhost as a service

[skat]

I did try to enable the destkop interaction in both but to no avail. What were your results molitar?

I did a bit of research on this now and think that due to the security changes since Vista, the interaction with desktop may not be possible: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums ... d2ff1e3b1/

[molitar]

Ok I found a program that does work in Windows 7 because it allows you to change the Session 0 to console when it runs..

http://www.eltima.com/products/application-as-service/

[skat]

Thanks molitar, I will have a look at eltima. It is quite expensive though.

In the meantime I have switched to using the Windows Task Scheduler where I can start EG when a user logs on and it runs under a specified user priviledges. Of course the problem is again the desktop interaction if you have a different user logging on than the one that EG runs under. For this I have now figured out a solution by using psexec (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... 97553.aspx) to start EG under the Local System account and connect to user session 1:

Code: Select all

PsExec.exe -i 1 -d -s "C:\Program Files\EventGhost\EventGhost.exe"

Of course this does not restart the EG automatically if it hangs.

[avalonai2]

Skat I found this srvman http://tools.sysprogs.org/srvman/ trying to find alternatives.
I've been using it on my WHS box and had no problems with it. There is a check box to run programs as services interactively.

I almost forgot to mention no install required.

This might do what you want.

[skat]

Thanks avalonai2. What did you put in the following fields?:
Service type
Start mode
Logon account

I left the Logon account empty and it automatically used "LocalSystem" account. Having ticked the Interactive service option, EG still does not show up.
I also tried another account but it says the account name or password is invalid and I can't get past that.

This is under Win7 64bit Home premium. Do you have WHS v1 or v2?

IIRC WHS v1 was based on Win Server 2003. As I mentioned previously MS introduced some additional security measures since Vista to disable desktop access from services.

[eatmeimadanish]

Have you guys tried turning off Interactive Service Detection service (setting to disabled) and running http://www.codeproject.com/KB/system/xyntservice.aspx

I will try this when I get home.

[cfull1]

eatmeimadanish let me know how it goes. I just got application as service and I get the view message pop up from interactive service detection. I can switch between EG and everything else...but it's a pain.

[eatmeimadanish]

I only had time to test in windows XP. This is what I found (so far successful)
I setup my ini file like this using XYNT ( http://www.codeproject.com/KB/system/xyntservice.aspx ):

[Settings]
ServiceName = XYNTService
CheckProcessSeconds = 30
[Process0]
CommandLine = c:\eventghost\eventghost.exe -f c:\eventghost\test.xml
WorkingDir= c:\eventghost\
PauseStart= 1000
PauseEnd= 1000
UserInterface = Yes
Restart = Yes
UserName = User1
Password = Password1

What I did:
I launched it just plain, and EG was loaded but nothing seemed to work. So I added my user name and password (so it would launch in that instance) and that worked.
EG launches, but nothing appears on desktop despite Userinterface and Interact with desktop enabled. HOWEVER, the webserver rendered the page and events were sent back and forth. I then logged off... and low and behold it still worked. I logged back in and EG never skipped a beat.

I still need to test this in Windows 7, but I think this resolves this issue. Best part was it was brainless to install and completely opensouce. What its doing is running the process in a user space, but launched via the session defined as user. Maybe we can open this app up and port it into EG itself... just an idea!

[eatmeimadanish]

Tested in Windows 7. Works!

What i have found so far using this method:

I can adjust my system volume via a web slider, so I know EG is recieving events (despite no EG icon or window display). I even sent AJAX calls and it recieved that. I could not get the desktop OSD to work, despite being logged in as the same user the EG instance is opened in.

After further testing I found that if I launched XBMC during startup, it would fail to launch (the exe would launch and die). I imagine this is because whatever level EG is running in, its spawning user processes in that as well, XBMC fails to render the screen and closes. Also the keyboard plugin would not work with EG, even with EG logged in as the same user. So EG works, but because its in a different user space without a desktop, its limited to only network and system level commands. I have not had a chance to really get into this but, its a good start.

[skat]

I could not get the desktop OSD to work, despite being logged in as the same user the EG instance is opened in.

This is a show stopper for me. For the moment I am sticking with the psexec method mentioned above that works quite well on Win7.

[Oliveber]

what would be the advantages?

[eatmeimadanish]

You would not have to be logged in for EG to run, and EG runs despite whichever user logs in.