Windows service doesn't enter _tmain on startup - c++

Question

I am writing a service based on the tutorial at the following page:
https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/499465/Simple-Windows-Service-in-Cplusplus
I can successfully create the service using:
sc create service_name binPath=<path_name>
When I attempt to start the service, I get the following error:
sc start service_name
[SC] StartService FAILED 1053:
The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.
Here is my main():
int main (int argc, char *argv[])
{
OutputDebugString("service_name: entered main");
SERVICE_TABLE_ENTRY ServiceTable[] =
{
{SERVICE_NAME, (LPSERVICE_MAIN_FUNCTION) ServiceMain},
{NULL, NULL}
};
if (StartServiceCtrlDispatcher (ServiceTable) == FALSE)
{
return GetLastError();
}
return 0;
}
EDIT: I switched from log files to OutputDebugString()/DebugView
I ran DebugView, and I never receive "entered main". However, if I replace the contents of my worker thread with a return statement, I do start up successfully, and I receive the debug message, so I know that DebugView is working correctly.
Here is where I create my worker thread:
// Start a thread that will perform the main task of the service
HANDLE hThread = CreateThread (NULL, 0, ServiceWorkerThread, NULL, 0, NULL);
if (hThread) {
// Wait until our worker thread exits, so we can set state to SERVICE_STOPPED and return needs to stop
WaitForSingleObject (hThread, INFINITE);
} else {
OutputDebugString("service_name: ServiceMain: CreateThread returned NULL");
}
It seems like my worker thread is responsible for the startup error, but why wouldn't I get debug messages at the top of main()?

Answer 1

If your service was created successfully, you should see it in the list of Windows Services ( Computer Management -> Services and Applications->Services). If it is not present, then it was not registered properly. If it is present, you could try to start it from Windows Service console. Your's _tmain is just not called by the service, no log will be produced.

Answer 2

You need to update the SCM states using SetServiceStatus function.
If initializing your service takes a long time, you should update the state periodically with the SERVICE_START_PENDING state.
When the initialization is finished, you must update the SCM state to SERVICE_RUNNING.
Other states are:
-SERVICE_STOP_PENDING.
-SERVICE_PAUSE_PENDING.
-SERVICE_CONTINUE_PENDING.
-SERVICE_STOPPED.
My function that sends the state to the SCM is as follows:
BOOL SendStatusToSCM
(
DWORD dwCurrentState,
DWORD dwWin32ExitCode,
DWORD dwServiceSpecificExitCode,
DWORD dwCheckPoint,
DWORD dwWaitHint
)
{
BOOL success;
SERVICE_STATUS serviceStatus;
// Preenche os campos do service status
serviceStatus.dwServiceType = SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS;
serviceStatus.dwCurrentState = dwCurrentState;
if (dwCurrentState == SERVICE_START_PENDING)
serviceStatus.dwControlsAccepted = 0;
else
serviceStatus.dwControlsAccepted =
SERVICE_ACCEPT_STOP |
SERVICE_ACCEPT_PAUSE_CONTINUE |
SERVICE_ACCEPT_SHUTDOWN;
if (dwServiceSpecificExitCode == 0)
serviceStatus.dwWin32ExitCode =
dwWin32ExitCode;
else
serviceStatus.dwWin32ExitCode =
ERROR_SERVICE_SPECIFIC_ERROR;
serviceStatus.dwServiceSpecificExitCode =
dwServiceSpecificExitCode;
serviceStatus.dwCheckPoint = dwCheckPoint;
serviceStatus.dwWaitHint = dwWaitHint;
// Passa o status para o SCM
success = SetServiceStatus
(
serviceStatusHandle,
&serviceStatus
);
if (!success)
exit( 99 );
return success;
}
With this create below the start service works perfectly and always activates the main():
serv=CreateService (
sc,
noServ, // service name
noDisp, // display name
SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS, // desired access
SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS, // service type
SERVICE_AUTO_START, // modo de iniciar o serviço
SERVICE_ERROR_NORMAL, // gravidade da falha do serviço
noExec, // nome do executável
NULL, // nome do grupo ao qual pertence
NULL, // tag id
NULL, // tabela de dependências
NULL, // account name
NULL // account password
);