Automatically start a Windows Service on install

In your Installer class, add a handler for the AfterInstall event. You can then call the ServiceController in the event handler to start the service.

using System.ServiceProcess;
public ServiceInstaller()
{
    //... Installer code here
    this.AfterInstall += new InstallEventHandler(ServiceInstaller_AfterInstall);
}

void ServiceInstaller_AfterInstall(object sender, InstallEventArgs e)
{
    ServiceInstaller serviceInstaller = (ServiceInstaller)sender;

    using (ServiceController sc = new ServiceController(serviceInstaller.ServiceName))
    {
             sc.Start();
    }
}

Now when you run InstallUtil on your installer, it will install and then start up the service automatically.

How about following commands?

net start "<service name>"
net stop "<service name>"

Programmatic options for controlling services:

• Native code can used, "Starting a Service". Maximum control with minimum dependencies but the most work.
• WMI: Win32_Service has a StartService method. This is good for cases where you need to be able to perform other processing (e.g. to select which service).
• PowerShell: execute Start-Service via RunspaceInvoke or by creating your own Runspace and using its CreatePipeline method to execute. This is good for cases where you need to be able to perform other processing (e.g. to select which service) with a much easier coding model than WMI, but depends on PSH being installed.
• A .NET application can use ServiceController

You can use the following command line to start the service:

net start *servicename*

Here is a procedure and code using generated ProjectInstaller in Visual Studio:

1. Create Windows Service project in Visual Studio
2. Generate installers to the service
3. Open ProjectInstaller in design editor (it should open automatically when installer is created) and set properties of generated serviceProcessInstaller1 (e.g. Account: LocalSystem) and serviceInstaller1 (e.g. StartType: Automatic)
4. Open ProjectInstaller in code editor (press F7 in design editor) and add event handler to ServiceInstaller.AfterInstall - see the following code. It will start the service after its installation.

ProjectInstaller class:

using System.ServiceProcess;


[RunInstaller(true)]
public partial class ProjectInstaller : System.Configuration.Install.Installer
{
    public ProjectInstaller()
    {
        InitializeComponent(); //generated code including property settings from previous steps
        this.serviceInstaller1.AfterInstall += Autorun_AfterServiceInstall; //use your ServiceInstaller name if changed from serviceInstaller1
    }

    void Autorun_AfterServiceInstall(object sender, InstallEventArgs e)
    {
        ServiceInstaller serviceInstaller = (ServiceInstaller)sender;
        using (ServiceController sc = new ServiceController(serviceInstaller.ServiceName))
        {
            sc.Start();
        }
    }
}

Use ServiceController to start your service from code.

Update: And more correct way to start service from the command line is to use "sc" (Service Controller) command instead of "net".

Automatic startup means that the service is automatically started when Windows starts. As others have mentioned, to start it from the console you should use the ServiceController.

You can use the GetServices method of ServiceController class to get an array of all the services. Then, find your service by checking the ServiceName property of each service. When you've found your service, call the Start method to start it.

You should also check the Status property to see what state it is already in before calling start (it may be running, paused, stopped, etc..).

This is OK for me. In Service project add to Installer.cs

[RunInstaller(true)]
public partial class ProjectInstaller : System.Configuration.Install.Installer
{
    public ProjectInstaller()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
    }
 
    protected override void OnAfterInstall(IDictionary savedState)
    {
        base.OnAfterInstall(savedState);
 
        //The following code starts the services after it is installed.
        using (System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController serviceController = new System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController(serviceInstaller1.ServiceName))
        {
            serviceController.Start();
        }
    }
}