Running a Go application as a windows service
This week I was looking to run a golang application as a windows service. Came across this neat library by github user kardianos on his github repo. It basically allows you to run Go programs as a service not just on Windows but also on Linux and that other OS (OSX) I dont like to talk about ;)
Following is the source of a simple console application that can run as a windows service with commands for install and uninstall
main.go
package main
import (
"flag"
"log"
"github.com/kardianos/service"
)
type program struct{}
func (p *program) Start(s service.Service) error {
// Should be non-blocking, so run async using goroutine
go p.run()
return nil
}
//run will be called by Start() so business logic goes here
func (p *program) run() {
//your logic here
}
func (p *program) Stop(s service.Service) error {
// Should be non-blocking
return nil
}
func main() {
var mode string
flag.StringVar(&mode, "mode", "", "install/uninstall/run")
flag.Parse()
svcConfig := &service.Config{
Name: "GoServiceExampleSimple",
DisplayName: "Go Service Example",
Description: "This is an example Go service.",
}
prg := &program{}
s, err := service.New(prg, svcConfig)
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
if mode == "install" {
err = s.Install()
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
}
if mode == "uninstall" {
err = s.Uninstall()
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
}
if mode == "" || mode == "run" {
err = s.Run()
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
}
}
1. Install the service
After running go build main.go, run
$ ./main.exe --mode=install 2. Uninstall the service
$ ./main.exe --mode=uninstall 3. Start the service from services.msc
The name of the service will be the value set in the Name argument in the service.Config{} above. GoServiceExampleSimple in this case.