srvany-ng: Run any Windows application as a Service

A drop in, compatible, replacement for the useful "srvany.exe", found in the Windows Server Resource Kit.
Written in C, for Windows XP and newer.

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Differences to the original

• Open Source
• 32 and 64 bit binary available
• No OS/2 application support
• Service will stop if the launched application exits

Building

Solution is known to build with Visual Studio 2013, no additional dependencies are needed. The project uses the "v120_xp" toolset to ensure XP / 2003 support, and links to the MSVCRT statically.

Installing

Place srvany-ng in an accessible folder on your system. Install it as a service from an Elevated (Administrator) Command Prompt:

sc create "MyServiceName" start= auto binPath= "C:\Path\To\srvany-ng.exe"
sc description MyServiceName "My services description"

Note the spaces between start=, binPath= and their parameters. This is intended.

Now, open the Registry editor (regedit.exe), and browse to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MyServiceName

Create a new Key named "Parameters".
In the parameters key, create a new String value named "Application". The value should be the file path to the application you wish to run as a service.

Optional Parameters

Further Reading

Microsoft support article describing the use of the original srvany.exe: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/137890