CreateService

The CreateService function creates a service object and adds it to the specified service control manager database.

SC_HANDLE CreateService(
  SC_HANDLE hSCManager,       // handle to SCM database 
  LPCTSTR lpServiceName,      // name of service to start
  LPCTSTR lpDisplayName,      // display name
  DWORD dwDesiredAccess,      // type of access to service
  DWORD dwServiceType,        // type of service
  DWORD dwStartType,          // when to start service
  DWORD dwErrorControl,       // severity of service failure
  LPCTSTR lpBinaryPathName,   // name of binary file
  LPCTSTR lpLoadOrderGroup,   // name of load ordering group
  LPDWORD lpdwTagId,          // tag identifier
  LPCTSTR lpDependencies,     // array of dependency names
  LPCTSTR lpServiceStartName, // account name 
  LPCTSTR lpPassword          // account password
);

Parameters

hSCManager

[in] Handle to the service control manager database. This handle is returned by the OpenSCManager function and must have SC_MANAGER_CREATE_SERVICE access.

lpServiceName

[in] Pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies the name of the service to install. The maximum string length is 256 characters. The service control manager database preserves the case of the characters, but service name comparisons are always case insensitive. Forward-slash (/) and back-slash (\) are invalid service name characters.

lpDisplayName

[in] Pointer to a null-terminated string that contains the display name to be used by user interface programs to identify the service. This string has a maximum length of 256 characters. The name is case-preserved in the service control manager. display name comparisons are always case-insensitive.

dwDesiredAccess

[in] Specifies the access to the service. Before granting the requested access, the system checks the access token of the calling process.

The STANDARD_RIGHTS_REQUIRED constant enables the following object access types.

Standard rights	Description
ACCESS_SYSTEM_SECURITY	Enables calling of the QueryServiceObjectSecurity or SetServiceObjectSecurity function to access the SACL. The proper way to obtain this access is to enable the SE_SECURITY_NAME privilege in the caller's current access token, open the handle for ACCESS_SYSTEM_SECURITY access, and then disable the privilege.
DELETE	Enables calling of the DeleteService function to delete the service.
READ_CONTROL	Enables calling of the QueryServiceObjectSecurity function to query the security descriptor of the service object.
WRITE_DAC	Enables calling of the SetServiceObjectSecurity function to modify the Dacl member of the service object's security descriptor.
WRITE_OWNER	Enables calling of the SetServiceObjectSecurity function to modify the Owner and Group members of the service object's security descriptor.

You can specify any or all of the following service object access types.

Object access	Description
SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS	Includes STANDARD_RIGHTS_REQUIRED in addition to all of the access types listed in this table.
SERVICE_CHANGE_CONFIG	Enables calling of the ChangeServiceConfig function to change the service configuration.
SERVICE_ENUMERATE_DEPENDENTS	Enables calling of the EnumDependentServices function to enumerate all the services dependent on the service.
SERVICE_INTERROGATE	Enables calling of the ControlService function to ask the service to report its status immediately.
SERVICE_PAUSE_CONTINUE	Enables calling of the ControlService function to pause or continue the service.
SERVICE_QUERY_CONFIG	Enables calling of the QueryServiceConfig function to query the service configuration.
SERVICE_QUERY_STATUS	Enables calling of the QueryServiceStatus function to ask the service control manager about the status of the service.
SERVICE_START	Enables calling of the StartService function to start the service.
SERVICE_STOP	Enables calling of the ControlService function to stop the service.
SERVICE_USER_DEFINED_CONTROL	Enables calling of the ControlService function to specify a user-defined control code.

You can specify any of the following generic access types.

Generic access	Service access
GENERIC_READ	Combines the following access types: STANDARD_RIGHTS_READ, SERVICE_QUERY_CONFIG, SERVICE_QUERY_STATUS, SERVICE_INTERROGATE, and SERVICE_ENUMERATE_DEPENDENTS.
GENERIC_WRITE	Combines the following access types: STANDARD_RIGHTS_WRITE and SERVICE_CHANGE_CONFIG.
GENERIC_EXECUTE	Combines the following access types: STANDARD_RIGHTS_EXECUTE, SERVICE_START, SERVICE_STOP, SERVICE_PAUSE_CONTINUE, and SERVICE_USER_DEFINED_CONTROL.

dwServiceType

[in] Specifies the type of service. This parameter must be one of the following service types.

Type	Meaning
SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS	Specifies a service that runs in its own process.
SERVICE_WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS	Specifies a service that shares a process with other services.
SERVICE_KERNEL_DRIVER	Specifies a driver service.
SERVICE_FILE_SYSTEM_DRIVER	Specifies a file system driver service.

If you specify either SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS or SERVICE_WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS, you can also specify the following type.

Type	Meaning
SERVICE_INTERACTIVE_PROCESS	Enables a service to interact with the desktop. This value is valid only if lpServiceStartName is the LocalSystem account. For more information, see Interactive Services.

dwStartType

[in] Specifies when to start the service. This parameter must be one of the following start types.

Type	Meaning
SERVICE_BOOT_START	Specifies a device driver started by the system loader. This value is valid only for driver services.
SERVICE_SYSTEM_START	Specifies a device driver started by the IoInitSystem function. This value is valid only for driver services.
SERVICE_AUTO_START	Specifies a service to be started automatically by the service control manager during system startup.
SERVICE_DEMAND_START	Specifies a service to be started by the service control manager when a process calls the StartService function.
SERVICE_DISABLED	Specifies a service that can no longer be started.

dwErrorControl

[in] Specifies the severity of the error if this service fails to start during startup, and determines the action taken by the startup program if failure occurs. This parameter must be one of the following values.

Value	Meaning
SERVICE_ERROR_IGNORE	The startup program logs the error but continues the startup operation.
SERVICE_ERROR_NORMAL	The startup program logs the error and puts up a message box pop-up but continues the startup operation.
SERVICE_ERROR_SEVERE	The startup program logs the error. If the last-known-good configuration is being started, the startup operation continues. Otherwise, the system is restarted with the last-known-good configuration.
SERVICE_ERROR_CRITICAL	The startup program logs the error, if possible. If the last-known-good configuration is being started, the startup operation fails. Otherwise, the system is restarted with the last-known good configuration.

lpBinaryPathName

[in] Pointer to a null-terminated string that contains the fully qualified path to the service binary file. If the path contains a space, it must be quoted so that it is correctly interpreted. For example, "d:\\my share\\myservice.exe" should be specified as "\"d:\\my share\\myservice.exe\"".

lpLoadOrderGroup

[in] Pointer to a null-terminated string that names the load ordering group of which this service is a member. Specify NULL or an empty string if the service does not belong to a group.

lpdwTagId

[out] Pointer to a variable that receives a tag value that is unique in the group specified in the lpLoadOrderGroup parameter. Specify NULL if you are not changing the existing tag.

You can use a tag for ordering service startup within a load ordering group by specifying a tag order vector in the GroupOrderList value of the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control

Tags are only evaluated for driver services that have SERVICE_BOOT_START or SERVICE_SYSTEM_START start types.

lpDependencies

[in] Pointer to a double null-terminated array of null-separated names of services or load ordering groups that the system must start before this service. Specify NULL or an empty string if the service has no dependencies. Dependency on a group means that this service can run if at least one member of the group is running after an attempt to start all members of the group.

You must prefix group names with SC_GROUP_IDENTIFIER so that they can be distinguished from a service name, because services and service groups share the same name space.

lpServiceStartName

[in] Pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies the service name. If the service type is SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS, use an account name in the form DomainName\UserName. The service process will be logged on as this user. If the account belongs to the built-in domain, you can specify .\UserName. If the service type is SERVICE_WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS you must specify the LocalSystem account. If you specify NULL, CreateService uses the LocalSystem account.

If the service type is SERVICE_KERNEL_DRIVER or SERVICE_FILE_SYSTEM_DRIVER, the name is the driver object name that the system uses to load the device driver. Specify NULL if the driver is to use a default object name created by the I/O system.

If the service type specifies SERVICE_INTERACTIVE_PROCESS, the service must run in the LocalSystem account.

lpPassword

[in] Pointer to a null-terminated string that contains the password to the account name specified by the lpServiceStartName parameter. If the pointer is NULL or if it points to an empty string, the service has no password. Passwords are ignored for driver services. If lpServiceStartName is LocalSystem, the password must be NULL.

Return Values

If the function succeeds, the return value is a handle to the service.

If the function fails, the return value is NULL. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

The following error codes can be set by the service control manager. Other error codes can be set by the registry functions that are called by the service control manager.

Remarks

The CreateService function creates a service object and installs it in the service control manager database by creating a key with the same name as the service under the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services

Information specified for this function is saved as values under this key. Setup programs and the service itself can create subkeys under this key for any service specific information.

The returned handle is only valid for the process that called CreateService. It can be closed by calling the CloseServiceHandle function.

Requirements

  Windows NT/2000: Requires Windows NT 3.1 or later.
  Header: Declared in Winsvc.h; include Windows.h.
  Library: Use Advapi32.lib.
  Unicode: Implemented as Unicode and ANSI versions on Windows NT/2000.

See Also

Services Overview, Service Functions, ChangeServiceConfig, CloseServiceHandle, ControlService, DeleteService, EnumDependentServices, OpenSCManager, QueryServiceConfig, QueryServiceObjectSecurity, QueryServiceStatus, SetServiceObjectSecurity, StartService