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How to check if process is died or not from service

From a C# service, how I can check whether another app is dead or not?
I tried to use Process.Responding, it returns true but the app is died.
This is the code:
private List<string> getListStringGAppPath()
{
List<string> listGAppPaths = new List<string>();
Process[] processes = Process.GetProcessesByName("MyApp");
if (processes.Length > 0)
{
for (int i = 0; i < processes.Length; i++) {
listGAppPaths.Add(processes[i].Responding.ToString() + "######" + processes[i].MainModule.FileName);
//processes[i].Responding.ToString() always return True
}
return listGAppPaths;
}
else
{
return null;
}
}

When process dies, windows seems to toggles its state to Suspended, you can try checking its state first. Also here: Detecting process crash in .NET

You can check if the process is responding:
foreach (var process in System.Diagnostics.Process.GetProcesses())
{
Console.WriteLine("Process Name: {0}, Responding: {1}", process.ProcessName, process.Responding);
}
Similar to this answer:
Check status of process

You can use the methods in System.Diagnostics.Process to get process information.
GetProcessesByName(String)
Creates an array of new Process components and associates them with all the process resources on the local computer that share the specified process name.
GetProcessById(Int32)
Returns a new Process component, given the identifier of a process on the local computer.
GetProcesses()
Creates a new Process component for each process resource on the local computer.
If the process does not exist, then it must have died?

Service Error 1053: Could not start in timely fashion

Before you ask, yes I searched and searched on this issue, tried what others had work for them and came up with nothing. I have tried:
Running in release mode
Running on LocalSystem, LocalService, and named account
I have no debug code in my project
The summary of my project is a Windows service that scans for files in a source folder and at a set time, converts them and places them in a destination folder. These settings can be changed in a GUI which changes an XML file which the service scans periodically.
The finished product is wrapped in InstallShield. Everything works from VisualStudio. I can install the program and the service works perfectly. When I take my release build and install it myself on the same machine, I get this 1053 error.
Here is my OnStart
protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
{
// Update the service state to Start Pending.
ServiceStatus serviceStatus = new ServiceStatus();
serviceStatus.dwCurrentState = ServiceState.SERVICE_START_PENDING;
serviceStatus.dwWaitHint = 100000;
SetServiceStatus( this.ServiceHandle, ref serviceStatus );
// Set up a timer to trigger every 30s
System.Threading.Thread t1 = new System.Threading.Thread( new System.Threading.ThreadStart( this.InitTimer ) );
t1.Start();
// Set folders and time from xml
System.Threading.Thread t2 = new System.Threading.Thread( new System.Threading.ThreadStart( this.InitSettings ) );
t2.Start();
// Update the service state to Running.
eventLog1.WriteEntry( "Service successfully started", EventLogEntryType.Information, eventId++ );
serviceStatus.dwCurrentState = ServiceState.SERVICE_RUNNING;
SetServiceStatus( this.ServiceHandle, ref serviceStatus );
}
Here is my main
public WTVService(string[] args)
{
InitializeComponent();
string eventSourceName = "Searcher";
string logName = "WTVConverter";
if ( args.Count() > 0 )
{
eventSourceName = args[0];
}
if ( args.Count() > 1 )
{
logName = args[1];
}
eventLog1 = new EventLog();
if ( !EventLog.SourceExists( eventSourceName ) )
{
EventLog.CreateEventSource( eventSourceName, logName );
}
eventLog1.Source = eventSourceName; eventLog1.Log = logName;
}
Let me know what other info might be helpful.
Edit: Also, if it makes a difference, the error comes up instantly, not after the supposed 30 second timeout rule.

So this is interesting. I'm sure the InstallShield crowd is kind of limited here, but this might help someone. What ended up working was changing the build mode from SingleImage to DVD-5. I could not say why, but it now works perfectly. I tested on a machine that had never before run my program and it all worked.

When you are deploying any service through InstallShield you need to either select LocalSystem username or the Admin user credentials.
For execution of any windows service, it requires Admin user or LocalSystem user.
So there is provision of user credentials fr a servive in InstallShield.

C# console application timer issue

I have a console applciation which is invoked by a Windows Service. This console application creates instances of System.Timers.Timer based on certain App.config file entries (I have created a custom App.config section and the number of timer instances will be same as that of the elements in this section). The console application is expected not to close - if it closes for some reason, the windows service will invoke it again.
To make the console application live for ever, I have an infinite loop written as the last statement of the console application. while (1 == 1) { }.
The issue is, I see that the console application terminates every 5 minutes. I don't understand why is this happening.
If there are any better approaches, please suggest.
Code
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Boolean _isNotRunning;
using (Mutex _mutex = new Mutex(true, _mutexID, out _isNotRunning))
{
if (_isNotRunning)
{
new ProcessScheduler().InitializeTimers();
while (1 == 1) { }
}
else
{
return;
}
}
public class ProcessScheduler
{
public void InitializeTimers()
{
XYZConfigSection.XYZAppSection section = (XYZConfigSection.XYZAppSection)ConfigurationManager.GetSection("XYZApp");
if (section != null)
{
XYZComponentTimer XYZComponentTimer = null;
for (int intCount = 0; intCount < section.XYZComponents.Count; intCount++)
{
XYZComponentTimer = new XYZComponentTimer();
XYZComponentTimer.ComponentId = section.XYZComponents[intCount].ComponentId;
XYZComponentTimer.Interval = int.Parse(section.XYZComponents[intCount].Interval);
XYZComponentTimer.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(XYZComponentTimer_Elapsed);
XYZComponentTimer.Enabled = true;
}
}
}
}
public class XYZComponentTimer:Timer
{
public string ComponentId { get; set; }
}
Update:
As mentioned in the code, the timer interval for each instance is set based on the config file values for corresponding element. Right now, there are two sections in the config file: one has an interval of 15 seconds, and another one 10 seconds.

Let me guess: The timer interval is 5min and the timer crashes causing the process to exit.
Why don't you log any crashes or attach a debugger?

Handle the AppDomain.UnhandledException event and log the exception.

Mutex was getting instantiated every 5 minutes for some weird reason, and was setting _isNotRunning to true. That was the issue.

Process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process on Directory.Move()

We have a client application with the following architecture: a manager process manages a couple of worker processes (reader and writer) and periodically queries the server for version updates. If a version update is available, the manager downloads it to the client computer, shuts down the worker threads, starts an updater process to handle the update and exits. The updater, on startup, receives the manager PID and the update file location; it then waits for the manager to exit, backs up all files of the manager and workers, recreates their directories and spreads the new version files to the new directories.
When going through this process as described, the first call to Directory.Move(string, string) – which serves to back up the manager directory – throws the IOException. The strange thing is, if I let the manager shut down without starting the updater and then start the updater executable myself, the exception is not thrown.
Manager code for managing worker threads:
public void Run()
{
_config = GetConfiguration();
Process reader, writer;
//Start reader and writer with appropriate arguments
//Keep reader and writer alive
reader.Kill();
writer.Kill();
reader.WaitForExit();
writer.WaitForExit();
reader.Dispose();
writer.Dispose();
}
Manager code for querying the database:
EndpointAddress endpoint;
BasicHttpBinding httpBinding = new BasicHttpBinding();
httpBinding.MaxReceivedMessageSize = 2000000000;
ChannelFactory<IService> chanFactory = new ChannelFactory<IService>(httpBinding);
IService service;
try
{
endpoint = new EndpointAddress(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["Service URL"]);
service = chanFactory.CreateChannel(endpoint);
UpdateInstructions instructions = service.GetUpdateInstructions(_config.SiteID, Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Version.ToString(), _config.Version);
HandleUpdateInstructions(instructions); //Downloads files and starts the updater process
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//Report exception
}
finally
{
if (chanFactory.State != CommunicationState.Faulted)
chanFactory.Close();
}
Manager code for starting the updater process:
private void StartUpdater(string updateFilePath, string configFilePath)
{
ProcessStartInfo updaterStartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(_config.UpdaterExePath, string.Format("{0} \"{1}\" \"{2}\"", Process.GetCurrentProcess().Id, updateFilePath, configFilePath));
Process updater = Process.Start(updaterStartInfo);
updater.Dispose();
}
Updater code for waiting for the manager to close:
bool isManagerUp = true;
while (isManagerUp)
{
try
{
Process managerProcess = Process.GetProcessById(bDoxForceManagerPID);
managerProcess.WaitForExit();
managerProcess.Dispose();
isManagerUp = false;
}
catch
{
isManagerUp = false;
}
}
Updater code for updating a module:
//updateDirectory is the directory of the new files to be inserted, moduleDirectory is the working directory of the module that will be updated, in this case the manager
private void UpdateModule(DirectoryInfo updateDirectory, DirectoryInfo moduleDirectory)
{
string backupDirectory = MakeBackupDirectoryFullPath(moduleDirectory.Parent.FullName);
Directory.Move(moduleDirectory.FullName, backupDirectory); // IOException as described above.
Directory.CreateDirectory(moduleDirectory.FullName);
foreach (FileInfo updateFile in updateDirectory.EnumerateFiles())
{
string newFilePath = moduleDirectory.FullName + "\\" + updateFile.Name;
File.Copy(updateFile.FullName, newFilePath);
}
Directory.Delete(updateDirectory.FullName, true);
}

Thank to Adam Caviness answer we were able to figure it out.
Our processes were Console applications, they created a .vshost files that kept on working after the processes were order to terminate.
Attempting to move the directory with the running .vshost files caused the problem.
Turning the processes into Windows services didn't create a .vshost files and solved this issue.

I suggest you use MS (formally SysInternals) Process Monitor to track this down and thus first rule out any anti-virus/anti-malware/heuristics (should you not be going av commando like we devs do). The clue to that makes me point you in this direction is that you can start the updater yourself and the exception is not thrown. Just this year already I've ran into this issue and had to add an AV directory exclusion.

Silently update a Windows service

I have built a Windows service, now I want it to auto-update. I have read about a creating a second service to do that or different program , cant use click one, what about myBuild? Does anyone know it? What is the best way? Can I just change assemblies?

If you want your service to run while you are performing an update, here is what I had done before to achieve this:
Put your updateble logic into a separate DLL.
Create an AppDomain within your service.
Create file monitor that fires an event whenever you copy that file (you can use MSFT Ent Lib Updates)
Unload the old dll while blocking (queue) the threads that execute stuff from that dll
Load in the new dll file into the app domain.
Let your threads know to continue processing.

Download the new exe and any additional assembly's.
Rename your existing assembly's.
Copy in your new assembly's.
Restart Service. You can build the service restart function into your main service exe.
When service starts check for renamed files from step 2 and delete them to clean up.
To restart your service do
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start
(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location)
Then in your service do
private const string _mutexId = "MyUniqueId";
private static Mutex _mutex;
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
static void Main()
{
try
{
bool alreadyRunning = false;
try
{
Mutex.OpenExisting(_mutexId);
alreadyRunning = true;
}
catch (WaitHandleCannotBeOpenedException)
{
alreadyRunning = false;
}
catch
{
alreadyRunning = true;
}
if (alreadyRunning)
{
using (ServiceController sc = new ServiceController("MyServiceName"))
{
sc.Stop();
sc.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped, new TimeSpan(0, 0, 120));
sc.Start();
}
return;
}
}
catch
{
}
_mutex = new Mutex(true, _mutexId);
ServiceBase[] ServicesToRun;
ServicesToRun = new ServiceBase[]
{
new MyService()
};
// Load the service into memory.
ServiceBase.Run(ServicesToRun);
_mutex.Close();
}

You could modify your Windows Service so that it is simply a runner for your main application, and has the functionality to update your main application.
So you would have:
Service.exe: Runs Application.exe, monitors remote location for updates to Application.exe. Sends start/stop events to Application.exe
Application.exe : What used to be your Service.exe. Recieves start/stop events.