Topshelf: Getting started guide - Run .net core console application as windows service

Introduction

For people that don't know what Topshelf is.

"Topshelf is a framework for hosting services written using the .NET framework.
The creation of services is simplified, allowing developers to create a simple console application that can be installed as a service using Topshelf.
The reason for this is simple: It is far easier to debug a console application than a service.
And once the application is tested and ready for production, Topshelf makes it easy to install the application as a service."
Source

This "Topshelf: Getting started guide" post will explain the basics and how to use Topshelf with:

.NET Core 3.1

Topshelf 4.2.1

Serilog 2.9.0

Source code

You can find the source code of this post on: https://github.com/gergroen/Topshelf-getting-started-guide

Post summary

Installing NuGet

Create service class

Configure logging and windows service

Control the windows service

The result

Installing NuGet

First create a .Net core console project and install the next nuget packages.

Serilog

Serilog.Sinks.Console

Serilog.Sinks.File

Topshelf

Topshelf.Serilog

Create service class

Create a Service class. In this example the implementation has only log lines
but here you can add your own functionality for the windows service.

using Serilog;

namespace Topshelf.GettingStarted
{
    public class Service
    {
        public void Start()
        {
            Log.Information("Started");
        }

        public void Stop()
        {
            Log.Information("Stopped");
        }
    }
}

Configure logging and windows service

Logging and the windows service are configured in the Program.Main.

using System;
using Serilog;

namespace Topshelf.GettingStarted
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Log.Logger = new LoggerConfiguration()
                .WriteTo.Console()
                .WriteTo.File("log.txt", rollingInterval: RollingInterval.Day)
                .CreateLogger();

            var rc = HostFactory.Run(x =>
            {
                x.Service(s =>
                {
                    s.ConstructUsing(name => new Service());
                    s.WhenStarted(tc => tc.Start());
                    s.WhenStopped(tc => tc.Stop());
                });
                x.RunAsLocalSystem();

                x.SetDescription("Topshelf Getting Started");
                x.SetDisplayName("Topshelf.GettingStarted");
                x.SetServiceName("Topshelf.GettingStarted");
                x.UseSerilog();
            });

            var exitCode = (int)Convert.ChangeType(rc, rc.GetTypeCode());
            Environment.ExitCode = exitCode;
        }
    }
}

This is the result when we run the console application.

Control the windows service

To control the windows service we create the next batch files.

_install-service.bat

"%~dp0Topshelf.GettingStarted" install

_start-service.bat

"%~dp0Topshelf.GettingStarted" start

_stop-service.bat

"%~dp0Topshelf.GettingStarted" stop

_uninstall-service.bat

"%~dp0Topshelf.GettingStarted" uninstall

Set the "Copy to output directory" of the batch files to "Copy if newer".

The result

Now you can run _install-service.bat as Administrator to install the application as windows service.
If you open the Services console you will see the application in the list.

Useful links:

Source code
Topshelf documentation