Running as a Windows service

There are varieties of commercial and open source solutions allowing Java applications to run as a Windows service. The distribution includes a configuration for a popular open source solution (WinRun4J) as an example of how running the pdrLoader as a Windows service can be achieved. Participants can adapt this example to software of their own choice.

The distribution includes the following files relevant to running as a Windows service:

pdrServiceInstall.bat installs a Java application as a Windows service.
pdrServiceUninstall.bat removes a Java application running as a Windows service.
WinRun4J.exe is a Windows wrapper for the Java run time environment required to run the pdrLoader under a 32-bit JRE environment.
WinRun4J64.exe is a Windows wrapper for the Java run time environment required to run the pdrLoader under a 64-bit JRE environment.
WinRun4J.ini is a file containing the configuration data defining the setup of the Windows service.

Installation

Follow the instructions below to install the pdrLoader as a Windows service (assuming Java is installed appropriately):

Edit the pdrServiceInstall.bat file to update the HOME and JRE environment variables to suit your environment, ensuring the path to the JRE .DLL is valid (such as, %JRE%\bin\server\jvm.dll).
Configure the HOME environment variable in the pdrServiceUninstall.bat file.
From the command line in the /lib directory, run the pdrServiceInstall.bat file supplying the following input parameters:

Parameter 1: The name of the Windows service to identify this instance

The following parameter combinations are valid:

pdrServiceInstall.bat pdrLoader
You may need to run this command at elevated privilege levels (Administrative) when the windows service is established in a “Local System” context.

Installation errors

During installation, error messages indicate oversights, with actions as follows for the more common circumstances:

Message	Actions
The LoadLibrary function failed for the following reason: The specified module could not be found.	Check the install of the JVM has put the jvm.dll as specified in the JRE environment variable in the pdrServiceInstall.bat file.
Could not load the Java Virtual Machine.	Check the install of the JVM has put the jvm.dll as specified in the JRE environment variable in the pdrServiceInstall.bat file.

Uninstalling

The procedure for uninstalling the pdrLoader as a Windows service is:

From the command line in the lib directory, run the pdrServiceUninstall.bat file supplying the name of the Windows service as a parameter. The name of the Windows service is identified by the name supplied in the install procedure.

The following parameter combinations are valid:

pdrServiceUninstall.bat pdrLoader