*EZWEB fails to start as a Windows service

[pwhirley]

I've got a Webster+ application which runs fine either on port 80 or port 8088 on two different machines as long as I start it from the shortcut or command prompt.
I really want to start it as a service, so I have gone through the Windows service installation.  I first tried using port 8088 but when I installed the service, it would not start.  It begins the start process then just quits.  There are no errors logged.  I tried changing to port 80 and the service starts, but when I try to run the application using LOCALHOST/?pg$=mystartpage it gives me a security warning telling me that perhaps I'm using a different browser or my browser blocks cookies.  Neither of these is true.
I need to run this with the Local System Account and I have made sure that SYSTEM has permission to all the necessary folders.
I do not have nor need an SSL certificate.

Any suggestions about what could be going wrong here? 

Thanks - Phil

[Stéphane Devouard]

Hi Phil

You could try to create the *ezweb/logs directory and see if EZWEB logs any error message in it

[pwhirley]

Thanks Stéphane, that was helpful.   I'm now seeing a Winsock error:
-----
Jun 24 09:53:04 [*ezweb\server:356] Starting *ezweb/server (PID:6048)
Jun 24 09:53:08 [*ezweb\server:423] [TCP][Winsock]Error status:0 (-1:<Unk>) (PID:6048)
Jun 24 09:53:08 [*ezweb\server:423] OS Cmnd Err: [TCP][Winsock]Error status:0 (-1:<Unk>) (C:\Users\Devon\workspace\repos\development_svnpxp\pvxplus\pvxexe\pvxtcp.c @ 888) (PID:6048)
-----

It is interesting that I don't get such an error when running from command prompt.  Perhaps Devon can shed light since the error references his repo.

Even with the error, the service appears to start, but when I attempt to use the app in the browser *EZWEB returns the message:
"We're sorry, the system security settings are restricting access to this session."

This makes me think that there is some security restriction for the local system account that I'm missing.

Thanks for the help!

Phil

[Loren Doornek]

Are you running the service as LocalSystem or LocalService?  The LocalService is very restricted while the LocalSystem basically has full access to the machine, but it accesses the network with machine credentials instead of user credentials, so that might be the issue.  I would try running the service with a user account just to see if it works that way.

[Stéphane Devouard]

Phil

Well, this just says that the pvxtcp.c (the module / library where the TCP layer of the interpreter is located, I suppose) is now on Devon's local SVN repo after 40+ years being on Mike's machine 

Running services in Windows with the LocalSystem account has always been a major pain.

The underlying issue here is probably some security credentials as pointed out by Loren.
Make sure that the pxplus directory tree is accessible as this is probably somewhere in the lib sub-folders that PxPlus creates files for the web sessions

[Mike King]

Phil

I would suggest you try a different user -- either NETWORK SERVICE or a standard user on the system.

Regards
Mike King

[pwhirley]

Thanks for the replies Loren, Stéphane and Mike.  I have tried using my account as the login and have tried setting up a new account and giving that account full control permissions to the PXPlus and app folders but I get the same problem.  I have also tried using NETWORK SERVICE as the logon with the same result.

The service *will* start, but it logs the TCP error mentioned earlier.  It uses a license and when I try to run my app, I get the iNOMADS admin page.  This implies, to me, that EZWEB *is* running, but it will not run my app nor any of the iNOMADS transactions.

I have tried this on two separate Windows 11 workstations with same results.  The Winsock error happens every time and regardless of the user. 

Thanks again for any additional suggestions.

- Phil

[EVa]

I'm getting the same messages in the log file when I run the EzWeb server as a service on Windows 11.  The EzWeb service still  works as expected and the Winsock messages only appear once after every start of the server (so I assume these are for information purposes only).  What happens when you try to run one of the included transactions, for example http://127.0.0.1:8088?txid=test .

[pwhirley]

Aha!  I didn't think to try to correctly run a transaction.  HTTP://localhost:8088/?txid=test seems to work - at least one time.  This means that the service is working, even with the error.  It does not work consistently, but I believe that is because I was not closing the window properly.  The txid=test and txid=debug seem to work.  However, my Webster+ app does not work.  If I try to the following:
http://localhost/?pg$=profile
It returns the iNOMADS admin.

There is something else I need to do, apparently, to run Webster+ as a service.  I note that on the command line i have:
-arg 8088 "" c:\apps\coasttec\docroot
But i see nowhere in the Windows service setup that I can specify those arguments.  The only choice I have, apparently, is to select EZWeb Server as the application.

Is it possible to run Webster+ as a service?  If so, how do I set it up?

Thanks - Phil

[EVa]

You're correct - the EzWeb install program installs a server for iNomads.  I've attached a slightly changed version called 'webster' (save as *ezweb/webster) that will install/update/delete an EzWeb server for Webster+.  I've used the v20.10 *ezweb/install program source.

[EVa]

One more thing: the 'Starting directory' *must* be your docroot directory, for example c:\apps\coasttec\docroot .

[pwhirley]

Thank you very much, EVa!  Apparently I didn't know what question to ask without bouncing around for a little while.

I'll install and give this a try.  I may not be able to do it for a week or so since I'm heading to your side of the Atlantic for a bit.

- Phil

[pwhirley]

Eric, the new program worked perfectly.  Thank you for resolving this for me.

Phil