Windows Service Kestrel Template

Install the template

From NuGet

dotnet new --install GSoulavy.Template.WindowsService.Kestrel

Uninstall the template

The uninstall command, without any other parameters, will list all installed templates.

dotnet new -u

That command returns something similar to the following output:

Template Instantiation Commands for .NET CLI

Currently installed items:
  Microsoft.DotNet.Common.ItemTemplates
    Templates:
      global.json file (globaljson)
      NuGet Config (nugetconfig)
      Solution File (sln)
      Dotnet local tool manifest file (tool-manifest)
      Web Config (webconfig)
  Microsoft.DotNet.Common.ProjectTemplates.3.0
    Templates:
      Class library (classlib) C#
      Class library (classlib) F#
      Class library (classlib) VB
      Console Application (console) C#
      Console Application (console) F#
      Console Application (console) VB
...

The first level of items after Currently installed items: are the identifiers used in uninstalling a template. And in the example above, Microsoft.DotNet.Common.ItemTemplates and Microsoft.DotNet.Common.ProjectTemplates.3.0 are listed. If the template was installed by using a file system path, this identifier will the folder path of the .template.config folder.

Uninstalling a template

Use the dotnet new -u|--uninstall command to uninstall a package.

If the package was installed by either a NuGet feed or by a .nupkg file directly, provide the identifier.

dotnet new -u <NUGET_PACKAGE_ID>

If the package was installed by specifying a path to the .template.config folder, use that absolute path to uninstall the package. You can see the absolute path of the template in the output provided by the dotnet new -u command.

dotnet new -u <ABSOLUTE_FILE_SYSTEM_DIRECTORY>

More information on the template subject: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tools/custom-templates

Publish

dotnet publish -o ./out

Create a project using a custom template

After a template is installed, use the template by executing the dotnet new <TEMPLATE> command as you would with any other pre-installed template. You can also specify options to the dotnet new command, including template-specific options you configured in the template settings. Supply the template's short name directly to the command:

dotnet new <TEMPLATE> [-n <NAME>]

Install as a Windows Service

sc.exe create <name-of-the-service> binpath= <path-to-the-published-app.exe>

Other sc.exe commands

# start
sc.exe start <name-of-the-service>

# delete
sc.exe delete <name-of-the-service>

Configurations

EnvironmentVariable

When the service is installed as a windows service, the base path points to the system32 directory, therefore the base path has to be set with an environment variable:

ServiceBasePath => <path-of-the-published-app-installed-as-a-windows-service>

Properites/launchSettings.json

{
  "$schema": "http://json.schemastore.org/launchsettings.json",
  "profiles": {
    "<PROJECT-NAME>": {
      "commandName": "Project",
      "dotnetRunMessages": "true", 
      "launchBrowser": true,
      "environmentVariables": {
          "ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT": "Development"
      }
    }
  }
}