How to Install Windows Service via Command Line

The .net framework provides and command-line installer utility for installing services on the Windows system. You can use installutil.exe to install Windows service via the command line. For .net 4 framework it’s available under C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319 directory.

Install Windows Service

First of all, navigate to the .net framework directory and then run installutil.exe followed by the Windows server exe file path.

c:\> cd "C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\"
c:\> installutil.exe "C:\Users\Rahul\WindowsService\bin\Debug\WindowsService.exe"

This will install service on your system. In case it prompts for the authentication, Inputs the username, and password of your Windows system. Remember the user name must start with “.\” followed by username as shown in the below screen.

See the onscreen messages and check if the command successfully completed.

UnInstall Windows Service

To Uninstall the Windows service use “-u” option with the same command as installation. The command to uninstall service look like below:

c:\> cd "C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\"
c:\> installutil.exe -u "C:\Users\Rahul\WindowsService\bin\Debug\WindowsService.exe"