Shuttle.Core.Host #

PM> Install-Package Shuttle.Core.Host

The generic host is an executable assembly used to execute code either within a console window or as a Windows service. Since it can host your code while running in Visual Studio it makes debugging very easy. No need to attach a debugger to a Windows service.

A typical implementation would be the following:

using System;
using Shuttle.Core.Host;

namespace Domain.Server
{
    public class DomainHost : IHost, IDisposable
    {
        private volatile bool active = true;
    
        public void Start()
        {
           while (active)
           {
                // perform some processing
           }
        }

        public void Dispose()
        {
            active = false;
        }
    }
}

When the generic host is executed it searches for all classes that implement the IHost. It needs to find exactly 1 class implementing the interface else it fails with an exception. If you do have more than one type implementing the interface you can specify the interface using an argument:

/hostType="assembly qualified name"

In order to debug applications that use the IHost interface you would simply need to set the Shuttle.Core.Host.exe as the startup application for your project:

You would probably want to use some thread-base processing but that is up to you.

Notice the IDisposable implementation. Whenever a service is stopped, or ctrl+c pressed for a console application, the IHost instance is safe-cast to IDisposable. If the host instance implements IDisposable the Dispose method will be called.

The following command-line arguments are available and can be viewed by running Shuttle.Core.Host /?:

    [/install [/serviceName]]    
        - install the service
        
    [/displayName]                
        - friendly name for the installed service
        
    [/description]                
        - Description for the service
        
    [/hostType]    
        - type implementing IHost that should be used
        
    [/instance]                    
        - unique name of the instance you wish to install
        
    [/configurationFileName]
        - an alternate configuration file name to use instead of {IHost.dll}.config

    [/startManually]            
        - specifies that the service should start manually
        
    [/username]                    
        - username of the account to use for the service
        
    [/password]]                
        - password of the account to use for the service
        
    - or -
    
    [/uninstall [/serviceName] [/instance]]    

IHost #

As mentioned, if no /hostType is specified the folder the Shuttle.Core.Host.exe is in will be scanned for the class implementing IHost. Should no class, or more than 1 class, be located an exception will be raised.

Service Name #

If no /serviceName is specified the full name of the service bus host type will be used along with the version number of the assembly it is contained within.

    Shuttle.Application.Server.Host (1.0.0.0)

Display Name #

The default for the /displayName is the same value as /serviceName, and the description defaults to a generic service bus host description.

Uninstall #

If you set the /serviceName and/or /instance during installation you will need to specify them when uninstalling as well, e.g.:

    Shuttle.Core.Host.exe 
        /uninstall 
        /serviceName:"Shuttle.Application.Server" 
        /instance:"Instance5"

Example #

Shuttle.Core.Host.exe 
    /install 
    /serviceName:"Shuttle.Application.Server" 
    /displayName:"Shuttle server for the application"
    /description:"Service to handle messages relating to the application" 
    /hostType:"QualifiedNamespace.Host, AssemblyName"
    /username:"domain\\hostuser"
    /password:"p@ssw0rd!"

WindowsServiceInstaller #

It is also possible to install and uninstall services that make use of shuttle-core-host by using the WindowsServiceInstaller class:

var windowsServiceInstaller = new WindowsServiceInstaller();

var installConfiguration = new InstallConfiguration
{
    ServiceAssemblyPath = @"{path to your service}\\Shuttle.Core.Host.exe",
    // more arguments may be specified
};  

windowsServiceInstaller.Install(installConfiguration);

var serviceInstallerConfiguration = new ServiceInstallerConfiguration
{
    ServiceAssemblyPath = @"{path to your service}\\Shuttle.Core.Host.exe",
    // more arguments may be specified
};

windowsServiceInstaller.Uninstall(serviceInstallerConfiguration);