Windows 10 DVR - Run as a service

EDIT: Channels DVR has this capability built in now.
https://community.getchannels.com/t/windows-10-dvr-run-as-a-service/1156/10?u=imnotserious

for Historical purposes:

i was messing around today with the windows version and decided to play with running it as a service. here is what i did:

  1. Install Channels DVR. then from the task bar, stop the DVR.
  2. download 2003 Server Resource Kit Tools - ONLY FROM MICROSOFT!
    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17657
  3. then, assuming that you are running this on Windows 10x64 and did a default tools and dvr install, open a Admin command prompt and run these 2 commands:(watch out for weird line breaks or quotes, i don't know how this BBS works)

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\Instsrv.exe" channels-dvr "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\Srvany.exe"

reg add HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\channels-dvr\Parameters /v Application /t REG_SZ /d "C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\channels-dvr.exe"

This will run the channels DVR as the local system account.
I dont know what will happen when the dvr tries to update. since i just missed a version update

you can start/stop it by running "Services.msc"
or from a command-line "SC stop channels-dvr" and "SC start channels-dvr"
or for you powershell wippersnappers "powershell restart-service channels-dvr" :stuck_out_tongue:

I know that there are other tools out there that can download to run executables as a service, but I don't trust any of 'em. its a scary world out there.

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Feb '17

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Apr '18
](https://community.getchannels.com/t/windows-10-dvr-run-as-a-service/1156/15)

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https://community.getchannels.com/t/windows-10-dvr-run-as-a-service/1156/10?u=imnotserious

to download for windows: https://getchannels.com/dvr-server/#windows

for Historical purposes:

i was messing around today with the windows version and decided to play with running it as a service. here is what i did:

  1. Install Channels DVR. then from the task bar, stop the DVR.

  2. download 2003 Server Resource Kit Tools - ONLY FROM MICROSOFT!
    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17657

  3. then, assuming that you are running this on Windows 10x64 and did a default tools and dvr install, open a Admin command prompt and run these 2 commands:(watch out for weird line breaks or quotes, i don't know how this BBS works)

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\Instsrv.exe" channels-dvr "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\Srvany.exe"

reg add HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\channels-dvr\Parameters /v Application /t REG_SZ /d "C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\channels-dvr.exe"

This will run the channels DVR as the local system account.
I dont know what will happen when the dvr tries to update. since i just missed a version update

you can start/stop it by running "Services.msc"
or from a command-line "SC stop channels-dvr" and "SC start channels-dvr"
or for you powershell wippersnappers "powershell restart-service channels-dvr" :stuck_out_tongue:

I know that there are other tools out there that can download to run executables as a service, but I don't trust any of 'em. its a scary world out there.

3 Likes

Very useful, thanks. Let us know if auto updates work out too.

can you explain to us what does this do? i’m not much of a windows expert in terms of things like this. thanks!

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it is to allow the DVR to run even without a user logged in to windows.
This way if the power goes off or updates reboot the computer, the service starts up when Windows boots, not when a user logs on. so now you dont have to worry about an autologon account.

In my house, you can’t leave a Windows computer logged in, or heavens knows what my teenage boys would do.

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Any plans to make Channels run as a windows service by default?

I use the Windows task scheduler to start Channels without having a user logged in. It’s almost as good as having a native service.

3 Likes

@ChrisH - I have not seen this before. If you start before you login, what USERID Authority are you running under (for access to folders etc). Are you able to say start the DVR using a particular USERID Credentials? Any negative that you have found?

Thanks for sharing this option.

I use my admin user account. You enter the user id and password as part of the task scheduler process. I store my DVR files on a local hard drive so it doesn’t really matter which user id I use. I haven’t found any problems so far. I do the same thing for Plex Media Server. As long as the computer is on, I have access to Plex and Channels DVR. I share this PC with others in my family so I needed a way to have Plex and Channels running even if I’m not around to login. I will eventually move Channels and Plex to a dedicated server PC, but I’m not there yet.

1 Like

I don’t have a sign on. I set it up without one and works fine. A sign on is not needed on Win 10 you just have to be careful when you first run set up. I gave the computer a name (Windows Server) and no password or link to a Microsoft account. That way it is not checking email or anything of the sort. Set up a Home Group through the server to share files across computers and shared the “server drives” on the network so I have full access to the drives from any computer on my network. The only thing this computer does is Channels and Plex. Computer just stays on 24/7. Changed Bios to boot up in case of power outage. Works great so far.

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Channels DVR now officially supports running as a background service on windows.

To set it up, download the new setup utility (https://channels-dvr.s3.amazonaws.com/SetupChannelsDVR.exe). Use it to stop the running DVR in the system tray, then click the button to install it as a service.

3 Likes

What is the benefit of running it as a service?

Nobody needs to be logged in. So it can run headless act like a real server.

I prefer to not have the device autologon.

How can I determine if I installed running as a service? I think its not as I recently had a power outage and the system did not restart. (System did but Channels DVR did not) Is there any harm reinstalling? Will I loose any settings?

I’m on Version 2018.04.05.2308 (I think it’s still beta?)

Run the installer again and it will show you the current status

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To check to see if it’s set as a service, you can run “services.msc” and look for Channels DVR. It’s startup should be set for automatic.

If not, re-run the download “SetupChannelsDVR.exe”, and the little configure program will have an option for “Install DVR as a background service”.

If it thinks it’s configured to run as a service, instead you will see the “Stop DVR service”.

You can “Remove DVR service”, and then the “Install DVR as a background service” will reappear.

3 Likes

glad i actually found this as the standard installation does not install as a service and never got the option on the first install using the latest release