Run BiblioWeb Server as Windows Service

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Run BiblioWeb Server as Windows Service - December 14, 2000

Biblioscape comes with a Web server application called BiblioWeb. BiblioWeb can post your bibliographic database on the Web. BiblioWeb is a regular Windows application, which means that you have to logon to Windows in order to start it. This is inconvenient if the computer running it has to be shared by several users. If you want to take advantage of the Windows service feature, you can download a version of BiblioWeb that can be run as Windows service. The Windows service feature is only available in Windows NT and 2000.

Running BiblioWeb as a Windows service has several advantages. First, BiblioWeb server will be started automatically after a computer reboot. There is no need to login to start it. Second, users can login and logoff the computer without interrupting the server. Third, you can setup recovery actions if the service fails, such as restarting the service automatically or restarting the computer (for computers running Windows 2000 only). The following tutorial shows you how to run BiblioWeb as a Windows service and how to take advantage of that.

1.BiblioWeb in Biblioscape is a regular Windows application. You need to download another executable in order to run it as a Windows service. However in Biblioscape 5 and 6, BiblioWeb can be run both as a regular application and as a Windows service.

Biblioscape 4: Click here to download BiblioWeb for Biblioscape 4 that can be run as Windows service. Unzip it to the "BiblioWeb" sub-folder where Biblioscape is installed. The unzipped file is called "BiblioWebSV.exe".

Biblioscape 5 and above: There is no need to download. You can run BiblioWeb.exe as both a Windows service and a regular application.

2. Make sure the BiblioWeb application is closed. On the Windows status bar, click "Start | Run". Click the "Browse" button to find and select "BiblioWebSV.exe" ("BiblioWeb.exe" for Biblioscape 5 and above) under the BiblioWeb folder. Enter " /install" at the end. Click OK button to install the service (the figure below shows the command for Biblioscape 4).

3. Windows will display a message if the service is properly installed. You can then restart your computer to start the service automatically -- it won't be started automatically after installation. Alternatively, you can go to the Windows service manager to start it. Once installed as a service, BiblioWeb will be automatically started as a service each time you restart the computer.

4. If you are running Windows 2000, you can setup a service to recover from failure. Go to Windows Control Panel. Double click the icon "Administrative Tools", then double click the icon "Services" to start the services manager. Select the "BiblioWeb Service" and click menu command "Action | Properties".

5. Click the "Recovery" tab. After the label "First failure", select "Reboot the Computer". Then click the OK button. So if the BiblioWeb service fails for some reason, it can reboot the computer and start itself again without human intervention.

6. BiblioWeb service runs in the background. Computer users won't even notice its existence. Users can logon and logoff without affecting the service function. Since the service has no interface for you to manage it, you need to use BiblioWeb.exe to do the administrative work. Please download BiblioWeb.exe released after 12/14/2000. Earlier releases won't detect the existence of the BiblioWeb service and will start another server running at another port. Click here to download the latest Biblioscape 4.0 patch which includes the new BiblioWeb.exe (Biblioscape 5 and 6 already have this feature).

Note: When running BiblioWeb as a Windows service, you can still run BiblioWeb as a regular Windows application to change settings. The changes made won't be applied until you reboot the computer or restart the BiblioWeb service.

Note: Some security software like ZoneAlarm will block all unused ports. If the port used by BiblioWeb is blocked, you won't be able to access BiblioWeb from other computers. You need to change settings in your security software to unblock that port. Click here for information on how to run BiblioWeb with ZoneAlarm.

Note: If you want to remove the BiblioWeb service, first go to Windows Control Panel and double click "Administrative Tools | Services". On the service manager Window, select "BiblioWeb Service" and click menu command "Action | Stop". Then, go to Windows status bar and click "Start | Run". Click the "Browse" button and find and select "BiblioWebSV.exe" under BiblioWeb folder ("BiblioWeb.exe" for Biblioscape 5 and above). Enter " /uninstall" at the end. Click OK button to remove the service.