'Modifying the "Path to executable" of a windows service
I'd like to modify the path to my application, but doing so breaks it because the service still points to the old location.
By going to Administrative Tools > Services you can open a properties dialog and view the Path to executable, but there is no way to change it.
Is there any way a user can modify the service path without having to reinstall the application ?
Solution 1:[1]
It involves editing the registry, but service information can be found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services. Find the service you want to redirect, locate the ImagePath subkey and change that value.
Solution 2:[2]
You could also do it with PowerShell:
Get-WmiObject win32_service -filter "Name='My Service'" `
| Invoke-WmiMethod -Name Change `
-ArgumentList @($null,$null,$null,$null,$null, `
"C:\Program Files (x86)\My Service\NewName.EXE")
Or:
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\My Service" `
-Name ImagePath -Value "C:\Program Files (x86)\My Service\NewName.EXE"
Solution 3:[3]
Open Run(win+R) , type "Regedit.exe" , to open "Registry Editor", go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services
find "Apache2.4" open the folder find the "ImagePath" in the right side, open "ImagePath" under "value Data" put the following path:
"C:\xampp\apache\bin\httpd.exe" -k runservice foe XAMPP for others point to the location where Apache is installed and inside locate the bin folder "C:(Apache installed location)\bin\httpd.exe" -k runservice
Solution 4:[4]
Slight modification to this @CodeMaker 's answer, for anyone like me who is trying to modify a MongoDB service to use authentication.
When I looked at the "Path to executable" in "Services" the executed line already contained speech marks. So I had to make minor modification to his example.
To be specific.
- Type Services in Windows
- Find MongoDB (or the service you want to change) and open the service, making sure to stop it.
- Make a note of the Service Name (not the display name)
- Look up and copy the "Path to executable" and copy it.
For me the path was (note the speech marks)
"C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\4.2\bin\mongod.exe" --config "C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\4.2\bin\mongod.cfg" --service
In a command line type
sc config MongoDB binPath= "<Modified string with \" to replace ">"
In my case this was
sc config MongoDB binPath= "\"C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\4.2\bin\mongod.exe\" --config \"C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\4.2\bin\mongod.cfg\" --service -- auth"
Solution 5:[5]
i just felt like adding for Git Bash users you should put the path in single quotes ' ' as in
sc config <service name> binPath='<binary path>'
in e.g. sc config MongoDB binPath='"C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\5.03\bin\mongod.exe" --config "C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\5.03\bin\mongod.cfg" --service --auth'
this worked for me to update the path of the service with Git Bash on Windows 10
Solution 6:[6]
You can't directly edit your path to execute of a service. For that you can use sc command,
SC CONFIG ServiceName binPath= "Path of your file"
Eg:
sc config MongoDB binPath="I:\Programming\MongoDB\MongoDB\bin\mongod.exe --config I:\Programming\MongoDB\MongoDB\bin\mongod.cfg --service"
Solution 7:[7]
An alternative to using Invoke-WmiMethod is to use the newer CIM cmdlets. This also avoids the need for the @($null,$null...) object, as seen in a previous answer.
Get-CimInstance win32_service -Filter "Name='My Service'" | Invoke-CimMethod -MethodName Change -Arguments @{PathName="C:\Program Files\My Service\NewName.exe"}
Solution 8:[8]
If you have Process Hacker installed, you can use it.
Solution 9:[9]
A little bit deeper with 'SC' command, we are able to extract all 'Services Name' and got all 'QueryServiceConfig' :)
>SC QUERY > "%computername%-services.txt" [enter]
>FIND "SERVICE_NAME: " "%computername%-services.txt" /i > "%computername%-services-name.txt" [enter]
>NOTEPAD2 "%computername%-services-name.txt" [enter]
Do 'small' NOTEPAD2 editing..
Then, continue with 'CMD'..
>FOR /F "DELIMS= SKIP=2" %S IN ('TYPE "%computername%-services-name.txt"') DO @SC QC "%S" >> "%computername%-services-list-config.txt" [enter]
>NOTEPAD2 "%computername%-services-list-config.txt" [enter]
Raw data is ready for feeding 'future batch file' so the result is look like this below!!!
+ -------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+--------------------------------------------------+------------------+-----+----------------+--------------+--------------------+
| SERVICE_NAME | TYPE | START_TYPE | ERROR_CONTROL | BINARY_PATH_NAME | LOAD_ORDER_GROUP | TAG | DISPLAY_NAME | DEPENDENCIES | SERVICE_START_NAME |
+ -------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+--------------------------------------------------+------------------+-----+----------------+--------------+--------------------+
+ WSearch | 10 WIN32_OWN_PROCESS | 2 AUTO_START (DELAYED) | 1 NORMAL | C:\Windows\system32\SearchIndexer.exe /Embedding | none | 0 | Windows Search | RPCSS | LocalSystem |
+ wuauserv | 20 WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS | 2 AUTO_START (DELAYED) | 1 NORMAL | C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs | none | 0 | Windows Update | rpcss | LocalSystem |
But, HTML will be pretty easier :D
Any bright ideas for improvement are welcome V^_^
Solution 10:[10]
The best way for this scenario is to uninstall the application and reinstall the application. That is the right legal way.
Sources
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Source: Stack Overflow