[[setup-service-win]]
== Running as a Service on Windows

Windows users can configure Elasticsearch to run as a service to run in the background or start automatically
at startup without any user interaction.
This can be achieved through `service.bat` script under `bin/` folder which allows one to install,
remove, manage or configure the service and potentially start and stop the service, all from the command-line.

["source","sh",subs="attributes,callouts"]
--------------------------------------------------
c:\elasticsearch-{version}\bin>service

Usage: service.bat install|remove|start|stop|manager [SERVICE_ID]
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The script requires one parameter (the command to execute) followed by an optional one indicating the service
id (useful when installing multiple Elasticsearch services).

The commands available are:

[horizontal]
`install`:: Install Elasticsearch as a service

`remove`:: Remove the installed Elasticsearch service (and stop the service if started)

`start`:: Start the Elasticsearch service (if installed)

`stop`:: Stop the Elasticsearch service (if started)

`manager`:: Start a GUI for managing the installed service

Note that the environment configuration options available during the installation are copied and will be used during
the service lifecycle. This means any changes made to them after the installation will not be picked up unless
the service is reinstalled.

Based on the architecture of the available JDK/JRE (set through `JAVA_HOME`), the appropriate 64-bit(x64) or 32-bit(x86)
service will be installed. This information is made available during install:

["source","sh",subs="attributes,callouts"]
--------------------------------------------------
c:\elasticsearch-{version}\bin>service install
Installing service      :  "elasticsearch-service-x64"
Using JAVA_HOME (64-bit):  "c:\jvm\jdk1.7"
The service 'elasticsearch-service-x64' has been installed.
--------------------------------------------------

NOTE: While a JRE can be used for the Elasticsearch service, due to its use of a client VM (as oppose to a server JVM which
offers better performance for long-running applications) its usage is discouraged and a warning will be issued.

[float]
=== Customizing service settings

There are two ways to customize the service settings:

Manager GUI:: accessible through `manager` command, the GUI offers insight into the installed service including its status, startup type,
JVM, start and stop settings among other things. Simply invoking `service.bat` from the command-line with the aforementioned option
will open up the manager window:

image::images/service-manager-win.png["Windows Service Manager GUI",align="center"]

Customizing `service.bat`:: at its core, `service.bat` relies on http://commons.apache.org/proper/commons-daemon/[Apache Commons Daemon] project
to install the services. For full flexibility such as customizing the user under which the service runs, one can modify the installation
parameters to tweak all the parameters accordingly. Do note that this requires reinstalling the service for the new settings to be applied.

NOTE: There is also a community supported customizable MSI installer available: https://github.com/salyh/elasticsearch-msi-installer (by Hendrik Saly).