====== Starting TransSECS deployments automatically on Windows ======

A TransSECS deployment is the folder TransSECS builds for a project. It holds ''<ProjectName>Runtime.jar'', ''ErgoTechConfiguration.properties'', ''log4j2.xml'' and ''run.bat''. Double-clicking ''run.bat'' starts the deployment in a console window. It stops when that window is closed, Ctrl+C is pressed in it, or the user logs off.

There are two ways to have a deployment start without anyone double-clicking ''run.bat'':

^  ^ Startup folder ^ Windows service ^
| Starts | when the user logs in | when Windows starts, before anyone logs in |
| Console window | visible, like a hand-started deployment | none; output goes to log files |
| If the deployment stops | it stays stopped | Windows can restart it |
| When the user logs off | the deployment stops | the deployment keeps running |
| Setting it up | drag one shortcut, no extra software | a Java copy, the WinSW wrapper and an ''.xml'' file; needs Administrator rights |

Use the **Startup folder** on a machine where someone is always logged in and you want to see the console. Use a **Windows service** on an unattended machine, or where the deployment must keep running through log-offs and restart after a failure.

Before either: start the deployment once by hand with ''run.bat'', on this machine, and check that it connects and that the log shows ''Valid IOT System Runtime License detected''. See [[starting_mix_transsecs_deployments_on_windows|Running TransSECS deployments]] on the bottom half of this page. Licence and configuration problems are much easier to see in a console window.

===== 1. Start the deployment when you log in (Startup folder) =====

  - Press **Windows key + R**, type ''shell:startup'' and press Enter. This opens your own Startup folder. To start the deployment for **every** user who logs in, type ''shell:common startup'' instead. Adding to that folder needs Administrator rights.
  - In File Explorer, open the deployment folder.
  - Drag ''run.bat'' into the Startup folder with the **right** mouse button, and choose **Create shortcuts here**. Do not copy or move ''run.bat'' itself. It must run inside the deployment folder, because that is where it finds the runtime jar, the licence and the settings.
  - Check the shortcut: right-click it, choose **Properties**, and make sure **Start in** is the deployment folder. Dragging fills this in for you.
  - Optional: in the same Properties window, set **Run** to **Minimized**, so that the console window starts on the taskbar.
  - Log off and log in again to check that the deployment starts.

Things to know:

  * **Nothing starts until someone logs in.** After a power cut or a Windows update restart, the deployment stays stopped until a user logs in. If that is not acceptable, use a service instead.
  * **Closing the console window stops the deployment.** So does logging off.
  * **To stop it starting automatically,** delete the shortcut from the Startup folder. The deployment itself is not affected.
  * **Several deployments:** add one shortcut per deployment. Two deployments on one machine must not use the same HSMS port.

===== 2. Run the deployment as a Windows service =====

A Windows service starts with Windows, runs without a console window or a logged-in user, and can be restarted automatically if it stops. TransSECS uses **WinSW 2.12.0**, a small open-source program that runs a command as a Windows service.

In outline:

  - **Give the deployment its own Java.** Copy the ''jre'' folder from ''<TransSECS installation>\MIStudioSuite\jre'' into the deployment folder, so that ''<deployment>\jre\bin\java.exe'' exists. A service does not use your PATH, and a copy keeps the service working when TransSECS is upgraded or removed.
  - **Add the wrapper.** Copy ''WinSW-x64.exe'' into the deployment folder and rename it, for example to ''GEMHostService.exe''.
  - **Configure it.** Next to the ''.exe'', create an ''.xml'' file with the same base name (''GEMHostService.xml''). It names the service, the Java command line taken from ''run.bat'', the start mode, what to do on failure, and how the log files roll over.
  - **Install and start it.** In a Command Prompt opened **as Administrator** in the deployment folder, run ''GEMHostService.exe install'', then ''GEMHostService.exe start''.
  - **Check it.** ''GEMHostService.exe status'' should say ''Started''. The console output is written to ''GEMHostService.out.log'' and ''GEMHostService.err.log'' in the deployment folder.

After that, the service can be started and stopped from the Services window (''services.msc'') like any other.

The full instructions, with an example ''.xml'' file to copy, what each setting does, how to change and remove the service, and what to check when it does not start, are on [[Products/transsecs-deployment-windows-service|Running a TransSECS deployment as a Windows service]].

===== 3. Removing automatic start before you uninstall =====

Remove the Startup shortcut or the service **before** you delete a deployment folder or the TransSECS installation:

  * **Startup folder:** delete the shortcut.
  * **Service:** in a Command Prompt as Administrator in the deployment folder, run ''GEMHostService.exe stop'', then ''GEMHostService.exe uninstall''.

Otherwise Windows keeps trying to start a program that no longer exists. The ''uninstall-readme.txt'' file in the TransSECS installation folder (also opened by **How to Uninstall** in the ErgoTech Start menu folder) lists the other steps.