A TransSECS deployment is the folder TransSECS builds for a project. It holds <ProjectName>Runtime.jar, log4j2.xml, ErgoTechConfiguration.properties and run.bat. Started with run.bat, it runs in a console window and stops when someone closes that window or logs off. To have it start with Windows and restart after a failure, run it as a Windows service.

This page uses WinSW 2.12.0, a small open-source program that runs any command as a Windows service. You put one .exe and one .xml file in the deployment folder, edit the .xml for your project, and install it.

Read Running TransSECS deployments on the bottom half of this page first. Everything there about Java, licences, the working directory and logging applies to a deployment run as a service too.

This page is the detail behind Starting TransSECS deployments automatically on Windows, which compares a service with the simpler Startup folder.

• A deployment that already works from run.bat. Start it by hand once, on this machine, and check the log for Valid IOT System Runtime License detected. A service hides the console, so sort out licence and configuration problems before you install it.
• WinSW 2.12.0, the WinSW-x64.exe file. It is a 64-bit build that needs no .NET installation. If your TransSECS installation did not include it, download it from the WinSW releases page: WinSW v2.12.0. (WinSW-x86.exe is the 32-bit build; WinSW.NET461.exe also works but needs .NET Framework 4.6.1 or later.)
• A Java 11 runtime inside the deployment folder (section 2).
• Administrator rights to install and remove the service.
• A local disk. Put the deployment on a local drive such as C:\. The service runs as the LocalSystem account, which cannot see mapped network drives like Z:.

The service does not run with your PATH, and the Java that TransSECS uses is not on any PATH. Give the deployment its own Java:

1. Copy the jre folder from the TransSECS installation, <TransSECS installation>\MIStudioSuite\jre, into the deployment folder, so that you have <deployment>\jre\bin\java.exe.
2. Check it: open a Command Prompt in the deployment folder and run jre\bin\java -version. It must report version 11.

Copy the folder rather than pointing the service at the one in the TransSECS installation. Upgrading or uninstalling TransSECS replaces that folder and would break the service. With its own copy, the deployment can also be moved to a machine that has no TransSECS installed. run.bat looks in .\jre as well, so the hand-started deployment can use the same Java.

The jre in a Windows TransSECS installation is a Windows runtime. It will not run on Linux.

1. Copy WinSW-x64.exe into the deployment folder and rename it after the deployment, for example GEMHostService.exe.
2. In the same folder, create a text file with the same base name and the extension .xml, for example GEMHostService.xml. WinSW finds its configuration by that name.
3. Paste in the example below and change the parts in the table that follows.

Example for a project called GEMHost:

<service>
  <id>GEMHostDeployment</id>
  <name>TransSECS GEMHost</name>
  <description>TransSECS deployment for the GEMHost project.</description>
 
  <executable>%BASE%\jre\bin\java.exe</executable>
  <arguments>-Dnashorn.args="--no-deprecation-warning" -cp ".;.\*" deploy.GEMHost.EquipmentController</arguments>
  <workingdirectory>%BASE%</workingdirectory>
 
  <startmode>Automatic</startmode>
  <delayedAutoStart/>
 
  <onfailure action="restart" delay="10 sec"/>
  <onfailure action="restart" delay="30 sec"/>
  <resetfailure>1 hour</resetfailure>
  <stoptimeout>15 sec</stoptimeout>
 
  <log mode="roll-by-size">
    <sizeThreshold>10240</sizeThreshold>
    <keepFiles>8</keepFiles>
  </log>
</service>

%BASE% is filled in by WinSW with the folder that holds the renamed .exe, which is the deployment folder.

The class path .;.\* takes every jar in the deployment folder. That covers <ProjectName>Runtime.jar and anything else run.bat lists, such as AzureSDKRuntime.jar in an Azure deployment.

Open a Command Prompt as Administrator, change to the deployment folder, and run:

GEMHostService.exe install
GEMHostService.exe start
GEMHostService.exe status

status should say Started. The service now also appears in the Services window (services.msc) under the name you gave it, where it can be started and stopped like any other.

If Windows blocks the .exe because it was downloaded, open its Properties, tick Unblock, and try again.

• GEMHostService.out.log and GEMHostService.err.log, in the deployment folder, hold what run.bat would have shown in its console window.
• The deployment's own log files are written exactly as when it is started with run.bat, as log4j2.xml says.
• Look for Valid IOT System Runtime License detected and the first SENT: / RECEIVED: pair, as for a hand-started deployment.

• Stopping asks the deployment to shut down as Ctrl+C in its console window would. If it has not stopped after stoptimeout, Windows ends it. The equipment on the other side sees the connection close; that is normal.
• Changes to arguments, executable or log take effect the next time the service starts. Restart it.
• Changes to id, name, description or startmode are stored in Windows when the service is installed. Stop and uninstall the service, then install it again.
• Rebuilding the deployment in TransSECS replaces the jar but does not touch the jre folder or the two WinSW files. Stop the service before you rebuild, and start it afterwards.

Give each deployment its own folder, its own copy of the renamed .exe and .xml, and its own id and name. Two deployments on one machine must not use the same HSMS port.