-
What is AlwaysUp?
AlwaysUp
is a Windows program that runs your executable, batch file, or shortcut as a
Windows Service, monitoring it constantly to ensure 100% uptime.
It will automatically restart your application
if it crashes, hangs, or uses too much memory, dismiss "Application error" dialogs, and run
customized "sanity checks" to ensure that your application is available 24/7.
Regular, detailed email from AlwaysUp will keep you abreast of crashes, scheduled
restarts and other relevant events.
AlwaysUp
leverages the Windows Services architecture to provide robust, low-level
application control in a secure environment. As a Windows Service, your application
can start automatically when the computer boots, survive user logons/logoffs, and
run 24x7 entirely without user intervention.
-
What are Windows Services?
From the Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN):
"Microsoft Windows services, formerly known as NT services, enable you
to create long-running executable applications that run in their own
Windows sessions. These services can be automatically started when the
computer boots, can be paused and restarted, and do not [necessarily]
show any user interface. This makes services ideal for use on a server
or whenever you need long-running functionality that does not interfere
with other users who are working on the same computer.
You can also run services in the security context of a specific user
account that is different from the logged-on user or the default
computer account."
Wikipedia also has a good definition.
Windows Services were introduced as a part of
the Windows NT operating system. They are not available on Windows 3.X,
95, 98 or Windows ME.
To find out more about Windows Services, consult the
MSDN Services page
or this in-depth technical article
Inside Win32 Services.
-
Will AlwaysUp be able to run "MyFavoriteApp.exe" as a Service?
Most Windows applications will operate flawlessly as a Windows Service with
AlwaysUp. Our customers routinely run popular applications like Internet
Explorer, Outlook, mail servers and FTP servers, but there are
some rare exceptions. The best thing to do is to try AlwaysUp for the free 30-day
trial period and see if your application performs as expected. If you do encounter
a problem please let us know and
we will do our best to get you up and running.
Furthermore, we are happy to provide explanations or advice, or to make improvements
to AlwaysUp to ensure that your application performs as you desire.
If you do encounter problems, please review this entry to troubleshoot.
-
How do I set up my application with AlwaysUp?
Setting up your application with AlwaysUp should be very straightforward.
Please view our 1-minute video showing how to add the popular Windows Notepad application to see how easy it is!
-
Why should I use AlwaysUp instead of Srvany?
The Windows NT Resource Kit introduced the Srvany command-line utility, which can be used to start any Windows NT/2000/2003 application as a service.
Srvany is basic and functional, and its price tag (free) makes it a fine choice for many environments. However, most computer professionals will find that it is missing a some important benefits
when compared to AlwaysUp:
- No easy installation: As described in Microsoft's srvany documentation, "How To Create a User-Defined Service", installing your application with Srvany involves running
the companion Instsrv utility from the MS-DOS command prompt and manually editing the registry (at your own risk!). On the other hand, AlwaysUp is simply point-and-click.
(See the 1-minute demo showing how to setup an application with AlwaysUp.)
- No restarting / 100% uptime: If your application terminates unexpectedly, Srvany will not revive it. In fact, Srvany may continue to run, giving the false impression that your application is alive and well!
- No application monitoring: Srvany does not monitor your application at all -- it simply starts it, once. AlwaysUp can restart your application if it hogs the CPU, uses too much memory, or hangs.
- May not show your application's windows / taskbar-icon / GUI: Srvany may not be able to show your application's windows or task-tray icons. Several restrictions and caveats apply (for example, you must run in the system account,
on the console session, no RDP, etc.).
AlwaysUp can often get around those restrictions.
- No email alerts: Srvany can not email you when your program fails and has to be restarted. AlwaysUp will do that, or send you daily/weekly reports summarizing your application's activities.
- No scheduled restarts: For example, you can instruct AlwaysUp to restart your application (or reboot your computer) at 3 AM every day to cure memory leaks, etc. Not available with srvany.
- No network drive support: Network drives mapped by your service account are not available when using Srvany. AlwaysUp can automatically restore your network drives.
- No extensibility: Unlike Srvany, you can plug in your own failure-detection batch file/program to let AlwaysUp know that your application has failed and needs to be restarted. Similarly, AlwaysUp allows you
to plug in your own automation program, to auto-fill dialogs and close popups coming from your application.
- No reports: Srvany doesn't feature reporting of any kind, but AlwaysUp can show you how your application has been performing (CPU, memory, uptime).
- No web service: With AlwaysUp, you can control and interrogate your service using our free add-on, AlwaysUp Web Service.
But perhaps most important of all, Srvany is not supported under any Microsoft standard support program or service.
It was last released in 2003.
-
My application doesn't work when I start it from AlwaysUp (but it works fine when I run it normally without AlwaysUp)
This can be due to several reasons, the most common of which are:
- Your application accesses files on one or more network drives. These drives are probably only available in the account that you have logged in to.
This entry goes over the problem and solutions.
- Your application accesses user-specific items from the registry.
These items are usually put in place when a user installs a program, and may not be accessible to other users/accounts.
This entry goes over the problem and the solution.
- Your application needs specific environment variables to be set to work properly.
These items are usually put in place when a user installs a program, and may not be accessible to other users/accounts.
Please configure AlwaysUp (via the
Logon tab)
to run your application in a user account that has the proper environment variables set.
A good way to troubleshoot the situation is to set up the Windows Command Prompt (CMD.exe) as a service with AlwaysUp
and to try to run your application from the prompt. To do that:
- Start AlwaysUp.
- Choose "Add..." from the Application menu to bring up the "Add Application" window.
- Enter the full path to CMD.exe in the "Application" field. You can find it in your system32 directory, usually C:\WINDOWS\system32\CMD.exe
- Select "Manually from AlwaysUp" in the "Start the application" field (to avoid starting the Command Prompt when your computer boots)
- Click on the "Save >>" button to record these settings. A new entry called "CMD" will show up in AlwaysUp's list.
- Start the Command Prompt by selecting "Start" from the Application menu (or "Start in this session" if using RDP or on Vista/2008).
The Command Prompt window should come up in a second or two.
- At the prompt, type in the command line you specified to AlwaysUp to run your application. If your application fails to run,
hopefully it will print an error message or give some other indication as to why it fails to operate properly.
- Once you are finished troubleshooting, feel free to remove the CMD application by selecting "Remove" from the Application menu.
Please
contact us
if you are still having trouble and we will be happy to help.
-
My service runs fine when I start it manually, but why doesn't
AlwaysUp start it when my computer boots?
First, please ensure that your application is set to run "Automatically, when the system boots"
and NOT "Manually, from AlwaysUp". This setting is available on the
General tab
when creating/editing your application.
As your computer boots, Windows will start your computer's services in
sequence, one after another. Some of these are "core" services
that provide basic functionality such as file sharing or printing.
If your service requires, say, a network connection, then if it attempts
to start before the "Workstation" service (which provides basic network
connections and communications) it will fail to load.
If your application depends on having access to the network,
make sure that AlwaysUp is configured to start the Workstation service
prior to running your application. This setting is available on the
Startup tab
when creating/editing your application. Other common services that may need
to start before your application include Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
(which provides the endpoint mapper and other miscellaneous RPC services)
and Server
(which provides RPC support and file, print,and named pipe sharing).
See the Windows Services application (accessible from the Tools menu in AlwaysUp)
for the complete list of services.
If your application uses the network, you can check the "Ensure that the Windows networking components have started"
box on the Startup tab
instead of specifying the individual dependent services that control the network.
Note that this setting is available in AlwaysUp version 6.5 (released in November 2007) and beyond.
-
Does AlwaysUp consume significant resources when monitoring my application?
No. The AlwaysUp components that manage and monitor your application are designed to be
extremely frugal with machine resources. They almost always consume less than 1% of
the CPU, less than 6 MB of RAM, and don't fall victim to the "Memory Growth"
characteristic of many applications today.
-
Unable to start the application: "MyApp.exe" exited immediately after it was started
AlwaysUp is starting your application but it is exiting soon afterwards (within 1-2 seconds). This probably
means that your application does not have access to something that it needs (for example, a network
drive or access to the registry), and it closes quickly without doing anything.
Please see this entry for some tips on how to resolve this problem.
Also, if you are a developer and have access to the internals of your application then we suggest adding
some "print"/debugging statements to the application to reveal why it is exiting early.
Please
contact us
if you are still having trouble and we will be happy to help.
-
Unable to monitor the application to prevent it closing on log-off
This warning message comes up when the "Try to prevent the application from closing when you logoff" option is
checked on the
Extras tab, but AlwaysUp is unable fulfill that obligation.
Non-windows applications, those without a top-level window, and other non-compatible
programs will trigger this error. Be sure to test thoroughly and un-check the "Try to prevent..." option
if you repeatedly get this error.
Note that this message:
-
does not mean that your application will close at logoff, just that AlwaysUp
was unable to "attach" itself to your application to prevent it if it happens.
-
is merely a warning and is not fatal to AlwaysUp, which will continue to operate normally.
-
Why don't my application's windows or task-tray icons show up?
This can be due to several reasons:
-
Your application is not running. Please consult the Processes tab in the Windows Task Manager to ensure that your executable is listed there.
(Be sure to check the "Show processes from all users" box on Windows 2003 and Vista!)
-
You are using Remote Desktop Connection or Windows Terminal Services to connect to the computer running AlwaysUp. See
"Does AlwaysUp work with Remote Desktop / Windows Terminal Services?" for details.
-
You are running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. Please see
"Why don't my application's windows show up on my Vista/Server 2008 PC?" for details.
-
When AlwaysUp has been configured to run as a specific user, your application is not set to be "interactive"
(i.e. show task-tray icons and windows) by default. This is a
restriction of the Windows Services architecture
.
AlwaysUp will try overcome these restrictions,
but it is not always successful when the account running the application has limited permissions.
Please ensure that the account specified to AlwaysUp has the following privileges (described in this Microsoft article):
- Act as part of the Operating System
- Replace a process level token
- Adjust memory quotas for a process
To set them, select "Local Security Settings" from the "Tools"
menu in AlwaysUp. This will bring up a new window. Go to
"Security Settings > Local Policies > User Right Assignments"
on the left and ensure that the account has full rights to the
items above.
-
An administrator has restricted your system so that Windows Services can not show GUI components.
This is set via the registry -- see this page on the
NoInteractiveServices
key for details.
-
Why don't my application's windows show up on my Vista/Server 2008 PC?
Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 introduced several changes for Windows Service applications, described
in this technical document from Microsoft.
This video from Microsoft
demonstrates how these changes impact Windows Service applications that show a user interface.
To summarize, these versions of Windows will run all Service applications on an "isolated desktop" called "Session 0".
Windows coming from a Service application will no longer normally be shown alongside other windows on your desktop.
Whenever a Service application running in Session 0 needs to display a window, the "Interactive services dialog detection"
window will be displayed (after flashing on the taskbar):
Clicking on the "Show me the message" button will switch you to the isolated Session 0 desktop where you can interact
with the Service application. You will be able to switch back to your regular desktop when you are done.
Applications run as a Service by AlwaysUp are bound by these restrictions. If your application needs to show a window,
it will be shown (by default) on the Isolated Session 0. Fortunately, this is not the end of the story!
How to Show Your Windows on Your Desktop
After logging in, you can instruct AlwaysUp to run your application in the current session/desktop and make its windows
and tray icons available to you by selecting "Start <app> in this session" (or "Restart <app> in this session")
from the "Application" menu. Note that restarting will temporarily stop your application.
AlwaysUp will continue to run your application on your desktop until you log out and the session closes, at which point your application is
restarted and "returned" to Session 0.
Note that when your computer boots, only Session 0 is available. AlwaysUp will start your application there.
-
How can I prevent my application's windows (or the command prompt window) from showing up on the desktop?
By default, AlwaysUp will try to display your application's windows on the desktop. To avoid that,
please edit your application's settings and check the
"When a user logs on, don't show the application's windows and tray icon (if any)"
box on the
Logon tab.
-
Can I configure AlwaysUp to automatically dismiss popup windows?
Yes. AlwaysUp version 6.5 (released in November 2007) can work with popular automation utilities to automatically:
- dismiss popups/dialogs (such as the error messages unique to your application)
- fill in forms (such as a prompt for login information),
- click buttons (such as the common 'are you sure' prompts)
- perform almost any interactive task that a user sitting at the keyboard would normally have to do.
If all you need to do is to click a button to dismiss a popup window, then you may use our free ClickButton program.
If your window is named "Confirm?" and you wish to click the "Yes" button, then you would specify this command line
on the Automate tab when configuring AlwaysUp:
ClickButton.exe "Confirm?" "Yes"
For more sophisticated demands, we recommend using the free and powerful
AutoIt.
Find out about
using AutoIt with AlwaysUp,
and please
contact us
if you need help setting up this feature.
-
Does AlwaysUp work with Windows Remote Desktop / Windows Terminal Services?
Yes, absolutely. AlwaysUp will run your application, but your application's GUI components (e.g. icons and Windows) may not be
displayed to users when they start a Remote Desktop / Terminal Services session.
This is a function of Remote Desktop / Terminal Services, where
each user is assigned her own session and is not by default granted access to the main, "console" session
(the desktop that a user sitting before the physical machine will see).
Windows 2003 (and XP) introduced the ability to access the console desktop when
using Remote Desktop / Terminal Services via the
mstsc
command.
See
How to Connect to and Shadow the Console Session with Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services
for the details. Basically, you should start Remote Desktop from a command prompt by typing "mstsc /console"
(or "mstsc /admin" on XP SP3, Vista, or Windows 2008 -
Microsoft's explanation).
Unfortunately, Windows Vista and 2008 include several "security enhancements" that disallow users from connecting
to the "Session 0" desktop where all Windows Service applications are isolated and run by default.
This technical paper from Microsoft explains the details.
For technical information on Terminal Services and GUI applications see the Microsoft support article
How To Design a Service to Interact with Multiple User Sessions.
AlwaysUp version 6.5 (released in November 2007) will allow you to restart your application in your own Remote Desktop / Terminal Services session
(so that you can access its windows and tray icon).
This may be convenient when you don't have easy access to the console session (e.g. on Vista and Windows 2008).
-
I am unable to run my application from a network drive / My application cannot access network drives.
By default, AlwaysUp runs your application under the
LocalSystem
account which has restricted network privileges.
Indeed, when run under the LocalSystem account,
"the service has no network credentials and can only access
network resources using a null session" (i.e. a connection that requires no credentials).
Furthermore, network shares that are mapped to drive letters for normal users won't usually be available
to the LocalSystem account.
There are a few options for accessing network resources from a service:
-
Configure AlwaysUp to log in as a specific user that has access to the network. This will allow
you to use
UNC paths (e.g. \\myserver\data) in
your application, but may not allow you to use a mapped drive letter (e.g. N:\).
To use the drive letter, explicitly map the drive using the
net use
command before your application starts by specifying it on the Startup tab.
For example, to map the N drive to \\myserver\data, create a batch file with the following command:
net use n: \\myserver\data
and specify that batch file on the
Startup tab.
Note that you may have to specify a password to the net command if your environment requires one.
-
Grant the LocalSystem account access to your network resource, and use the full
UNC path
(e.g. \\myserver\share1) to the network share
in all settings in AlwaysUp (and your application). This
Microsoft Support article
provides instructions for granting access to "null shares" (i.e. allowing access without credentials)
from the machine hosting the share.
You will need to have administrative access to the machine hosting the share (i.e. the server)
in order to make the changes.
Note: this is only recommended in secure environments.
- If using Windows 2000, use the
AutoExecNT utility
to specify the drive mapping when the computer boots.
AlwaysUp version 5.5 (released August 27th, 2006) can automatically restore persistent network
connections that do not require a password on login. Be sure to specify the user's login details
on the Logon tab and check
the "automatically reconnect" box on the Startup tab
when setting up your application to enable this feature.
-
My application cannot access user-level registry settings.
By default, AlwaysUp runs your application under the
LocalSystem
account. In that case, the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER is associated with the LocalSystem account -- not any user currently
logged in normally/interactively. To access a specific user's profile, AlwaysUp should be configured to
run your application as that specific user (by completing the
Logon tab
when setting up your application).
-
When running as a given user, I get the error "The service did not start due to a logon failure".
Please ensure that the user has
"Log on as a Service" privileges
in the "Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Local Security Settings" application (Local Security Policy on Windows 2000):
By default, no user accounts have the privilege to log on as a service.
Note that AlwaysUp will automatically try to grant this privilege at installation time,
but it is not always successful when the user installing the service has limited permissions.
-
Why doesn't AlwaysUp remember my Windows password?
When you configure you application to run under a specific user account,
your password must be entered each time that you edit the settings in AlwaysUp.
This is an important security measure as AlwaysUp does not separately store
your password and relies totally upon Windows to authenticate your login
information each time you make changes. Rest assured that AlwaysUp has
accepted and applied your login details, even though it will say
"no password" the next time that you edit the settings.
-
How come my application stops and is restarted when I logoff from the console/main desktop?
When a user logs off from the console, all running applications are notified
of the logoff event via the
WM_QUERYENDSESSION
and
WM_ENDSESSION
Windows messages. Some applications are written to actively process these notifications and will close all their windows and fully terminate.
When that happens, AlwaysUp will detect the termination and may fire up the application again.
Note that the
Windows Event Logs
will contain a record whenever AlwaysUp restarts your application.
AlwaysUp version 5.5 (released August 27th, 2006) introduced a new option to prevent the application being managed
from closing when a user logs off the computer.
Please check the "Try to prevent the application from closing when you logoff" option on the
Extras tab.
-
How do I get my ODBC/database application to work?
A user-specific ODBC data source (a "user DSN") is only available to the user who created it. To have your application
access a user DSN, AlwaysUp should be configured to run your application as the user who created the DSN by
specifying his username and password on the
Logon tab.
-
AlwaysUp has been registered but complains that it is not. How do I fix that?
This is most likely because the user set up to run your application (via the
Logon tab)
doesn't have full access to the AlwaysUp registry key,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Core Technologies Consulting\AlwaysUp.
Follow the instructions on
this page
to grant the user full access to the AlwaysUp registry key.
-
How do I configure AlwaysUp to send email using my google/gmail account?
To send email from using your gmail account, please specify the following settings
(after clicking on the "Configure..." button on the Email tab):
| From Address: |
your-gmail-user-name@gmail.com |
| From: |
Your name (or anything else you like) |
| SMTP Server Name/IP: |
smtp.gmail.com |
| Port: |
465 |
| Check This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL) |
| Check This server requires authentication and select "AUTH-LOGIN" |
| Login: |
your-gmail-user-name@gmail.com |
| Password: |
Your gmail password |
Please see
this page in the gmail help center
for more information on gmail SMTP.
-
How can I get AlwaysUp to send me SMS/Text messages?
We recommend using one of the many free email-to-SMS gateway services to send email from AlwaysUp directly to your cell phone.
Here are a few that we have come across (google will turn up many others):
- How to Send Email to SMS Cell Phones, By Carrier
- Teleflip.com: Simply send an email to 111222333@teleflip.com to
have the message sent to your mobile number, 1112223333.
- ipipi.com: Signup for free email to SMS Forwarding
Remember that many cell phone users are charged for incoming SMS messages, so please be polite!
-
I recently purchased AlwaysUp but have not received my registration information. What should I do?
When you purchase AwaysUp from one of our payment partners, we are notified of your purchase
shortly after your credit card has passed all the necessary checks (to protect you against fraud).
This initial process usually takes a few minutes but can take up to 24 hours if the order must be handled
manually.
Once we receive your order, we will send an email to your address specified in the order within
48 hours, but typically within 2-6 hours. Unfortunately though, our message may occasionally fall victim
to agressive SPAM filtering and never make to it to you!
If you have not received the registration email in a timely manner, please feel free to email us
(at support@CoreTechnologies.com) or give us a call at (888) 881-CORE/2673
(toll free in the USA) or +1 510 343-3565. Please provide us with an alternate email address if you have one,
and a phone number where you can be reached.
-
My free 30-day trial has expired. Can I have more time to test AlwaysUp?
Sure. Please send an email to support@CoreTechnologies.com
to request an extension (for another 30 days).
-
How is AlwaysUp licensed?
AlwaysUp is licensed on a per-machine basis. When you purchase a license, you will send us
the unique serial number for your machine and we will respond with the unique registration code
that "unlocks" AlwaysUp for that machine. That registration code will not work on a different
machine.
Site and royalty-free OEM licensing,
where serial numbers do not need to be managed for each machine, are also options.
-
How much does AlwaysUp cost?
AlwaysUp costs $39.99 USD for use on a single machine. In volumes of 2-9, the cost is $34.99 USD (a 12.5% discount).
For 10 or more copies, the cost falls to $29.99 USD (a 25% discount). We occasionally offer promotional price
discounts.
Site and OEM licensing costs are outlined on the
AlwaysUp Licensing page.
Purchases can be made via
Google Checkout,
Regsoft,
ShareIt, or
PayPal. All accept major credit cards.
-
How many applications can AlwaysUp run as a service per machine? Does it cost more to run multiple applications?
A single AlwaysUp installation can run as many applications as you like. There are
no restrictions or additional costs to run multiple applications.
-
Is an OEM version available (so that I can distribute AlwaysUp with my own applications)?
Yes, the full GUI application and more discreet
command-line components
are all available for OEM use. Distribution is royalty-free.
Please consult the
AlwaysUp Licensing page
for additional details.
Why purchase AlwaysUp OEM?
-
Is a Site license available (so that I can distribute AlwaysUp freely within my organization)?
Yes. Site licensing allows you to distribute an unlimited number of
licenses of AlwaysUp throughout your organization. Furthermore, there
is no need for you to track individual licenses/registration codes and send those to us.
Please consult the
AlwaysUp Licensing page
for additional details.
-
I would like to buy an OEM or Site license. Can I have a discount based on my previous purchases?
Yes. The discount is based on your specific situation, so please
contact us
for details.
-
When purchasing AlwaysUp, I am asked for the "10-digit serial number (XXXX-XXXXXX) from the registration window". Where do I find that?
The registration window is the first window that comes up when you run AlwaysUp without having a license.
It will look something like this:
From there, click on the "Register Now" button to reveal the 10-digit serial number that you will need to provide when making
your purchase:
-
AlwaysUp says I am not registered even though I am. How can I resolve this?
If you have gone through the registration process and your code has been accepted, this is probably caused by a lack of rights when accessing the AlwaysUp registry key
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Core Technologies Consulting\AlwaysUp).
Please use the "regedit" application (or "regedt32" on Windows 2000) to check and adjust permissions on that key.
Using regedit:
- Navigate to the key on the left-hand side
- Right-click on the key and select "Permissions..." to bring up the permissions window
- Add the user(s) with full control if necessary
Please ensure that all accounts using AlwaysUp (including the ones configured to run your application on the
Logon tab) have full access to the above registry key.
-
I see that you have a new version available. Do I have to pay to upgrade?
When you purchase AlwaysUp, your license is valid for any version with the same
major version number or the next. For example, if you purchased version 4.0.13.209, you are
eligible to use (free of charge) any version 4 or version 5 release, but not a version 6 release.
As always, those paying to upgrade from a previous version are eligible for a 50% discount.
Please make upgrade purchases here.
-
How do I upgrade from a previous version?
We recommend that you upgrade from a previous version of AlwaysUp in one of two ways:
- Uninstall the previous version of AlwaysUp, then install the new.
If you take this approach, any applications/services that you have specified in AlwaysUp
will be forgotten and you will have to set them up again in the new version. You may
also have to re-enter your registration code.
- Install the new version without uninstalling the previous, which will preserve all the applications/services that
you have configured using AlwaysUp.
If you choose this option, you must ensure that all your applications/services
managed by AlwaysUp are stopped
and that the Microsoft
Event Viewer
and
Services
applications are closed prior to installing or else the upgrade may fail. Also, be sure to
install in the same directory as the previous installation (by default C:\Program Files\AlwaysUp).
You should not have to re-enter your registration code.
-
How do I move my registered copy of AlwaysUp to another computer?
The registration code that was sent to you will only work on the computer on which you performed
the registration process. If you wish to move AlwaysUp to another computer, please send an email to
support@CoreTechnologies.com
with:
- your order number/details
- the AlwaysUp-generated serial number of the old/original computer (optional)
- the AlwaysUp-generated serial number of the new computer
We will respond with the new registration code.
-
I re-installed Windows (or upgraded my hardware) and my registration code is no longer accepted. What should I do?
If your serial number changes, please send an email to
support@CoreTechnologies.com
with:
- the old/original serial number (if available)
- the new serial number
- your order number/details
We will respond with the new registration code.
-
Does AlwaysUp work with Windows 3.X, 9X or ME? Windows 2000 or NT?
AlwaysUp uses the
Windows Services
components which are only available on NT-based architectures (Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000, NT and Windows Server 2008, 2003), so Windows 3.X, 9X and ME
are not supported.
Windows 2000 is no longer supported in AlwaysUp version 7 and beyond.
The final 2000-compatible release
(6.8.5.44)
is still available for download and purchase.
Windows NT is no longer supported in AlwaysUp version 5 and beyond.
The final NT-compatible release
(4.1.2.119)
is still available for download and purchase.
-
Does AlwaysUp work with Windows Vista?
Yes, AlwaysUp 6.0 is fully compatible with all editions of Windows Vista and has earned the "Works with Vista" logo from Microsoft.
Versions prior to 6.0 are also fully Vista compatible but require AlwaysUp to be
run as an administrator or for the
User Access Control feature to be disabled
to work properly.
-
Will AlwaysUp work with Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008?
Yes. AlwaysUp works flawlessly with all versions of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 and has earned the
Compatible with Windows 7
designation from Microsoft.
-
Does AlwaysUp run on 64-bit versions of Windows?
Yes. While AlwaysUp is itself a 32-bit application, it installs and works flawlessly on 64-bit versions of Windows 7, Vista, XP, and Server 2008. AlwaysUp has no trouble mannaging native 64-bit applications either.
-
What is AlwaysUp Web Service?
AlwaysUp Web Service
is a free add-on program for AlwaysUp that enables you to control your AlwaysUp-deployed applications from your web browser.
It allows you to manage your AlwaysUp applications without having to log on to the host machine.
-
What is AlwaysUp CLT?
The
AlwaysUp Command Line Tools (CLT) package
is designed for developers and application integrators looking to discreetly keep their applications available 24x7.
It delivers the full power and sophistication of the AlwaysUp GUI product, but entirely from the Windows command line. It
is most suitable for OEMs.
-
How can I prevent my application from closing when I logoff?
When a user logs off from the console, all running applications are notified
of the logoff event via the
WM_QUERYENDSESSION
and
WM_ENDSESSION
Windows messages. By default, Windows will exit your application in response to WM_ENDSESSION
events so you must change your code to override that behavior. Here is a sample in MFC/C++:
BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CMainFrame, CFrameWnd)
ON_WM_ENDSESSION()
END_MESSAGE_MAP()
...
void CMainFrame::OnEndSession(BOOL bEnding)
{
// Figure out if logging off
BOOL bIsLoggingOff = FALSE;
{
const MSG* pMsg = GetCurrentMessage();
if ((pMsg->lParam & ENDSESSION_LOGOFF) != 0)
bIsLoggingOff = TRUE;
}
if (bIsLoggingOff) {
// Avoid the default behavior, which may close our application
TRACE("Ignoring logoff.\n")
return;
}
// Not logging off so proceed with the regular/default
CFrameWnd::OnEndSession(bEnding);
}
Here is some code for C#:
protected override void WndProc(ref Message m)
{
int WM_QUERYENDSESSION = 0x11;
int WM_ENDSESSION = 0x16;
if (m.Msg == WM_QUERYENDSESSION)
{
m.Result = (IntPtr) 1; // It is ok for Windows to logoff/shutdown
}
else if (m.Msg == WM_ENDSESSION)
{
if ((m.lParam & ENDSESSION_LOGOFF) != 0) { // Test if logging off
// Logging off
m.Result = (IntPtr) 0; // Indicate that we have processed this message
return; // Avoid calling base class functionality
}
}
// Process the message normally
base.WndProc(ref m);
}
If this ignore-logoff behavior is not appropriate at all times, you may want to add a command line argument that activates this feature (and
pass that argument when you run your application with AlwaysUp).
-
When I logoff & logon my task tray icon disappears. How can I avoid that?
Windows broadcasts a message to all applications whenever the taskbar is created. You should probably change your application to
catch that message and install your tray icons then.
This article shows how to do that in MFC/C++ (scroll down to the second question & answer).
-
Is there a list of the messages that AlwaysUp may write to the Windows Application Event Log?
Yes, find it
here.
-
What is a "Sanity check utility", and why would I use one?
AlwaysUp can periodically run your own custom program (a "Sanity check utility") to check
if your application has failed and should be restarted. This capability allows
you to extend the monitoring capabilities of AlwaysUp to cover your unique requirements.
For example, lets say that you use AlwaysUp to ensure that your web server is always
running. AlwaysUp will restart the web server when it crashes, but AlwaysUp will not
be able to detect more subtle, application-specific failures, such as when the web server
has not crashed, but stops serving pages due to some internal error or resource problem.
To resolve that second problem, AlwaysUp allows you to "plug in" your own failure detection
program; in this case that program would check on the web server and inform AlwaysUp if
the server has stopped serving pages. Fundamentally, your code is free
to define what failure means.
As a part of the standard distribution, we provide full source code for a Sanity check
utility that, given a hostname and port number, detects if a socket could not
be opened to that address. It can be used to check if a TCP/IP application is serving clients.
The files can be found in the SanityCheck sub-folder where you installed AlwaysUp.
Our free http-ping utility can also be used to ensure that your web server is available and
serving pages when run with AlwaysUp. This batch file will access a given URL and signal
AlwaysUp to restart your application when it fails to access the URL.
To use the batch file:
- Download the http-ping executable and place it in your AlwaysUp installation directory
- Download the sanity check batch file and place it in your AlwaysUp installation directory
- Open the batch file in a text editor and:
- specify the URL to your web server (instead of http://localhost:80)
- if you have not installed AlwaysUp in the default directory (C:\Program Files\AlwaysUp), then modify the path to http-ping.exe accordingly
- In AlwaysUp, configure a sanity check on the Monitor tab to
periodically check your application:
- Run: the full path to the batch file (in your AlwaysUp installation directory)
- Every: 5 minutes, or however often you like
Additional details on the Sanity check utility are available in the
AlwaysUp User Manual.
-
I want my application to run only at scheduled times. How can I use AlwaysUp to do that?
AlwaysUp version 5.7 introduced basic scheduling,
where your application can be run every hour, every half-hour, or periodically at your choosing.
This can be specified on the
Extras tab in version 5 and the
Restart tab in version 6 and beyond.
While AlwaysUp does not natively support more sophisticated scheduling, the desired effect of running your
application at set times can be achieved quite simply by using the free Windows Task Scheduler.
This tutorial (with screenshots) and
this article describe how to
use the Windows Task Scheduler in Windows XP, 2000 and 2003.
For example, if your application named MyFavoriteApp in AlwaysUp
should only run between 9am and 5pm daily, you will need to set up two daily scheduled
tasks -- one to start the service at 9 and another to stop it at 5. Each task should
consist of a simple batch file.
To start the service, the batch file should contain this command:
net start "MyFavoriteApp (managed by AlwaysUpService)"
To stop the service, the batch file should contain this command:
net stop "MyFavoriteApp (managed by AlwaysUpService)"
Be sure to replace MyFavoriteApp with the name of your application!
And please let us know if you need
help setting this up.
-
My application does not have enough time to close properly when the computer is being shut down. How can I give it more time?
When shutting down, Windows will wait a few seconds (usually 20) for all services and the applications managed by AlwaysUp to complete.
If AlwaysUp is unable to close your application in that time window, then Windows will forcibly terminate AlwaysUp and your application.
This may lead to undesirable results.
Fortunately the wait-time can be increased by editing a setting in the registry. Microsoft's article
"How to Increase Shutdown Time for Services to Close Properly"
describes how to make the necessary changes.
-
The NOD32 virus scanner tells me that AlwaysUp contains the "probably unknown NewHeur_PE virus". Help!
This is a false alarm. AlwaysUp does not contain this or any other virus.
While we don't own
NOD32, we routinely use several more established virus scanners (from Symantec, Mcafee, AVG, etc.)
as part of our deployment/release procedure and all scan AlwaysUp files as completely virus-free.
Please note that the makers of NOD32
admit that there is a problem with their software generating false alarms.
We have reported our issue to them several times over the past couple of years but they don't
seem to have an interest in resolving the problems with their software. We will keep trying.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this false alarm may have caused.
April 2008 Update: NOD32 and F-Prot support have reported that they have fixed
the problems and their scanners will not detect the AlwaysUp programs as being virus infected
any longer. Yay!
-
How do I export my application's settings?
To export your application's settings to an XML file, highlight your application in AlwaysUp and select "Export..." from the "Application" menu. You will be prompted to enter the file name in which to save the settings.
Note that for security purposes, any passwords you have configured will not be saved in the file.
You can later import the XML file (by choosing "Import" from the "Application" menu) to re-create your application's setup on any machine with AlwaysUp installed.
Exporting and then importing is a good way to copy settings from one machine to another.
-
How do I move my AlwaysUp applications to another machine?
You can move one or more AlwaysUp applications between computers by first exporting each service to an XML file, then later importing the file on the destination machine.
To export your application's settings to an XML file, highlight your application in AlwaysUp and select "Export..." from the "Application" menu. You will be prompted to enter the file name in which to save the settings.
Note that for security purposes, any passwords you have configured will not be saved in the file.
You can later import the XML file (by choosing "Import" from the "Application" menu) to re-create your application's setup on any machine with AlwaysUp installed.
-
What does it mean to start my application "Automatically, shortly after the computer boots"?
If that option is selected on the General tab, Windows will start AlwaysUp and your application after all the "regular" automatic services have been started.
In practice, this means that your application will be started 1-2 minutes after the computer has started, while decreasing the initial "mad rush" for resources at boot time.
This blog entry and
this technical article from Microsoft delve into the details.
Note that this option is only available in Windows Vista, 7, and Server 2008.
AlwaysUp: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and Answers
