Install Ombi as a Windows Service with AlwaysUp

How to Install & Run Ombi as a Windows Service with AlwaysUp

Automatically start Ombi in the background whenever your computer reboots and keep it running 24/7. No need to log in first.

Ombi helps you manage the folks watching videos on your Plex, Emby or Jellyfin media server.

To install Ombi as a Windows Service with AlwaysUp:

  1. If you haven't already installed Ombi, download the Ombi zip file and extract it to a suitable location. For this tutorial, we placed everything in "C:\Ombi".

    Afterwards, setup Ombi and ensure that the catalog opens in your browser:

    Ombi installed and running in the web browser

  2. Next, download and install AlwaysUp, if necessary.

  3. Start AlwaysUp.

  4. Select Application > Add to open the Add Application window:

    Add Application

  5. On the General tab:

    • In the Application field, enter the full path to the Ombi executable, Ombi.exe.

      For example, that path is "C:\Ombi\Ombi.exe" on our system.

    • In the Start the application field, choose Automatically, but shortly after the computer boots. With this setting, Ombi will start a couple of minutes after your computer boots — after all the machine's critical services are completely up and running.

    • And in the Name field, enter the name that you will call the application in AlwaysUp. We suggest Ombi but you can specify another name if you like.

    Ombi Windows Service: General Tab

  6. Move to the Logon tab and enter the user name and password of the Windows account where you're logged in and run Ombi.

    While running in your account isn't mandatory, it's recommended because we know that your Ombi installation works properly in that context.

    Ombi Windows Service: Logon Tab

  7. If you are interested in monitoring Ombi and detecting if it stops serving web pages, click over to the Monitor tab. We'll set up a failure detection batch file to tell AlwaysUp when the web server has failed.

    1. Follow these instructions to create the failure detection BAT file. We have called ours check-web-server.bat and placed it in the AlwaysUp folder, C:\Program Files (x86)\AlwaysUp.

    2. Click the "..." button in the Whenever it fails a "sanity check" section and specify the full path to the batch file.

      Change the Every controls to check every 5 minutes, or tune to any frequency that you see fit.

    Ombi Windows Service: Monitor Tab

  8. When installed as a Windows Service, Ombi will run invisibly in the background (on the isolated Session 0 desktop). Therefore, you won't see Ombi's console window nor have access to text logged to the console.

    If lack of access to the console is a problem, you can capture Ombi's console output to a text file. To do so:

    • Switch to the Extras tab.

    • In the Capture output to this log file field, enter the full path to the text file that should record the console output.

    • If important, specify what should happen to the output file if it grows too large.

    Ombi Windows Service: Extras Tab

  9. We're done configuring Ombi as a Windows Service so click the Save button to record your settings.

    In a couple of seconds, an application called Ombi (or whatever you called it) will show up in the AlwaysUp window. It is not yet running though so its state will be "Stopped":

    Ombi Windows Service: Installed

  10. To start Ombi from AlwaysUp, choose Application > Start "Ombi".

    In a few seconds, the status will change to "Running" and Ombi will be working in the background:

    Ombi Windows Service: Running

    If you captured Ombi's console output to a file (step 8), please open the file and check the contents. You can also check the status of Ombi's website (http://localhost:5000) from your browser.

    Everything was working on our machine:

    Ombi Windows Service: Check status

  11. That's it! Next time your computer boots, Ombi will start up immediately, in the background, without anyone needing to log on. Please restart your PC now and test that Ombi works as expected after Windows returns to life.

    And please feel free to edit Ombi in AlwaysUp and explore the many other settings that may be appropriate for your environment. For example, send an email if Ombi stops, restart it if it uses too much CPU, or recycle it weekly to cure memory leaks.



Ombi not working properly as a Windows Service?

  • Consult the AlwaysUp Troubleshooter — our online tool that can help you resolve the most common problems encountered when running an application as a Windows Service.

  • From AlwaysUp, select Application > Report Activity > Today to bring up an HTML report detailing the interaction between AlwaysUp and Ombi. The AlwaysUp Event Log Messages page explains the messages that may appear.

  • Browse the AlwaysUp FAQ for answers to commonly asked questions and troubleshooting tips.

  • Contact us and we'll be happy to help!

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