How to Run calibre Content Server 24/7 as a Windows Service with AlwaysUp

calibre is a free, open source application that manages your library of e-books.

The calibre Content server allows you to manage your library from the Internet. Unfortunately it's not designed as a Windows Service, so that's where AlwaysUp can help.

To setup calibre Content server as a Windows Service:

1. Download, install and configure calibre, if necessary:

   

2. Download and install AlwaysUp, if necessary.

3. Start AlwaysUp.

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

   

5. On the General tab:

   • In the Application field, enter the full path to the calibre Server executable, calibre-server.exe. If you installed calibre in the default location, this will be:

     C:\Program Files\Calibre2\calibre-server.exe

   • In the Arguments field, enter your arguments to calibre-server.exe. calibre Content Server supports many command line parameters to specify the preferences you have selected for running the server (Preferences > Sharing > Sharing over the net):

     

     You may want to include:
     • --port [port-number]
     • --with-library [full-path-to-library]
     • --password [password] (if applicable)

     And while you're in the Preferences window, ensure that the Run server automatically when calibre starts box is un-checked. That functionality, which required you to log in before the server started, will no longer be necessary once AlwaysUp is on the job.

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

   • In the Name field, enter the name that you will call the application in AlwaysUp. We specified Calibre Content Server but you can enter virtually anything you like.

   

6. Move to the Logon tab and enter the user name and password of the account where you installed calibre:

   

7. Move to the Startup tab.

   • Check the Ensure that the Windows Networking components have started box. This informs AlwaysUp that calibre Server needs TCP/IP networking support to do its work.

   • Check the Stop all copies of the application running on this server and Also whenever the application is restarted options. With those in place, AlwaysUp will run the single copy of the server, closing other port-blocking instances if necessary.

   

8. We are now done configuring calibre Server to run as a service so click the Save button to record your settings. In a few seconds, an entry for called Calibre Content Server (or whatever you called it) will show up in the AlwaysUp window. It is not yet running though, and the state will be Stopped:

   

9. To start calibre Server from AlwaysUp, choose Application > Start "Calibre Content Server". The server will start in the background, on the isolated Session 0. You won't see it on your desktop:

   

   Note that you can select Application > Restart "Calibre Content Server" in this session to temporarily stop the application and bring it onto your desktop where you can interact with it normally.

   Visibility aside, now would be a good time to fire up your web browser and confirm that you can access calibre over the web. Everything worked well on our machine:

   

10. That's it! Next time your computer boots, calibre Server will start up immediately, before anyone logs on.

    We encourage you to edit calibre Server in AlwaysUp and check out the many other settings that may be appropriate for your environment.

    For example, send an email when the calibre content server crashes, restart calibre nightly to cure memory leaks, and much more.

calibre Server 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 calibre Server. The AlwaysUp Event Log Messages page explains what each message means.

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

• Contact us and we will be happy to help!