How to Run OpenOffice as a Windows Service with AlwaysUp

OpenOffice is a world-class open-source office suite available from the Apache Software Foundation.

To install OpenOffice 4 as a bulletproof Windows Service with AlwaysUp:

1. Download and install AlwaysUp, if necessary.

2. Download and install OpenOffice, if necessary:

   

   Please make a note of where you installed it as we'll need that location in a later step.

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 main OpenOffice executable, soffice.exe. If you installed OpenOffice in the default location, this is:

     C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenOffice 4\program\soffice.exe

   • In the Arguments field, enter your command line flags for soffice.exe. For this tutorial, we want to run headless (to eliminate many of OpenOffice's windows, which we won't be able to see anyway) and accept connections on port 8100 so we specify:

     -headless -accept=socket,host=0,port=8100;urp;

   • In the Name field, enter the name that you will call your application in AlwaysUp. We have used OpenOffice Server but you can specify almost anything you like.

   

6. Click over to the Logon tab and enter the user name and password of the Windows account in which you installed OpenOffice. OpenOffice must run in this account so that it can find its settings.

   

7. Switch to the Monitor tab. Here, we'll tell AlwaysUp to automatically restart OpenOffice if the server ever stops accepting TCP/IP network connections on the designated port.

   1. Check the Whenever it fails a periodic sanity check box and click the Set button on the right:

      

   2. In the Add Sanity Check window, select the Check that a network server is accepting connections option and click Next to proceed:

      

   3. On this page, enter the host name and port where OpenOffice is available. For the host, put in localhost (or 127.0.0.1); for the port enter 8100 (assuming that's what you entered in the command line parameters in step 5):

      

      Click Next to continue.

   4. At this point, specify how often AlwaysUp should check that OpenOffice is accepting connections. Every 5 minutes should be good enough but feel free to adjust as you see fit:

      

      After you're done, click Next to move on.

   5. And finally, confirm your settings:

      

      If everything looks good, click Add to record your new sanity check and return to the Monitor tab.

8. Move to the Startup tab and check the Ensure that the Windows Networking components have started box. This informs AlwaysUp that OpenOffice needs the TCP/IP networking stack properly initialized before it can start its work.

   

9. Click the Save button. In a couple of seconds, an application called OpenOffice Server (or whatever you called it in step 5) will appear in the AlwaysUp window. It is not yet running though and the state will be "Stopped":

   

10. To start OpenOffice as a Windows Service, choose Application > Start "OpenOffice Server". The state will transition to "Running" and soffice.exe will be launched in the background. Click the green circle to see the details:

    

    Since the OpenOffice window won't pop up on your desktop (remember, it's running headless) you can run netstat -anp tcp from a command prompt to confirm that OpenOffice is listening for connections on port 8100:

    

    You'll also find soffice.exe running in Task Manager.

11. That's it! Next time your computer boots, OpenOffice will start immediately, before anyone logs on.

    We encourage you to edit the entry in AlwaysUp and check out the many other settings that may be appropriate for your environment. For example, configure AlwaysUp to send you an email whenever OpenOffice starts (Email tab), or boost OpenOffice's priority to give it preferential treatment on your computer (General tab).

OpenOffice 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 OpenOffice. 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!