How to Run any Perl Script as a Windows Service with AlwaysUp

Perl is an open-source, general-purpose programming language.

To install a Perl script as a Windows Service with AlwaysUp:

1. Download and install Perl, if necessary.

   For this tutorial, we installed the Strawberry Perl portable package to "C:\Perl".

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 Perl executable (perl.exe). This is "C:\Perl\perl\bin\perl.exe" in our Strawberry Perl installation.

   • In the Arguments field, enter the full path to your Perl script. We want to run our simple script, "C:\Perl\run-cleanup.pl", so we entered that.

   • In the Start the application field, select Automatically, but shortly after the computer boots.

     With this setting, AlwaysUp will pause for a couple of minutes before starting Perl at boot. That short delay should give Windows enough time to initialize critical machine services (like as event logging and networking). We don't want Perl to start too early after a reboot and fail because things aren't ready.

   • In the Name field, enter the name that you will call this application in AlwaysUp. We went with Perl Script but you can specify virtually anything you like:

   

6. If you only want your script to run periodically (i.e. not 24/7), switch to the Restart tab and choose when to run.

   We would like our script to be run every 30 minutes, at the top and bottom of the hour:

   

7. Move to the Extras tab. If you wish to capture the Perl console output (recommended, as you will no longer see the console when it's running in the background as a service), check the Capture output to this log file box and specify the full path to a file:

   

8. Click the Save button. In a couple of seconds, an application called Perl Script will show up in the AlwaysUp window. It's not yet running though and the state will be "Stopped":

   

9. To start your Perl script as a Windows Service, choose Application > Start "Perl Script". The state will transition to "Running" and your script will be doing its thing in the background:

   

   And if you're running the script periodically, like us, you'll also see the entry in the "Waiting" state between runs:

   

10. That's it! Next time your computer boots, the Perl script be launched immediately, before anyone logs on. Restart your computer now and confirm that everything works as you expect after Windows returns to life.

    Finally, we encourage you to explore the many other settings that may be appropriate for your environment. AlwaysUp includes many advanced options that could help you run your Perl application 24/7.

Perl Script 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 Perl. 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!