---
title: "Windows Win Services"
description: ""
url: "https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/windows-svcs/index.html"
---
## Introduction

The Geneos Windows Win Services plugin monitors Windows Services.

The WINSERV plugin displays information about all services on the machine, only services named in the configuration, or services that match a regular expression in the configuration.

## Views

### View

The universal WINSERV plugin produces a single dataview:

![Windows Win Services dataview](https://docscdn.itrsgroup.com/geneos/images/plug-ins/windows-svcs-dataview-18-1-2022.png)

<div class="table-container">
<table class="legacy-table"   style="margin-left: 0;margin-right: auto;width: 100%;mc-table-style: url('../Resources/TableStyles/ref_2_col_table.css');" cellspacing="0">
                    <col style="width: 50%;" class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-Column-Column1"/>
                    <col style="width: 50%;" class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-Column-Column1"/>
                    <thead>
                        <tr class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-Head-Header1">
                            <th class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-HeadE-Column1-Header1">Name</th>
                            <th class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-HeadD-Column1-Header1">Description</th>
                        </tr>
                    </thead>
                    <tbody valign="top">
                        <tr class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-Body-Body1">
                            <td class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-BodyE-Column1-Body1">name</td>
                            <td class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-BodyD-Column1-Body1">
                                <p>Name of the Windows Service that corresponds to the Service name in the Windows
 Service manager.</p>
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-Body-Body1">
                            <td class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-BodyE-Column1-Body1">description</td>
                            <td class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-BodyD-Column1-Body1">Description of the service that corresponds
 to the display name in the Windows Service
 manager.</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-Body-Body1">
                            <td class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-BodyE-Column1-Body1">status</td>
                            <td class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-BodyD-Column1-Body1">
                                <p class="first">Status of the service. May
 be one of the following:</p>
                                <ul class="last simple">
                                    <li>Standard Windows defined states:
 <code>Stopped</code>, <code>Start Pending</code>, <code>Stop Pending</code>,
 <code>Running</code>, <code>Continue Pending</code>, <code>Pause Pending</code>,
 and <code>Paused</code>.</li>
                                    <li>Additional Geneos status: <code>Unavailable</code>.
 This means that none of the services on the
 machine matched the configured
 predicate.</li>
                                </ul>
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-Body-Body1">
                            <td class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-BodyE-Column1-Body1">startup</td>
                            <td class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-BodyD-Column1-Body1">
                                <p class="first">Start up mode of the
 service. May be one of the following:</p>
                                <ul class="last simple">
                                    <li>Standard Windows defined states: <code>Boot</code>,
 <code>System</code>, <code>Automatic</code>, <code>Manual</code>, and <code>Disabled</code>.</li>
                                    <li>Additional Geneos status: <code>Undefined</code>.
 This means that the service failed to
 return a valid start type. Refer to the <strong>sample state</strong> column for the cause of the error.</li>
                                </ul>
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-Body-Body1">
                            <td class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-BodyE-Column1-Body1">delayed start and triggered start</td>
                            <td class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-BodyD-Column1-Body1">
                                <p>Shows if the service uses a delayed start or triggered start setting.</p>
                                <p>Possible values are:</p>
                                <ul>
                                    <li>
                                        <p><code>True</code> &#8212; indicates that the setting is in use.</p>
                                    </li>
                                    <li>
                                        <p><code>False</code> &#8212; indicates that the setting is not in use.</p>
                                    </li>
                                    <li>
                                        <p><code>Undefined</code> &#8212; the plugin is unable to query the setting. Refer to the <strong>sample state</strong> column for the cause of the error.</p>
                                    </li>
                                </ul>
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-Body-Body1">
                            <td class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-BodyE-Column1-Body1">sample state</td>
                            <td class="TableStyle-ref_2_col_table-BodyD-Column1-Body1">Displays <code>OK</code> if the service information was
 retrieved successfully. Otherwise, details of
 the error will be reported.</td>
                        </tr>
                    </tbody>
                </table>
            
</div>

## Menu Options

WINSERV has an additional set of context-menu options for starting and stopping processes. This menu can be accessed by right-clicking on a table cell in the WINSERV dataview.

The options to start or stop a process will only appear on the menu if applicable:

![Menu Options](https://docscdn.itrsgroup.com/geneos/images/plug-ins/windows-svcs-menu-options-18-01-2022.png)

## Plug-in Configuration

Sample Configuration:

```
services
  service: dhcp
  service: netman
  service: rasman
  service: ghost
```

The following parameters can be configured for this plug-in:

### services

List of Windows Services to monitor. Defaults to all Services.

Deprecated: Yes (use servicesNew)

### servicesNew

List of predicates defining which services should be displayed in the view.

Not specifying any will display all services on the machine.

Mandatory: Yes (unless using deprecated services node)

### servicesNew > services

A predicate matched against all services on the machine to determine what appears in the view. Composed of a serviceName and serviceDescription components to match the name and description of the service respectively.

If both are specified then the service must match both the name predicate and the description predicate to be displayed in the view.

### servicesNew > service > serviceName

A predicate to match against the name of the service. Either Basic or Regex matching.

Mandatory: No

### servicesNew > service > serviceName > basic

Match the service name using basic text matching.

For example:

"Test Match" would match a service called "Test Match" but not "Test Match Other"

### servicesNew > service > serviceName > basic > showIfUnavailable

Displays a row for the service with the status Unavailable if the service cannot be found on the machine.

Mandatory: No

Default: False

### servicesNew > service > serviceName > regex


**Geneos PCRE2 upgrade**

 Beginning with version 7.3.x, Geneos now uses `PCRE2 10.44` by default, upgrading from `PCRE 8.44` for improved handling of regular expressions. Please be aware that this may introduce breaking changes to your implementation. For more information about the differences, refer to the [PCRE2 documentation](https://www.pcre.org/current/doc/html/pcre2compat.html). 


Match the service name using Perl Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE2) matching.

For example:

"Test.\*Match" would match a service called "Test Match" or "Test Other Match" but not "Test Service"

### servicesNew > service > serviceName > regex > flags

Flags to alter the behavior of the regular expression matching engine when using the regular expression specified

Mandatory: No

### servicesNew > service > serviceName > regex > pattern > data > flags > i

Case Insensitive regular expression matching.

For example:

"tEst Match" would match "Test Match" or "test match" but not "test service"

Mandatory: No

Default: False

### servicesNew > service > serviceName > regex > pattern > data > flags > s

Dot matches all regular expression matching.


**Note**

  Windows Services do not have multiline names or descriptions and as such this flag serves no purpose in this plugin but is kept for consistency across regular expression definitions in Geneos configuration.



Mandatory: No

Default: False

### servicesNew > service > serviceDescription

A predicate to match against the description of the service. Basic or Regex matching.


**Note**

  The description of the service as read by the plug-in is not the same as that in displayed in the Description column in the Windows Services dialog but the Service Name column instead.



### servicesNew > service > serviceDescription > basic

Match the service description using basic textual matching.

See [servicesNew > service > serviceName > basic](#servicesnew--service--servicename--basic) for an example.

### servicesNew > service > serviceDescription > regex


**Geneos PCRE2 upgrade**

 Beginning with version 7.3.x, Geneos now uses `PCRE2 10.44` by default, upgrading from `PCRE 8.44` for improved handling of regular expressions. Please be aware that this may introduce breaking changes to your implementation. For more information about the differences, refer to the [PCRE2 documentation](https://www.pcre.org/current/doc/html/pcre2compat.html). 


Match the service name using Perl Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE2) matching.

See [servicesNew > service > serviceName > regex](#servicesnew--service--servicename--regex) for an example.

### servicesNew > service > serviceDescription > regex > flags

The same flags as specified in [servicesNew > service > serviceName > regex > flags](#servicesnew--service--servicename--regex--flags) but applicable to the service description.

Mandatory: No

### servicesNew > service > serviceDescription > regex > pattern > data > flags > i

The same flag as specified in [servicesNew > service > serviceName > regex > pattern > data > flags > i](#servicesnew--service--servicename--regex--pattern--data--flags--i) but applicable to the service description.

Mandatory: No

Default: False

### servicesNew > service > serviceDescription > regex > pattern > data > flags > s

The same flag as specified in [servicesNew > service > serviceName > regex > pattern > data > flags > s](#servicesnew--service--servicename--regex--pattern--data--flags--s) but applicable to the service description.

Mandatory: No

Default: False