win_service - Manage and query Windows services¶

New in version 1.7.

Synopsis
Parameters
Notes
Examples
Return Values
Status
Maintenance
- Support
- Author

Synopsis ¶

Manage and query Windows services.
For non-Windows targets, use the service module instead.

Parameters ¶

Parameter	Choices/Defaults	Comments
dependencies list (added in 2.3)		A list of service dependencies to set for this particular service. This should be a list of service names and not the display name of the service. This works by `dependency_action` to either add/remove or set the services in this list.
dependency_action (added in 2.3)	Choices: add remove set ←	Used in conjunction with `dependency` to either add the dependencies to the existing service dependencies. Remove the dependencies to the existing dependencies. Set the dependencies to only the values in the list replacing the existing dependencies.
description (added in 2.3)		The description to set for the service.
desktop_interact bool (added in 2.3)	Choices: no ← yes	Whether to allow the service user to interact with the desktop. This should only be set to `yes` when using the LocalSystem username.
display_name (added in 2.3)		The display name to set for the service.
force_dependent_services bool (added in 2.3)	Choices: no ← yes	If `yes`, stopping or restarting a service with dependent services will force the dependent services to stop or restart also. If `no`, stopping or restarting a service with dependent services may fail.
name required		Name of the service. If only the name parameter is specified, the module will report on whether the service exists or not without making any changes.
password (added in 2.3)		The password to set the service to start as. This and the `username` argument must be supplied together. If specifying LocalSystem, NetworkService or LocalService this field must be an empty string and not null.
path (added in 2.3)		The path to the executable to set for the service.
start_mode	Choices: auto delayed disabled manual	Set the startup type for the service. `delayed` added in Ansible 2.3
state	Choices: absent paused started stopped restarted	`started`/`stopped`/`absent`/`pause` are idempotent actions that will not run commands unless necessary. `restarted` will always bounce the service. `absent` added in Ansible 2.3 `pause` was added in Ansible 2.4 Only services that support the paused state can be paused, you can check the return value `can_pause_and_continue`. You can only pause a service that is already started.
username (added in 2.3)		The username to set the service to start as. This and the `password` argument must be supplied together when using a local or domain account. Set to `LocalSystem` to use the SYSTEM account.

Notes ¶

Note

For non-Windows targets, use the service module instead.

Examples ¶

- name: Restart a service
  win_service:
    name: spooler
    state: restarted

- name: Set service startup mode to auto and ensure it is started
  win_service:
    name: spooler
    start_mode: auto
    state: started

- name: Pause a service
  win_service:
    name: Netlogon
    state: paused

# a new service will also default to the following values:
# - username: LocalSystem
# - state: stopped
# - start_mode: auto
- name: Create a new service
  win_service:
    name: service name
    path: C:\temp\test.exe

- name: Create a new service with extra details
  win_service:
    name: service name
    path: C:\temp\test.exe
    display_name: Service Name
    description: A test service description

- name: Remove a service
  win_service:
    name: service name
    state: absent

- name: Check if a service is installed
  win_service:
    name: service name
  register: service_info

- name: Set the log on user to a domain account
  win_service:
    name: service name
    state: restarted
    username: DOMAIN\User
    password: Password

- name: Set the log on user to a local account
  win_service:
    name: service name
    state: restarted
    username: .\Administrator
    password: Password

- name: Set the log on user to Local System
  win_service:
    name: service name
    state: restarted
    username: LocalSystem
    password: ""

- name: Set the log on user to Local System and allow it to interact with the desktop
  win_service:
    name: service name
    state: restarted
    username: LocalSystem
    password: ""
    desktop_interact: yes

- name: Set the log on user to Network Service
  win_service:
    name: service name
    state: restarted
    username: NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService
    password: ""

- name: Set the log on user to Local Service
  win_service:
    name: service name
    state: restarted
    username: NT AUTHORITY\LocalService
    password: ""

- name: Set dependencies to ones only in the list
  win_service:
    name: service name
    dependencies: ['service1', 'service2']

- name: Add dependencies to existing dependencies
  win_service:
    name: service name
    dependencies: ['service1', 'service2']
    dependency_action: add

- name: Remove dependencies from existing dependencies
  win_service:
    name: service name
    dependencies: ['service1', 'service2']
    dependency_action: remove

Return Values ¶

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key	Returned	Description
can_pause_and_continue bool	success and service exists	Whether the service can be paused and unpaused. Sample: True
depended_by list	success and service exists	A list of services that depend on this service.
dependencies list	success and service exists	A list of services that is depended by this service.
description string	success and service exists	The description of the service. Sample: Manages communication between system components.
desktop_interact boolean	success and service exists	Whether the current user is allowed to interact with the desktop.
display_name string	success and service exists	The display name of the installed service. Sample: CoreMessaging
exists boolean	success	Whether the service exists or not. Sample: True
name string	success and service exists	The service name or id of the service. Sample: CoreMessagingRegistrar
path string	success and service exists	The path to the service executable. Sample: C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceNoNetwork
start_mode string	success and service exists	The startup type of the service. Sample: manual
state string	success and service exists	The current running status of the service. Sample: stopped
username string	success and service exists	The username that runs the service. Sample: LocalSystem

Status ¶

This module is flagged as stableinterface which means that the maintainers for this module guarantee that no backward incompatible interface changes will be made.

Maintenance ¶

This module is flagged as core which means that it is maintained by the Ansible Core Team. See Module Maintenance & Support for more info.

For a list of other modules that are also maintained by the Ansible Core Team, see here.

Support ¶

For more information about Red Hat’s support of this module, please refer to this Knowledge Base article

Author ¶

Chris Hoffman (@chrishoffman)

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