RTView® 
User Guide


Running as a Windows Service
This section describes how to run the Data Server, Display Server and Historian in the background as Windows Services (on 32- or 64-bit Windows systems). These services run using AlwaysUp CLT, which is included in your RTView deliverable.

Windows Service is run as a local system service. Therefore, if you will be using ODBC connections for the Historian or an SQL data source, you need to set these as system data sources, rather than user data sources. Additionally, it is not possible to install an application as a Windows Service if RTView is running off a networked drive, it must be installed on your local system.

Windows Service supports a single log file for both stdout and stderr. By default, both stdout and stderr are written to a log file named appName_out.log. For example, displayserver_out.log. Use the -serviceout command line option to override this option.

Logging is appended to the log file each time RTView restarts. When the log file size exceeds 5MB, the oldest 25% of the log file is discarded. For better control over your logging, use either the -logfile or the -log4j command line options. With both of those options, the service outputs any information written to the console by third party libraries to the log file specified by -serviceout.

If UAT is enabled on your system, you must run install_service and uninstall_service as an Administrator: Right-click on RTView Command Prompt in the Windows Start menu and select Run as Administrator. Use this command prompt to execute the install_service and uninstall_service commands.

Some RTView applications use very long command line strings. If the command line string is too long, when you try to view the service properties the Window Services dialog shows the following error: The stub received bad data. If this occurs, view look the service properties of your in the Windows Registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Key, where Key is the name of your service.

Command lines with more than 10,240 characters cannot be installed as a service.

This section includes:


Install and Start Application as a Windows Service
After an RTView Data Server, Display Server or Historian is installed as a Windows Service, you can start, stop and configure it in the Windows Services dialog.

For information about using Log4j logging with Windows Service, see Log4j and Windows Service.

To install and start the application as a Windows Service:

1. Open the command line window:

Windows Vista and Windows 7:
Select Start-->Programs-->Accessories-->Command Prompt-->Right-click Run as administrator

All other Windows versions:
Select Start-->Programs-->RTView--> GMS Command Prompt

2. Start the application and Windows Service using the following syntax:

install_service appName -service:service_name -dir:startup_directory

Where appName is dataserver, displayserver or historian. service_name is the text of your choice which appears in the Windows Event Viewer.

For example:

  • Data Server: install_service dataserver -service:SLDataserver -dir:c:\myproject
  • Display Server:  install_service displayserver -service:SLDisplayserver -dir:c:\myproject
  • Historian:  install_service historian -service:SLHistorian -dir:c:\myproject

The following arguments are supported for install_service.

Argument Description
appName Required. Must be dataserver, displayserver or historian.
-dir Required. Specify the full path to the directory where the application runs. This is the project directory that contains all files necessary (for example, .rtv files, configuration files) to run the application.

Example: -dir:c:\myproject

NOTE: If the directory name contains spaces, enclose the entire argument in quotes: "-dir:c:\my dir".

-manualStart Optional. Set the service startup type to manual. The service starts when it is installed but does not automatically start on system startup. If not specified, the service startup type is wet to auto.
-service Required. Specify the name to use for this service. This name is displayed in the Windows Event Viewer.

Example: -service:MyService

NOTE: If the service name contains spaces, enclose the entire argument in quotes: "-service:my service".

-serviceout Optional. Specify the full path and file name for the out log file. If not specified, the out log is written to the -dir specified and named appNamed_out.log.

Example: -serviceout:c:\logs\ds_out.log

 


Stop and Uninstall Application as a Windows Service
This section describes how to stop and uninstall the Data Server, Display Server or Historian as a Windows Service.

To stop and uninstall the application as a Windows Service:

1. Open the command line window:

Windows Vista and Windows 7:
Select Start-->Programs-->Accessories-->Command Prompt-->Right-click Run as administrator

All other Windows versions:
Select Start-->Programs-->RTView--> GMS Command Prompt

2. Stop the application and Windows Service using the following syntax:

uninstall_service appName -service:service_name

Where appName is dataserver, displayserver or historian, and service_name is the name used for this service (displayed in the Windows Services dialog). 

For example:

  • Data Server: uninstall_service dataserver -service:SLDataserver
  • Display Server:  uninstall_service displayserver -service:SLDisplayserver
  • Historian:  uninstall_service historian -service:SLHistorian

NOTE: If the service name contains spaces, enclose the entire argument in quotes: "-service:my service".


Log4j and Windows Service
This section describes how to install Log4j and start the Data Server, Display Server or Historian as a Windows Service using Log4j. There are three .properties files that are used with Log4:

  • Data Server: sl-dataserver-service.log4j.properties
  • Display Server: sl-displayserver-service.log4j.properties
  • Historian: sl-historian-service.log4j.properties

To install Log4j and start your application as a Windows Service using Log4j:
1. Download the file logging-log4j-1.2.16.zip from the Apache site http://archive.apache.org/dist/logging/log4j/1.2.16/.

2. Extract the Windows .dll assembly from the .zip file.

3. Select the NTEventLogAppender.dll file and place it in a directory that is on the PATH of the Windows system. We recommend the following location for 32-bit systems: C:\Windows\System32.

NOTE: The absence of the NTEventLogAppender.dll file causes the java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError error.

4. Open the command line window:

Windows Vista and Windows 7:
Select Start-->Programs-->Accessories-->Command Prompt-->Right-click Run as administrator

All other Windows versions:
Select Start-->Programs-->RTView--> GMS Command Prompt  

5. Start Log4j and Windows Service using the following syntax:

install_service appName -service:service_name -dir:startup_directory -log4j -log4jprops:<log4j configuration file> -serviceout:<log directory>\<out log file name> -serviceerr:<log directory>\<err log file name>

Where appName is dataserver, displayserver or historian. service_name is the text of your choice which appears in the Windows Event Viewer

For example:

  • Data Server: install_service dataserver -service:SLDataserver  -dir:startup_directory -log4j -log4jprops:sl-dataserver-service.log4j.properties -serviceout:c:\logs\dataserver_out.log -serviceerr:c:\logs\dataserver_err.log
  • Display Server: install_service displayserver -service:SLDisplayserver  -dir:startup_directory -log4j -log4jprops:sl-displayserver -service.log4j.properties -serviceout:c:\logs\displayserver _out.log -serviceerr:c:\logs\displayserver _err.log
  • Historian: install_service historian -service:SLHistorian -dir:startup_directory -log4j -log4jprops:sl-historian-service.log4j.properties -serviceout:c:\logs\historian_out.log -serviceerr:c:\logs\historian_err.log

NOTE: Upon startup, Log4j writes a few lines to the log files used by the previous "redirect" logging method (the logging method in RTView v.5.9 and earlier). For this reason the redirect method log file names are used (specified by –serviceout and –serviceerr. Log4j then switches to the NT Event Viewer. 

6. View your Log4j log files by opening the Windows Computer Management application:

Start-->Programs-->Administrative Tools-->Computer Management

Or, if Administrative Tools is not available:

Start-->Programs-->Right-click Computer-->Manage

The Computer Management application opens.

7. Go to System Tools-->Event Viewer-->Windows Logs-->Application.

8. Verify that the center upper panel lists each line in the log file, and the text for the line appears in the General tab panel. The Source field, in the lower panel, identifies the service name (specified in the -service argument).

The following arguments are supported for install_service and Log4j.

Argument Description
-log4j Optional. Used for Log4j logging. Specify to use Log4j logging.

Example: install_service dataserver -service:my_data_server -dir:C:\newyork -log4j

-log4jprops Optional. Used for Log4j logging. Specify the .properties file to use to format the Log4j log file. Use the following files for the:
  • Data Server: sl-dataserver-service.log4j.properties
  • Display Server: sl-displayserver-service.log4j.properties
  • Historian: sl-historian-service.log4j.properties

Example: -log4j -log4jprops:sl-dataserver-service.log4j.properties

-log4jlevel Optional. Used for Log4j logging. Specify the Log4j Level. INFO is the default. Valid values are:

FATAL: Indicates a severe error that likely causes the application to abort.
ERROR: Indicates an event that might not cause the application to abort.
WARN : Indicates a potentially harmful event.
DEBUG: Indicates detailed informational about events for debugging the application.
INFO: Indicates informational messages about the progress of the application at coarse-grained level.

Example: -log4j -log4jlevel:DEBUG

-showlogcat Optional. Used for Log4j logging. Specify to turns on the Category column in the log file output.

Example: -log4j -showlogcat

 

 

 

 
SL, SL-GMS, GMS, RTView, SL Corporation, and the SL logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sherrill-Lubinski Corporation in the United States and other countries. Copyright © 1998-2014 Sherrill-Lubinski Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 

JMS, JMX and Java are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. They are mentioned in this document for identification purposes only. 

 

Third Party Notice Requirements