Services

• Programs that run in the background on an operating system
• Performs many important functions automatically
• Consumes system resources

Services Management

Service Properties

Startup Types

• Automatic - Starts at system boot
• Automatic (Delayed) - Starts shortly after system boot
• Manual - Starts only when needed
• Disabled - Will not start/run at all

Windows 8 Pseudo Accounts

• LocalSystem - system-level tasks & services
• LocalService - fewer rights than LocalSystem
• NetworkService - fewer rights than LocalService, but allows network access

Services Recovery

Recovery Options

• Take No Action
• Restart the Service
• Run a Program
• Restart the Computer

Important Services

• Computer Browser - Network file sharing
• DHCP Client & DNS Client - Network addressing
• Microsoft Antimalware Service
• Performance Logs & Alerts
• Print Spooler
• Windows Update

Service Host Process

• svchost.exe
• Process that runs a number of system services
• Helps conserve system resources (1 process instead of many)
• Targeted by malware & viruses

Linux Services - daemons

• Daemons run as background processes in Linux
• Usually started by the init process at boot
• Process names typically end in 'd'

Starting Linux Services - init

• The init process is loaded first
• It then loads the services for a particular runlevel
• See /etc/init.d/ and /etc/rc*.d/ directories

Starting Linux Services - Upstart

• Currently in development for Ubuntu
• Allows services to be started based on events
• Can monitor and restart services
• Very similar to Windows Service Management

Linux Daemon Commands

• init

  • sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 start

  • start, stop, reload, restart, status

• Upstart

  • sudo service ufw start

  • start, stop, status

Processes

• Computer program being executed
• May contain multiple threads of execution
• Consumes resources such as memory & processing time

Process Lifecycle

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Task Manager

Process Information

• PID - Process ID
• Memory Usage - Process ID
• Description - Process ID
• Image Path - Process ID
• Command Line - Process ID
• Ports - Network Socket Ports

Ubuntu System Monitor

Ubuntu Processes - top

Reading

• Windows 8 Book - Chapter 8
• Ubuntu Unleashed - Chapter 9

Assignments

• Lab 6 - Service & Process Management and Software Install: Due 10/20 @ 11:30 AM