How can I get my windows service to run at a specific interval?

Question

I want to write a windows service. But it needs to run at specific times. For example, my service should email me every 5 minutes.

private Timer _timer;
private DateTime _lastRun = DateTime.Now;

protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
{
    _timer = new Timer(10 * 60 * 1000); // every 10 minutes
    _timer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(timer_Elapsed);
    //...
}


private void timer_Elapsed(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs e)
{
    // ignore the time, just compare the date
    if (_lastRun.Date < DateTime.Now.Date)
    {
        // stop the timer while we are running the cleanup task
        _timer.Stop();
        //
        // do cleanup stuff
        //
        _lastRun = DateTime.Now;
        _timer.Start();
    }
}

I want my service to email me every 5 minutes.

Solution 1

Well I have seen another question which discusses windows service vs scheduled task also this. So you might want to have a look at that other than that here is 2 similar questions which might help:

• How might I schedule a C# Windows Service to perform a task daily?
• How to schedule a C# Windows Service to run a method daily?

here too are some great links:

• C# Scheduler
• Schedule Windows Service to run twice a week through C# code
• How to schedule windows service in c#?

Solution 2

Take a look at Quartz.NET or search for "Windows Task Scheduling".

The first approach is programmatic and the later is configuration.

Solution 3

If you need to do an operation on a timer, then you have two choices

1. Create a Windows Service and implement some kind of scheduling. This can be complex, so be prepared to that you may spend a lot of time solving issues that have already been solved.
2. You could setup a scheduled task instead that calls your application.

It all depends how much control you really need.

Solution 4

You might want to use something like Quartz.net in your service. You can then use cron expressions to schedule "jobs" within your service.

Solution 5

Why not just add a timer to your service who does what you want on the interval you configure?

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