How can I resolve this error when using net start / stop: "The service name is invalid"?

Question

We have a server that hosts a service (I'll call it "tomato").

Up until now, a client pc has been able to start and stop this service. They just double-click a batch file, and inside that batch file is the command

net stop tomato

or

net start tomato

They recently got a new physical computer, and now those same commands fail with the error:

C:\>net stop tomato
The service name is invalid.

More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 2185.

What do I need to do to let the client pc start and stop this service remotely?

Edit: I mis-remembered the original commands. They were not using "net start" and "net stop" remotely. They were using

sc \\server_name start tomato

and

sc \\server_name stop tomato

And those commands to indeed still work.

Solution

the "net start/stop" commands can only start or stop services locally, on the same computer. You cannot use it to start or stop services running on another computer.

For this, you could use for instance psservice, part of the PsTools from Sysinternals. With the right parameters, you can control services on a remote computer, providing you have the correct credentials to do it.

Using PsService

The default behavior of PsService is to display the configured services (both running and stopped) on the local system. Entering a command on the command-line invokes a particular feature, and some commands accept options. Typing a command followed by "- " displays information on the syntax for the command.

Usage: psservice [\computer [-u username] [-p password]] command options

Comments

[Petra]

Is he running this command on the server?

[B.S.]

No, running it on the client, issuing the command to the server.