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How to detect the status of the SQL Server Express service or start the SQL Server Express service by using Visual Basic or Visual C#

Article ID: 912426 - View products that this article applies to.

Summary

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is a service-based product. If you build Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 applications on SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, you can detect the status of the SQL Server Express service when you start the application. You can use the ServiceController class to do the following:

Detect the status of the SQL Server Express service.
Start the SQL Server Express service if it is not started correctly.

Note The default installation of SQL Server 2005 Express Edition uses an instance name of SQLEXPRESS. This instance name maps to the service name of MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS.

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More information

To use the ServiceController class in a Visual Studio console application to detect and to start the SQL Server Express service, follow these steps:

Start Visual Studio 2005.
On the File menu, point to New, and then click Project.
Click Visual Basic or Visual C# under Project types, and then click Console Application under Visual Studio installed templates.

Note By default, the Module1.vb file is created in the Visual Basic project. By default, the Program.cs file is created in the Visual C# project.
Use ConsoleApplication1 as the name in the Name box, and then click OK.
Add a reference to the "System.ServiceProcess" namespace. To do this, follow these steps:
1. On the Project menu, click Add Reference.
2. Click the .NET tab, click System.ServiceProcess, and then click OK.

Replace the existing code with the following code.

Note Replace the code in the Module1.vb file in the Visual Basic project. Replace the code in the Program.cs file in the Visual C# project.

Visual Basic

Imports System
Imports System.ServiceProcess

Module Module1

    Sub Main()

        Dim myServiceName As String = "MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS" 'service name of SQL Server Express
        Dim status As String  'service status (For example, Running or Stopped)
        Dim mySC As ServiceController

        Console.WriteLine("Service: " & myServiceName)

        'display service status: For example, Running, Stopped, or Paused
        mySC = New ServiceController(myServiceName)
        Try
            status = mySC.Status.ToString
        Catch ex As Exception
            Console.WriteLine("Service not found. It is probably not installed. [exception=" & ex.Message & "]")
            Console.ReadLine()
            End
        End Try
        Console.WriteLine("Service status : " & status)

        'if service is Stopped or StopPending, you can run it with the following code.
        If mySC.Status.Equals(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped) Or mySC.Status.Equals(ServiceControllerStatus.StopPending) Then
            Try
                Console.WriteLine("Starting the service...")
                mySC.Start()
                mySC.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Running)
                Console.WriteLine("The service is now " & mySC.Status.ToString)

            Catch ex As Exception
                Console.WriteLine("Error in starting the service: " & ex.Message)
            End Try
        End If

        Console.WriteLine("Press a key to end the application...")
        Console.ReadLine()
        End
    End Sub
End Module

Visual C#

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.ServiceProcess;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main()
        {

            string myServiceName = "MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS"; //service name of SQL Server Express
            string status; //service status (For example, Running or Stopped)

            Console.WriteLine("Service: " + myServiceName);

            //display service status: For example, Running, Stopped, or Paused
            ServiceController mySC = new ServiceController(myServiceName);

            try
            {
                status = mySC.Status.ToString();
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Service not found. It is probably not installed. [exception=" + ex.Message + "]");
                Console.ReadLine();

                return;

            }

            //display service status: For example, Running, Stopped, or Paused
            Console.WriteLine("Service status : " + status);

            //if service is Stopped or StopPending, you can run it with the following code.
            if (mySC.Status.Equals(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped) | mySC.Status.Equals(ServiceControllerStatus.StopPending))
            {
                try
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Starting the service...");
                    mySC.Start();
                    mySC.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Running);
                    Console.WriteLine("The service is now " + mySC.Status.ToString());
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Error in starting the service: " + ex.Message);

                }

            }

            Console.WriteLine("Press a key to end the application...");
            Console.ReadLine();

            return;

        }

    }
}