This article describes how to manage services using Active Directory Services Interface (ADSI) and Windows Script Host.

You can use ADSI and Windows Script Host to write scripts that allow you to manage local and remote services. This article describes the different methods and properties ADSI provides for services, as well as script examples.

The ADSI Service Object supports two COM interfaces, IADsService and IADsServiceOperations.

The properties of the IADsService interface are list in the following table.

Property	Description
Dependencies	The list of services you need to start before you can start this service.
DisplayName	The friendly name that is displayed for this service.
ErrorControl	The severity of the alert if the service does not start.
HostComputer	The ADsPath string of the host of this service.
LoadOrderGroup	Name of the load order group of which this service is a member.
Path	Path and filename of the executable file for this service.
ServiceAccountName	Name of the account that this service uses for authentication.
ServiceAccountPath	The ADsPath string for the user account this service is using.
ServiceType	The description of the service type on the host computer.
StartType	One of five possible types that determines when this service starts.
StartupParameters	Parameters passed to the service executable file.
Version	Version information of the service.

The IADsServiceOperations service settings are listed in the following table.

Property	Description
Status	The current operational state of the service.
Start	Starts the service.
Stop	Stops the service.
Pause	Pauses the service.
Continue	Resumes the paused service.
SetPassword	Sets the password for the Service Account.

The following example of VBScript code lists the services on a computer with some common properties:

Set ComputerObj = GetObject("WinNT://MYCOMPUTER")
ComputerObj.Filter = Array("Service")
For Each Service in ComputerObj
    WScript.Echo "Service display name = " & Service.DisplayName
    WScript.Echo "Service account name = " & Service.ServiceAccountName
    WScript.Echo "Service executable   = " & Service.Path
    WScript.Echo "Current status       = " & Service.Status
Next

The following Visual Basic script starts the Computer Browser service on MYCOMPUTER:

Set Service = GetObject("WinNT://MYCOMPUTER/BROWSER,Service")
Service.Start

The following Visual Basic script sets the user account and password for the Directory Replicator service on MYCOMPUTER:

Set Service = GetObject("WinNT://MYCOMPUTER/REPLICATOR,Service")
Service.ServiceAccountName = "ARCADIABAY\JSmith"
Service.SetPassword "TopSecret"
Service.SetInfo

For information about ADSI, please visit the following Microsoft Web site: For information about Windows Script Host, VBScript, and JScript, please visit the following Microsoft Web site: