Make Xlink run a Service on XP/2000/2003 (Easy Instuctions)

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 9:17 pm

I read the other guide that is posted as a sticky but still found it rather hard to understand. So I decided to make a tutorial on how to run Xlink as a Windows NT service. I am writing this in a manner that a total beginner should be able to follow with out any problems.

First off you must have the srvany.exe and instsrv.exe files on your computer. Do a search and see if you already have them. If you do not have it, you can download them from below.

Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools

System Requirements
Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003; Windows XP

30 MB of free disk space
Windows XP
Windows XP SP1
Windows Server 2003 family
Note: The Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools are not supported on 64-bit platforms.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9d467a69-57ff-4ae7-96ee-b18c4790cffd&displaylang=en

Ok once you have those files installed you will be ready to start. I just used the default directory that it installs them to. I will be using the default location for the tutorial

1.) Open a command prompt by going to START\RUN and typing in CMD and hit enter. Type cd C:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools and hit enter.

2.) Type INSTSRV "Xlink Engine" "C:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\srvany.exe" and hit enter.

You should see

Code:

The service was successfuly added!

Make sure that you go into the Control Panel and use
the Services applet to change the Account Name and
Password that this newly installed service will use
for its Security Context.

*Note* Someone goofed at Microsoft and misspelled Successfuly it should be Successfully

2.) Type Regedit

3.) In Regedit navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Xlink Engine

4.) Right click on Xlink Engine and select NEW then KEY. Type in Parameters

5.) Right click on the Parameters and select NEW and STRING VALUE and type in Application

6.) Right click on the Parameters and select NEW and STRING VALUE and type in AppParameters

7.) Right click on the Parameters and select NEW and STRING VALUE and type in AppDirectory

8.) Right click on Application and select MODIFY. Type in C:\Program Files\XLink Kai\kaiEngine.exe *NOTE* This will be the directory that Kai is installed in. So if you have changed the default directory, you will need to enter the directory where Kai is installed.

9.) Right click on AppDirectory and select MODIFY. Type in C:\Program Files\XLink Kai\ *NOTE* This will be the directory that Kai is installed in. So if you have changed the default directory, you will need to enter the directory where Kai is installed.

10.) In your command prompt type in services.msc This will bring up your Services Manager.

11.) Navigate to the bottom until you see Xlink Engine. Right click and select Properties.

12.) In the General tab set the startup type to whatever type you want.

Automatic = As soon as the computer is BOOTED it will start the service.
Manual = You will have to go into the Services Manager to turn it on or off.
Disabled = Disables it all together

13.) Click the Log On tab at the top and make sure that Local System Account is selected, and then click on OK at the bottom.

14.) Right click on Xlink Engine and select START.

That is all that is needed to get Xlink to run as a NT service. You can check to see if the service is running by hitting CTRL+ALT+DELETE to bring up your task manager. Sort it by Name and you should see kaiEngine.exe in the task list.

At the time of this writing the Xlink program did not allow you to start the KaiEngine.exe by itself, and due to this fact the NT service cannot monitor if it goes down or not. The only way to shut off the service is to right click on the service in the Task Manager and Select End Task.

I hope the tutorial has helped others in accomplishing this task.

*UPDATE* 10/20/2008 = Updated instructions to use new XLinkKai 7.4.18

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 2:27 am

I'll sticky it - hope it works for others Smile

Kai Beginner Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 8 Location: Canada

Been looking how to do this for sometime now! glad i found this post!

Thanks BreeOge!

Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2005 5:59 pm

when i type INSTSRV "Xlink Engine" "C:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\srvany.exe" in run it opens and closes.why is that or what should i do?

Kai Beginner Joined: 10 Dec 2004 Posts: 1 Location: Sweden

To get this to work I also needed to do the following:
Before you start the "Xlink Engine" service run the Start Kai Config Tool and set the Profile to Separated use - engine PC (as well as setting your Xtag/Password and ports etc.

If you don't do this it doesn't seem that kaiLaunch knows to only start the Engine and the service doesn't start properly even if it says the service is "started".

Kai Beginner Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 1

I done it all right then I got to click start then it said

The Xlink service on the local computer started then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they have no work to do. the performance logs and alert services. Crying or Very sad

Kai Beginner Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 4

DriftManiac wrote:

I done it all right then I got to click start then it said

The Xlink service on the local computer started then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they have no work to do. the performance logs and alert services. Crying or Very sad

same here

(Server 2003 SP1)

Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 1:46 am

Things to look for when it does that,

Port make sure that nothing else is using that port. Also make sure that you have it set up for the engine only.

Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 1:47 am

SUM_KID wrote:

when i type INSTSRV "Xlink Engine" "C:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\srvany.exe" in run it opens and closes.why is that or what should i do?

You need to be in the CMD, do not run instsrv from the Run command.

Kai Beginner Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 2

DriftManiac wrote:

I done it all right then I got to click start then it said

The Xlink service on the local computer started then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they have no work to do. the performance logs and alert services. Crying or Very sad

Had the same problem here Smile

Solution (at least with the current version of KAI, 7.1):

Quote:

8.) Right click on Application and select MODIFY. Type in C:\Program Files\XLink Kai Evolution 7\kaiLaunch.exe

9.) Right click on AppDirectory and select MODIFY. Type in C:\Program Files\XLink Kai Evolution 7\

should be:

8.) Right click on Application and select MODIFY. Type in C:\Program Files\XLink Kai Evolution VII\kaiLaunch.exe

9.) Right click on AppDirectory and select MODIFY. Type in C:\Program Files\XLink Kai Evolution VII\

Kai Beginner Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 2

It crashs for me but leaves the engine up.

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:51 am

What is crashing?

Kai Beginner Joined: 16 Jul 2005 Posts: 3 Location: Canada

2 questions,

What exactly would running it as a service do?

And will this work with Vista Ultimate?

Kai Spammer Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 8681

Running it as a service would run the enigne in the backround of windows. That way the enignes always running. and i dont know of a way to do it on vista yet.

Kai Beginner Joined: 16 Jul 2005 Posts: 3 Location: Canada

(LG)-Mortj109- wrote:

Running it as a service would run the enigne in the backround of windows. That way the enignes always running. and i dont know of a way to do it on vista yet.

Ah ok, once someone finds a way for Vista, let me know Wink

.

Kai Beginner Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Posts: 6

Question to Bee @ do we need to modify any values for AppParameters?

Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:49 am

henry137 wrote:

Question to Bee @ do we need to modify any values for AppParameters?

No, it should work just as I described above. I created the guide step by step while doing a fresh install myself. Granted I have NOT tried it on the newest version of xlink. But will be shortly so if I find anything that needs to be changed or updated I shall make note of it.

Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:14 am

Updated Instructions to version 7.4.18

Kai Regular Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Posts: 123

Good guide. Thanks.

Kai Beginner Joined: 19 Mar 2011 Posts: 9

Thanks. This solved my problem where the engine wouldn't start because the Kai service had dissapeared.

This happened to me several times in the past, but I fixed the problem with a system restore. But then it happened after I hadn't used Kai for a while and I didn't know how far back to go.