Opens an existing service.

Syntax

SC_HANDLE WINAPI OpenService(
  __in  SC_HANDLE hSCManager,
  __in  LPCTSTR lpServiceName,
  __in  DWORD dwDesiredAccess
);

Parameters

hSCManager [in]

A handle to the service control manager database. The OpenSCManager function returns this handle.

lpServiceName [in]

The name of the service to be opened. The maximum string length is 256 characters. The service control manager database preserves the case of the characters, but service name comparisons are always case insensitive. Forward-slash (/) and backslash (\) are invalid service name characters.

dwDesiredAccess [in]

The access to the service. For a list of access rights, see Service Security and Access Rights.

Before granting the requested access, the system checks the access token of the calling process against the discretionary access-control list of the security descriptor associated with the service object.

Return Value

If the function succeeds, the return value is a handle to the service.

If the function fails, the return value is NULL. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

The following error codes can be set by the service control manager. Others can be set by the registry functions that are called by the service control manager.

Remarks

The returned handle is only valid for the process that called OpenService. It can be closed by calling the CloseServiceHandle function.

Examples

For an example, see Starting a Service.

Requirements

See Also

ChangeServiceConfig

CloseServiceHandle

ControlService

CreateService

DeleteService

EnumDependentServices

OpenSCManager

QueryServiceConfig

QueryServiceObjectSecurity

QueryServiceStatusEx

SCM Handles

Service Functions

SetServiceObjectSecurity

StartService

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Build date: 11/19/2009