Stopping a Service

A service control program can stop a service by using the ControlService function to send a SERVICE_CONTROL_STOP request. If the service control manager (SCM) receives a SERVICE_CONTROL_STOP request for a service, it instructs the service to stop by forwarding the request to the service's ServiceMain function. However, if the SCM determines that other running services are dependent on the specified service, it will not forward the stop request. Instead, it returns ERROR_DEPENDENT_SERVICES_RUNNING. Therefore, to programmatically stop such a service, you must first enumerate and stop its dependent services.

The DoStopSvc function in the following example shows how to stop a service and any dependent services. The szSvcName variable is a global variable that contains the name of the service to be stopped. For the complete example that sets this variable, see SvcControl.cpp.

//
// Purpose: 
//   Stops the service.
//
// Parameters:
//   None
// 
// Return value:
//   None
//
VOID __stdcall DoStopSvc()
{
    SERVICE_STATUS_PROCESS ssp;
    DWORD dwStartTime = GetTickCount();
    DWORD dwBytesNeeded;
    DWORD dwTimeout = 30000; // 30-second time-out
    DWORD dwWaitTime;

    // Get a handle to the SCM database. 
 
    schSCManager = OpenSCManager( 
        NULL,                    // local computer
        NULL,                    // ServicesActive database 
        SC_MANAGER_ALL_ACCESS);  // full access rights 
 
    if (NULL == schSCManager) 
    {
        printf("OpenSCManager failed (%d)\n", GetLastError());
        return;
    }

    // Get a handle to the service.

    schService = OpenService( 
        schSCManager,         // SCM database 
        szSvcName,            // name of service 
        SERVICE_STOP | 
        SERVICE_QUERY_STATUS | 
        SERVICE_ENUMERATE_DEPENDENTS);  
 
    if (schService == NULL)
    { 
        printf("OpenService failed (%d)\n", GetLastError()); 
        CloseServiceHandle(schSCManager);
        return;
    }    

    // Make sure the service is not already stopped.

    if ( !QueryServiceStatusEx( 
            schService, 
            SC_STATUS_PROCESS_INFO,
            (LPBYTE)&ssp, 
            sizeof(SERVICE_STATUS_PROCESS),
            &dwBytesNeeded ) )
    {
        printf("QueryServiceStatusEx failed (%d)\n", GetLastError()); 
        goto stop_cleanup;
    }

    if ( ssp.dwCurrentState == SERVICE_STOPPED )
    {
        printf("Service is already stopped.\n");
        goto stop_cleanup;
    }

    // If a stop is pending, wait for it.

    while ( ssp.dwCurrentState == SERVICE_STOP_PENDING ) 
    {
        printf("Service stop pending...\n");

        // Do not wait longer than the wait hint. A good interval is 
        // one-tenth of the wait hint but not less than 1 second  
        // and not more than 10 seconds. 
 
        dwWaitTime = ssp.dwWaitHint / 10;

        if( dwWaitTime < 1000 )
            dwWaitTime = 1000;
        else if ( dwWaitTime > 10000 )
            dwWaitTime = 10000;

        Sleep( dwWaitTime );

        if ( !QueryServiceStatusEx( 
                 schService, 
                 SC_STATUS_PROCESS_INFO,
                 (LPBYTE)&ssp, 
                 sizeof(SERVICE_STATUS_PROCESS),
                 &dwBytesNeeded ) )
        {
            printf("QueryServiceStatusEx failed (%d)\n", GetLastError()); 
            goto stop_cleanup;
        }

        if ( ssp.dwCurrentState == SERVICE_STOPPED )
        {
            printf("Service stopped successfully.\n");
            goto stop_cleanup;
        }

        if ( GetTickCount() - dwStartTime > dwTimeout )
        {
            printf("Service stop timed out.\n");
            goto stop_cleanup;
        }
    }

    // If the service is running, dependencies must be stopped first.

    StopDependentServices();

    // Send a stop code to the service.

    if ( !ControlService( 
            schService, 
            SERVICE_CONTROL_STOP, 
            (LPSERVICE_STATUS) &ssp ) )
    {
        printf( "ControlService failed (%d)\n", GetLastError() );
        goto stop_cleanup;
    }

    // Wait for the service to stop.

    while ( ssp.dwCurrentState != SERVICE_STOPPED ) 
    {
        Sleep( ssp.dwWaitHint );
        if ( !QueryServiceStatusEx( 
                schService, 
                SC_STATUS_PROCESS_INFO,
                (LPBYTE)&ssp, 
                sizeof(SERVICE_STATUS_PROCESS),
                &dwBytesNeeded ) )
        {
            printf( "QueryServiceStatusEx failed (%d)\n", GetLastError() );
            goto stop_cleanup;
        }

        if ( ssp.dwCurrentState == SERVICE_STOPPED )
            break;

        if ( GetTickCount() - dwStartTime > dwTimeout )
        {
            printf( "Wait timed out\n" );
            goto stop_cleanup;
        }
    }
    printf("Service stopped successfully\n");

stop_cleanup:
    CloseServiceHandle(schService); 
    CloseServiceHandle(schSCManager);
}

BOOL __stdcall StopDependentServices()
{
    DWORD i;
    DWORD dwBytesNeeded;
    DWORD dwCount;

    LPENUM_SERVICE_STATUS   lpDependencies = NULL;
    ENUM_SERVICE_STATUS     ess;
    SC_HANDLE               hDepService;
    SERVICE_STATUS_PROCESS  ssp;

    DWORD dwStartTime = GetTickCount();
    DWORD dwTimeout = 30000; // 30-second time-out

    // Pass a zero-length buffer to get the required buffer size.
    if ( EnumDependentServices( schService, SERVICE_ACTIVE, 
         lpDependencies, 0, &dwBytesNeeded, &dwCount ) ) 
    {
         // If the Enum call succeeds, then there are no dependent
         // services, so do nothing.
         return TRUE;
    } 
    else 
    {
        if ( GetLastError() != ERROR_MORE_DATA )
            return FALSE; // Unexpected error

        // Allocate a buffer for the dependencies.
        lpDependencies = (LPENUM_SERVICE_STATUS) HeapAlloc( 
            GetProcessHeap(), HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY, dwBytesNeeded );
  
        if ( !lpDependencies )
            return FALSE;

        __try {
            // Enumerate the dependencies.
            if ( !EnumDependentServices( schService, SERVICE_ACTIVE, 
                lpDependencies, dwBytesNeeded, &dwBytesNeeded,
                &dwCount ) )
            return FALSE;

            for ( i = 0; i < dwCount; i++ ) 
            {
                ess = *(lpDependencies + i);
                // Open the service.
                hDepService = OpenService( schSCManager, 
                   ess.lpServiceName, 
                   SERVICE_STOP | SERVICE_QUERY_STATUS );

                if ( !hDepService )
                   return FALSE;

                __try {
                    // Send a stop code.
                    if ( !ControlService( hDepService, 
                            SERVICE_CONTROL_STOP,
                            (LPSERVICE_STATUS) &ssp ) )
                    return FALSE;

                    // Wait for the service to stop.
                    while ( ssp.dwCurrentState != SERVICE_STOPPED ) 
                    {
                        Sleep( ssp.dwWaitHint );
                        if ( !QueryServiceStatusEx( 
                                hDepService, 
                                SC_STATUS_PROCESS_INFO,
                                (LPBYTE)&ssp, 
                                sizeof(SERVICE_STATUS_PROCESS),
                                &dwBytesNeeded ) )
                        return FALSE;

                        if ( ssp.dwCurrentState == SERVICE_STOPPED )
                            break;

                        if ( GetTickCount() - dwStartTime > dwTimeout )
                            return FALSE;
                    }
                } 
                __finally 
                {
                    // Always release the service handle.
                    CloseServiceHandle( hDepService );
                }
            }
        } 
        __finally 
        {
            // Always free the enumeration buffer.
            HeapFree( GetProcessHeap(), 0, lpDependencies );
        }
    } 
    return TRUE;
}

The Complete Service Sample