Running the Document Output Service as a Windows service

  • 29/10/2025
  • 5 minutes to read

You can run the Continia Document Output Service either with or without a user interface. If you prefer it to operate silently in the background without an interface, you can run it as a Windows service, as described in this article. For this to work, you must ensure that the user who runs the service has been granted the Log on as a service permission.

When the user has been granted permission, you're ready to install the service as a Windows service. Once installed, the service can be controlled from the Service Manager.

Note

If you don’t want to run the Document Output Service as a Windows service or can’t assign the necessary Log on as a service permissions to a user, you can run it using ServiceGUI instead.

To grant a user “Logon as a service” permission

To assign the Logon as a service permission to a user account, follow the steps in Enable service log on through a local group policy (Microsoft article).

You may have to contact your local network administrator to carry out the steps in the above guide.

To install the service as a Windows service

In order to install the Document Output Service as a Windows service, you must use the Service Manager, which uses the Service Controller (SC.exe) to install and control the Windows service. It also ensures that the settings and credentials that you enter in the configuration section are available for the user who runs the service.

To install the Document Output Service as a Windows service, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the folder you chose during the installation of the Document Output Service.

    Note

    The default folder for the installed files is C:\Program Files\Continia\Continia Document Output Service.

  2. Open the Service Manager (Manager.exe).
  3. If prompted, click Yes to allow the application to make changes.
  4. The Service Manager opens. In the Windows Service Actions section, select Install service.
  5. A dialog opens. Enter the Windows username (domain\username) and password for the user who runs the application. If the user isn’t in a domain, just enter the username.

    Tip

    We recommend that you create a dedicated user account (or use an existing one) with a password that doesn't change, as changing passwords may prevent you from signing in and cause the service to stop running.

  6. Select OK to close the dialog and install the service.
  7. When the service has been successfully installed and started, a message is displayed. Select OK to close this and complete the installation.

The Document Output Service has now been installed. To start, stop, restart, or uninstall it, see To control the Windows service below.

To control the Windows service

When the Document Output Service has been installed as a Windows service, you can control it from the Service Manager. From the Windows Service Actions section of the Manager, you can use the available actions to Start, Stop, Restart, and Uninstall the service.

Note

To uninstall the Windows service, it must be stopped first.

As an example, to start the Windows service in case it has stopped, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Service Manager from the folder you installed it in.
  2. In the Windows Service Actions section, select Start service.
  3. The service is started. Select OK to confirm.

The Document Output Service now runs as a Windows service.