Guidance for running an agent or logger as a Windows service

If you have problems starting an agent, or a stand-alone logger as a Windows service, try setting the logging level to debug using the -sl parameter. Additional information is written to the servicedate.log file.

The Windows account that you use to run the service must have the Log on as a service right. If you try to start the service, either with the fteStartAgent, fteStartLogger command, or with the Windows Sc.exe command, and you are using a user account that does not have this right, a Services window opens. If the service you wanted to start was to run an agent, this window contains the following message:

Unable to start Windows service mqmftAgentAGENT@QMGR.
System error 1069: The service did not start due to a logon failure.

In this message, AGENT is your agent name and QMGR is your agent queue manager name. If you are trying to run a stand-alone logger as a service, a similar message is produced, which refers to the logger rather than an agent.

To prevent this error, give the Windows account that you use to run the service the Log on as a service right. For example, on Windows 7 complete the following steps:

1. From the Start menu, click Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy.
2. In the Security Settings pane, expand Local Policies, and then click User Rights Assignments.
3. In the Policy and Security Setting pane, double-click Log on as a service.
4. Click Add User or Group, and then add the user that you want to run the service to the list of users that have the Log on as a service right. You provided this user name when you ran the fteCreateAgent, fteCreateWebAgent, fteCreateCDAgent, fteCreateBridgeAgent, fteModifyAgent,fteCreateLogger, or fteModifyLogger command.

When you configure your agent or stand-alone logger to run as a Windows service, you specify a user name and password to use. In the following example, the agent AGENT1 is created, which has an agent queue manager QMGR1 and is configured to run as a Windows service:

fteCreateAgent -agentName AGENT1 -agentQMgr QMGR1 -s -su fteuser -sp ftepassword

In this example, the Windows service runs with a user name of fteuser, which has an associated password ftepassword. When you run the fteCreateAgent command, or one of the other commands that accepts the -s parameter, you specify the password for the Windows account in plain text. If you prefer not to display your password, carry out the following steps:

1. Run the command (fteCreateAgent, fteCreateWebAgent, fteCreateCDAgent, fteCreateBridgeAgent, fteModifyAgent, fteCreateLoggeror fteModifyLogger) without specifying the -sp parameter. For example:

   
   fteCreateAgent -agentName AGENT1 -agentQMgr QMGR1 -s -su fteuser
   

   Note: The command produces a message that warns you that you must set the password by using the Windows Services tool before the service starts successfully.
2. Open the Windows Services window.
3. In the list of services, right-click the agent or stand-alone logger service and select Properties. The agent service display name is WebSphere MQ Managed File Transfer agent AGENT @ QMGR, where AGENT is the agent name and QMGR is your agent queue manager name. The logger service display name is WebSphere MQ Managed File Transfer logger for property set coordination_qmgr_name, where coordination_qmgr_name is the coordination queue manager that you specified for the stand-alone logger to use as its property set. For more information about the property set, see fteStartLogger (start a logger) and fteModifyLogger (run a IBM MQ Managed File Transfer logging application as a Windows service).
4. In the Properties window, select the Log On tab.
5. Enter the password for the user account that runs the service in the Password and Confirm password fields. The password characters are hidden as you enter them.
6. Click OK.