Service Manager

A cross-platform library for installing and managing services on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Overview

The Service Manager library provides a unified interface for managing system services across different operating systems. It follows standard service management conventions, allowing you to:

• Install/uninstall services
• Enable/disable services at boot time
• Start/stop running services
• Query service status

It creates user-level services (not system-wide root services), which means:

• Linux: User systemd services (systemctl --user)
• macOS: LaunchAgents (~/Library/LaunchAgents)
• Windows: Scheduled Tasks (running on user login)

Installation

pip install etiket-service-manager

Pre-configured Services

This library includes pre-configured service definitions for the QHarbor application suite. These helper functions automatically set up the correct paths, executable locations, and naming conventions for QHarbor's sync components.

from etiket_service_manager.services import sync_agent, sync_api
from packaging.version import Version

# Get the manager for the Sync Agent
agent_manager = sync_agent.get_service()
agent_manager.status  # Check status

# Install — no need to pass program_arguments, the config carries them
agent_manager.install(version=Version("1.0.0"))

# Get the manager for the Sync API
api_manager = sync_api.get_service()
api_manager.install(version=Version("1.0.0"))

The pre-configured services resolve their executable via default_runner_install_location(), which knows the canonical location of the runner on each OS:

On macOS the runner ships as a code-signed .app bundle so it's identifiable to Gatekeeper, TCC, and System Settings (Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access). On Linux and Windows the bare binary lives in the per-user data directory.

Actions and Behaviors

The following table describes each action, its expected behavior, possible errors, and resulting service states:

Configuring the Service Manager

To use the Service Manager for your own applications, you need to create a ServiceConfig object. exe_install_location is required and uses a PlatformPath so the same config works across OSes — the entry matching the running OS is selected at install time.

from pathlib import Path
from etiket_service_manager import PlatformPath, ServiceConfig, ServiceManager

config = ServiceConfig(
    service_name="my_service",
    app_dir=Path.home() / ".my_service",        # Runtime data: logs, state
    exe_install_location=PlatformPath(
        darwin=Path("/Applications/MyService.app/Contents/MacOS/my_service"),
        linux=Path.home() / ".local/bin/my_service",
        windows=Path.home() / "AppData/Local/MyService/my_service.exe",
    ),
    default_args=["--serve"],                   # Optional: appended to the executable
)

manager = ServiceManager(config)

ServiceConfig fields

PlatformPath

A dataclass that holds one path per OS and resolves to the correct one based on platform.system():

from etiket_service_manager import PlatformPath

p = PlatformPath(
    darwin=Path("/usr/local/bin/foo"),
    linux=Path("/usr/bin/foo"),
    windows=Path(r"C:\Program Files\foo\foo.exe"),
)
p.resolve()  # → the path matching the running OS

Example Usage

from pathlib import Path

from packaging.version import Version

from etiket_service_manager import PlatformPath, ServiceConfig, ServiceManager


def main():
    # 1. Configure: declare where the executable lives on each OS and the
    #    default invocation. The same config works across all three OSes.
    config = ServiceConfig(
        service_name="my_service",
        app_dir=Path.home() / ".my_service",
        exe_install_location=PlatformPath(
            darwin=Path("/Applications/MyService.app/Contents/MacOS/my_service"),
            linux=Path.home() / ".local/bin/my_service",
            windows=Path.home() / "AppData/Local/MyService/my_service.exe",
        ),
        default_args=["--serve"],
    )
    manager = ServiceManager(config)

    # 2. Install. With exe_install_location + default_args set on the config,
    #    program_arguments is inferred — no need to pass it.
    manager.install(
        version=Version("1.0.0"),
        raise_if_already_installed=True,
    )

    # If you need a one-off override, pass program_arguments explicitly:
    # manager.install(version=Version("1.0.0"),
    #                 program_arguments=["/custom/path", "--debug"])

    # 3. Check status
    print(f"Service status: {manager.status}")

    # 4. Stop / disable / uninstall as needed
    manager.stop()
    manager.disable()
    manager.uninstall()


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Platform Specific Details

Windows Services

This application is implemented as a Scheduled Task rather than a Windows service. A scheduled task can run without administrator permissions, unlike Windows services.

The scheduled task:

• Runs as a background process with wscript (hidden window).
• Starts automatically when the user logs in.
• Provides support for process recovery when it terminates unexpectedly.

Requirements

• The service name is used as the Task Name.
• Tasks are created with "LeastPrivilege" run level, so no UAC prompt is needed.

Logging

• Behavior: Unlike Linux/macOS, Windows Task Scheduler does not capture or redirect Standard Output (stdout) or Error (stderr). Any output printed to the console is lost.
• Requirement: Your application must internally handle logging to files.
  • Do not rely on print().
  • Use a logging library (e.g., Python's logging module) to write directly to a file.
• Suggested Location: {app_dir}/logs/ to match other platforms.

macOS Services

This document outlines the process for creating and managing macOS services using launchctl. These services run in the GUI session of the logged-in user (LaunchAgents).

Installation Locations

• Service configuration file: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.quantum-machines.{service_name}.plist
• Executable: ship as a code-signed .app bundle in ~/Applications/{company}/{app_name}.app (per-user, no admin required, Finder-discoverable for Privacy & Security grants) or /Applications/{app_name}.app (system-wide). For QHarbor's etiket_service_runner the canonical path is ~/Applications/qharbor/eTiKeT Service.app/Contents/MacOS/etiket_service_runner.
• Runtime data (app_dir): kept separate from the executable, in ~/Library/Application Support/{company}/.
• Logs: {app_dir}/{service_name}_logs/

[!IMPORTANT] Ship the executable as a .app bundle (with CFBundleIdentifier, CFBundleExecutable, LSUIElement=true for background services, and any NSXxxUsageDescription keys the agent needs). Bare Mach-O binaries cannot be cleanly granted permissions in System Settings → Privacy & Security and don't trigger TCC prompts with usable descriptions. The bundle ID + signing identity are what TCC keys grants on, so keep them stable across releases.

[!IMPORTANT] The service is configured with WorkingDirectory set to the app_dir. If your application uses relative paths for resources or imports, the executable still belongs in the .app bundle — app_dir is for runtime data only.

The service definition (plist) includes:

• KeepAlive: True (system attempts to restart it if it crashes)
• RunAtLoad: True (starts immediately upon load/login)
• ThrottleInterval: 60 seconds

Linux Services

Service in Linux are implemented using systemd user services. This is a robust system that works very well for user-level background processes.

Locations

• Configuration: The systemd user unit file ({service_name}.service) is created in ~/.config/systemd/user/.
• Logs: Managed by systemd. View logs using:

  journalctl --user -u {service_name}
  

  • Use -f to follow logs in real-time.
  • Use -e to jump to the end.
• Application Binary: The application executable should be in a stable, user-accessible location.
  • Recommended: ~/.local/bin/ for standalone binaries.
  • Note: Self-contained application directories often reside in ~/.local/share/.
  • Important: Always provide the absolute path to the executable when installing the service.

Behavior

• Uses systemctl --user commands to manage the service.
• defined as Type=simple.
• Configured with Restart=always and a 5-second delay to ensure reliability.