Question

The top answer to this question tells me how to stop/start a remote service. Great.
Now, all I need is to wait for the actual stop/start to complete. So, what I’m looking for is a dos command to:

1. Start a service, should return only after the service is started (or after a timeout, raising error level)
2. Stop a service, return only after the service is stopped

Answer 1

I created a set of batch scripts that use sc.exe to do just this. They are attached below. To run these scripts, you should be a user with administration rights on the target machine and running this from a computer that is a member of the same domain. It’s possible to set it up to be able to run from outside of the domain (like from a VPN) but there are a lot of layers of security to work through involving firewalls, DCOM and security credentials.

One of these days, I’m going to figure out the PowerShell equivalent, which should be much easier.

safeServiceStart.bat

@echo off
:: This script originally authored by Eric Falsken

IF [%1]==[] GOTO usage
IF [%2]==[] GOTO usage

ping -n 1 %1 | FIND "TTL=" >NUL
IF errorlevel 1 GOTO SystemOffline
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" >NUL
IF errorlevel 1 GOTO SystemOffline

:ResolveInitialState
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "STOPPED" >NUL
IF errorlevel 0 IF NOT errorlevel 1 GOTO StartService
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "RUNNING" >NUL
IF errorlevel 0 IF NOT errorlevel 1 GOTO StartedService
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "PAUSED" >NUL
IF errorlevel 0 IF NOT errorlevel 1 GOTO SystemOffline
echo Service State is changing, waiting for service to resolve its state before making changes
sc \\%1 query %2 | Find "STATE"
timeout /t 2 /nobreak >NUL
GOTO ResolveInitialState

:StartService
echo Starting %2 on \\%1
sc \\%1 start %2 >NUL

GOTO StartingService
:StartingServiceDelay
echo Waiting for %2 to start
timeout /t 2 /nobreak >NUL
:StartingService
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "RUNNING" >NUL
IF errorlevel 1 GOTO StartingServiceDelay

:StartedService
echo %2 on \\%1 is started
GOTO:eof

:SystemOffline
echo Server \\%1 is not accessible or is offline
GOTO:eof

:usage
echo %0 [system name] [service name]
echo Example: %0 server1 MyService
echo.
GOTO:eof

safeServiceStop.bat

@echo off
:: This script originally authored by Eric Falsken

IF [%1]==[] GOTO usage
IF [%2]==[] GOTO usage

ping -n 1 %1 | FIND "TTL=" >NUL
IF errorlevel 1 GOTO SystemOffline
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" >NUL
IF errorlevel 1 GOTO SystemOffline

:ResolveInitialState
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "RUNNING" >NUL
IF errorlevel 0 IF NOT errorlevel 1 GOTO StopService
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "STOPPED" >NUL
IF errorlevel 0 IF NOT errorlevel 1 GOTO StopedService
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "PAUSED" >NUL
IF errorlevel 0 IF NOT errorlevel 1 GOTO SystemOffline
echo Service State is changing, waiting for service to resolve its state before making changes
sc \\%1 query %2 | Find "STATE"
timeout /t 2 /nobreak >NUL
GOTO ResolveInitialState

:StopService
echo Stopping %2 on \\%1
sc \\%1 stop %2 %3 >NUL

GOTO StopingService
:StopingServiceDelay
echo Waiting for %2 to stop
timeout /t 2 /nobreak >NUL
:StopingService
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "STOPPED" >NUL
IF errorlevel 1 GOTO StopingServiceDelay

:StopedService
echo %2 on \\%1 is stopped
GOTO:eof

:SystemOffline
echo Server \\%1 or service %2 is not accessible or is offline
GOTO:eof

:usage
echo Will cause a remote service to STOP (if not already stopped).
echo This script will waiting for the service to enter the stopped state if necessary.
echo.
echo %0 [system name] [service name] {reason}
echo Example: %0 server1 MyService
echo.
echo For reason codes, run "sc stop"
GOTO:eof

safeServiceRestart.bat

@echo off
:: This script originally authored by Eric Falsken

if [%1]==[] GOTO usage
if [%2]==[] GOTO usage

ping -n 1 %1 | FIND "TTL=" >NUL
IF errorlevel 1 GOTO SystemOffline
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" >NUL
IF errorlevel 1 GOTO SystemOffline

:ResolveInitialState
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "RUNNING" >NUL
IF errorlevel 0 IF NOT errorlevel 1 GOTO StopService
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "STOPPED" >NUL
IF errorlevel 0 IF NOT errorlevel 1 GOTO StartService
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "PAUSED" >NUL
IF errorlevel 0 IF NOT errorlevel 1 GOTO SystemOffline
echo Service State is changing, waiting for service to resolve its state before making changes
sc \\%1 query %2 | Find "STATE"
timeout /t 2 /nobreak >NUL
GOTO ResolveInitialState

:StopService
echo Stopping %2 on \\%1
sc \\%1 stop %2 %3 >NUL

GOTO StopingService
:StopingServiceDelay
echo Waiting for %2 to stop
timeout /t 2 /nobreak >NUL
:StopingService
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "STOPPED" >NUL
IF errorlevel 1 GOTO StopingServiceDelay

:StopedService
echo %2 on \\%1 is stopped
GOTO StartService

:StartService
echo Starting %2 on \\%1
sc \\%1 start %2 >NUL

GOTO StartingService
:StartingServiceDelay
echo Waiting for %2 to start
timeout /t 2 /nobreak >NUL
:StartingService
SC \\%1 query %2 | FIND "STATE" | FIND "RUNNING" >NUL
IF errorlevel 1 GOTO StartingServiceDelay

:StartedService
echo %2 on \\%1 is started
GOTO:eof

:SystemOffline
echo Server \\%1 or service %2 is not accessible or is offline
GOTO:eof

:usage
echo Will restart a remote service, waiting for the service to stop/start (if necessary)
echo.
echo %0 [system name] [service name] {reason}
echo Example: %0 server1 MyService
echo.
echo For reason codes, run "sc stop"
GOTO:eof