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+# Fossil as a Windows Service
+
+If you need Fossil to start automatically on Windows, it is suggested to install
+Fossil as a Windows Service.
+
+## Assumptions
+
+1. You have Administrative access to a Windows 2012r2 or above server.
+2. You have PowerShell 5.1 or above installed.
+
+## Place Fossil on Server
+
+However you obtained your copy of Fossil, it is recommended that you follow
+Windows conventions and place it within `\Program Files\FossilSCM`, the
+proper location for the official 64-bit binary.
+This way Fossil is at an expected location and you will have minimal issues with
+Windows interfering in your ability to run Fossil as a service.  You will need
+Administrative rights to place fossil at the recommended location.  If you will
+only be running Fossil as a service, you do not need to add this location to the
+path, though you may do so if you wish.
+
+## Installing Fossil as a Service
+
+Luckily the hard work to use Fossil as a Windows Service has been done by the
+Fossil team.  We simply have to install it with the proper command line options.
+Fossil on Windows has a command `fossil winsrv` to allow installing Fossil as a
+service on Windows.  This command is only documented on the windows executable
+of Fossil.  You must also run the command as administrator for it to be
+successful.
+
+### Fossil winsrv Example
+
+The simplest form of the command is:
+
+```
+fossil winsrv create --repository D:/Path/to/Repo.fossil
+```
+
+This will create a windows service named 'Fossil-DSCM' running under the local
+system account and accessible on port 8080 by default.  `fossil winsrv` can also
+start, stop, and delete the service.  For all available options, please execute
+`fossil help winsrv` on a windows install of Fossil.
+
+If you wish to serve a directory of repositories, the `fossil winsrv` command
+requires a slightly different set of options vs. `fossil server`:
+
+```
+fossil winsrv create --repository D:/Path/to/Repos --repolist
+```
+
+### Choice of Directory Considerations
+
+When the Fossil server will be used at times that files may be locked
+during virus scanning, it is prudent to arrange that its directory used
+for temporary files is exempted from such scanning. Ordinarily, this
+will be a subdirectory named "fossil" in the temporary directory given
+by the Windows GetTempPath(...) API, [namely](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/fileapi/nf-fileapi-gettemppathw#remarks)
+the value of the first existing environment variable from `%TMP%`, `%TEMP%`,
+`%USERPROFILE%`, and `%SystemRoot%`; you can look for their actual values in
+your system by accessing the `/test-env` webpage. 
+Excluding this subdirectory will avoid certain rare failures where the
+fossil.exe process is unable to use the directory normally during a scan.
+
+### <a id='PowerShell'></a>Advanced service installation using PowerShell
+
+As great as `fossil winsrv` is, it does not have one to one reflection of all of
+the `fossil server` [options](/help/server).  When you need to use some of
+the more advanced options, such as `--https`, `--skin`, or `--extroot`, you will
+need to use PowerShell to configure and install the Windows service.
+
+PowerShell provides the [New-Service](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/new-service?view=powershell-5.1)
+command, which we can use to install and configure Fossil as a service.  The
+below should all be entered as a single line in an Administrative PowerShell
+console.
+
+```PowerShell
+New-Service -Name fossil -DisplayName fossil -BinaryPathName '"C:\Program Files\FossilSCM\fossil.exe" server --port 8080 --repolist "D:/Path/to/Repos"' -StartupType Automatic
+```
+
+Please note the use of forward slashes in the repolist path passed to Fossil.
+Windows will accept either back slashes or forward slashes in path names, but
+Fossil has a preference for forward slashes.  The use of `--repolist` will make
+this a multiple repository server.  If you want to serve only a single
+repository, then leave off the `--repolist` parameter and provide the full path
+to the proper repository file. Other options are listed in the
+[fossil server](/help/server) documentation.
+
+The service will be installed by default to use the Local Service account.
+Since Fossil only needs access to local files, this is fine and causes no
+issues.  The service will not be running once installed.  You will need to start
+it to proceed (the `-StartupType Automatic` parameter to `New-Service` will
+result in the service auto-starting on boot).  This can be done by entering
+
+```PowerShell
+Start-Service -Name fossil
+```
+
+in the PowerShell console.
+
+Congratulations, you now have a base http accessible Fossil server running on
+Windows.
+
+### Removing the Windows Service
+
+If you want to remove the Fossil service, execute the following from an
+Administrative PowerShell or Command Prompt console:
+
+```
+sc.exe delete fossil
+```
+
+If you have Powershell version 6.0 or later, you can use:
+
+```PowerShell
+Remove-Service -Name fossil
+```
+
+with the same effect.
+
+*[Return to the top-level Fossil server article.](../)*