Windows Services and Worker Services

44.1 Worker Service (.NET)

Imports Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting
Imports Microsoft.Extensions.Logging
Imports Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection

Public Class FileProcessorWorker
    Inherits BackgroundService

    Private ReadOnly _logger As ILogger(Of FileProcessorWorker)

    Public Sub New(logger As ILogger(Of FileProcessorWorker))
        _logger = logger
    End Sub

    Protected Overrides Async Function ExecuteAsync(stoppingToken As Threading.CancellationToken) As Task
        While Not stoppingToken.IsCancellationRequested
            _logger.LogInformation("Checking inbox at {time}", DateTimeOffset.Now)
            ' process files...
            Await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1), stoppingToken)
        End While
    End Function
End Class

Module Program
    Sub Main(args As String())
        Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args).
            UseWindowsService().                               ' Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.WindowsServices
            ConfigureServices(Sub(ctx, services) services.AddHostedService(Of FileProcessorWorker)()).
            Build().
            Run()
    End Sub
End Module

sc create MyVbService binPath= "C:\Services\MyVbService.exe" start= auto
sc start MyVbService

44.2 Classic Windows Service (.NET Framework)

Inherits ServiceBase, override OnStart/OnStop, add an installer (ProjectInstaller), install with installutil.exe.

44.3 Scheduled Tasks and Background Jobs

Windows Task Scheduler running a console app, Quartz.NET or Hangfire for job scheduling, PeriodicTimer in worker services.