How to resolve "Cannot start service from the command line or debugger. A windows Service must first be installed" error.

If you recieve the follwing error while trying to run a Punchh service:

This message is a generic window message that will pop up when service was not installed correctly to resolve this.

Uninstall your service manually using InstallUtil.exe utility

1. From the Start menu, select the Visual Studio <version> directory, then select Developer Command Prompt for VS <version>.

   The Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio appears.

2. Run InstallUtil.exe from the command prompt with your project's output as a parameter:

   Console
   

   installutil /u <yourproject>.exe
   

3. After the executable for a service is deleted, the service might still be present in the registry. If that's the case, use the command sc delete to remove the entry for the service from the registry.

Install your service manually using InstallUtil.exe utility

1. From the Start menu, select the Visual Studio <version> directory, then select Developer Command Prompt for VS <version>.

   The Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio appears.

2. Access the directory where your project's compiled executable file is located.

3. Run InstallUtil.exe from the command prompt with your project's executable as a parameter:

   Console
   

   installutil <yourproject>.exe
   

   If you’re using the Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio, InstallUtil.exe should be on the system path. Otherwise, you can add it to the path, or use the fully qualified path to invoke it. This tool is installed with the .NET Framework in %WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework[64]\<framework_version>.

   For example:

   • For the 32-bit version of the .NET Framework 4 or 4.5 and later, if your Windows installation directory is C:\Windows, the default path is C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe.
   • For the 64-bit version of the .NET Framework 4 or 4.5 and later, the default path is C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe.

Disclaimer:
In an effort to supply information as quickly as possible, this article has been published prior to a formal technical review, and is subject to factual, grammatical, and various structural errors. Data may be incomplete, misordered, or incorrect.

This additional disclaimer will be removed upon formal review of this article. The standard Punchh Inc. KB Disclaimer still applies, and can be found at: https://support.punchh.com/hc/en-us/articles/360040100273-Punchh-Inc-Knowledge-Base-Disclaimer

If further assistance is required, submit a ticket to Punchh Support. (For help submitting a ticket, click here)