Typeperf: How to check if a Service/Proccess is currently running?

Question

Typeperf: How to check if a Service/Proccess is currently running?

Raul Chiarella 21

Hello there!

I would like to know the counter for typeperf used for monitoring a proccess/service status...

Example: typeperf "\Process(AnyDesk)\Is it running?"

I expect this command to return a True or False statement (1 or 0)
Is this possible to achieve using typeperf?

Thanks in advance!

Hung-Chun Yu 981 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2021-06-21T03:33:11.397+00:00

Hi Raul

It appeared your question is not related to Open Specifications Protocol outline here https://aka.ms/openspecs. Openspecs-windows tag is removed from the post.
Anonymous

2021-06-21T08:05:14.133+00:00

Hi,

Just checking in to see if the information provided by MotoX80 was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance.

Best Regards,
Sunny
Raul Chiarella 21 Reputation points

2021-06-21T12:20:47.62+00:00

I will use Typeperf to generate a status of a service - It has to contain 0 or 1...
The result will be used in Zabbix Monitoring Tool

So i dont think that the powershell script will help me...
Raul Chiarella 21 Reputation points

2021-06-21T12:21:39.047+00:00

Thanks! I did not know.
I saw a similar question regarding Typeperf that contained that same tag so i thought i was correct adding it to my question as well!

Sorry for the incovenience.
MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points

2021-06-21T12:29:59.163+00:00

Why do you want to use typeperf? That's not what it was designed for.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/typeperf

The typeperf command writes performance data to the command window or to a log file. To stop typeperf, press CTRL+C.

It'd not going to return a 0 or 1, it's going to produce console output and your monitoring tool is going to have to "press CTRL+C" to stop it.
Raul Chiarella 21 Reputation points

2021-06-21T12:35:31.423+00:00

So there is no counter that check the service status?
Just things like CPU, Memory, etc...

But it doesnt have a counter that checks if service is running or not?
I said that i need a 0 or 1 as a output just so you can understand that i need to know if its running or not.

It doesnt need to be exactly 0 or 1... Just a output to check if service is running or not...
\Proccess(AnyDesk)\Runtime
Output: Not running
OR Output: 09:37:33

Something like this.
I find it weird that there isnt a counter that checks service status!

If it has - Do you know the name of it?
It needs to be under \Services or \Proccess
MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points

2021-06-21T12:48:20.203+00:00

Let's start with this Zabbix Monitoring Tool. and the "output".

Does this tool test the return code produced by an executable (%errorlevel% in a bat file), or does this tool capture the stdout (console output) produced by a program and that's the "output" that it looks at?

Isn't there documentation in the tool that shows an example of how to monitor a process/service?
Raul Chiarella 21 Reputation points

2021-06-21T13:06:58.813+00:00

It uses the output of Typeperf... It deals automatically with the output.

I already use it for monitoring CPU, Memory and HD.
Typeperf is pretty useful, i even use it to monitor some things on my Hyper V server

The problem is that i cant find a counter that checks Service Status...
There is thread counts, priority, bytes available, bytes being used... A lot of counters for services and proccesses.

But there isnt a single one regarding 'Status' 😥
Like stopped, running, paused... Etc.

Accepted answer

1 additional answer

Your answer

Hung-Chun Yu 981 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2021-06-21T03:33:11.397+00:00

Hi Raul

It appeared your question is not related to Open Specifications Protocol outline here https://aka.ms/openspecs. Openspecs-windows tag is removed from the post.
Anonymous

2021-06-21T08:05:14.133+00:00

Hi,

Just checking in to see if the information provided by MotoX80 was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance.

Best Regards,
Sunny
Raul Chiarella 21 Reputation points

2021-06-21T12:20:47.62+00:00

I will use Typeperf to generate a status of a service - It has to contain 0 or 1...
The result will be used in Zabbix Monitoring Tool

So i dont think that the powershell script will help me...
Raul Chiarella 21 Reputation points

2021-06-21T12:21:39.047+00:00

Thanks! I did not know.
I saw a similar question regarding Typeperf that contained that same tag so i thought i was correct adding it to my question as well!

Sorry for the incovenience.
MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points

2021-06-21T12:29:59.163+00:00

Why do you want to use typeperf? That's not what it was designed for.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/typeperf

The typeperf command writes performance data to the command window or to a log file. To stop typeperf, press CTRL+C.

It'd not going to return a 0 or 1, it's going to produce console output and your monitoring tool is going to have to "press CTRL+C" to stop it.
Raul Chiarella 21 Reputation points

2021-06-21T12:35:31.423+00:00

So there is no counter that check the service status?
Just things like CPU, Memory, etc...

But it doesnt have a counter that checks if service is running or not?
I said that i need a 0 or 1 as a output just so you can understand that i need to know if its running or not.

It doesnt need to be exactly 0 or 1... Just a output to check if service is running or not...
\Proccess(AnyDesk)\Runtime
Output: Not running
OR Output: 09:37:33

Something like this.
I find it weird that there isnt a counter that checks service status!

If it has - Do you know the name of it?
It needs to be under \Services or \Proccess
MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points

2021-06-21T12:48:20.203+00:00

Let's start with this Zabbix Monitoring Tool. and the "output".

Does this tool test the return code produced by an executable (%errorlevel% in a bat file), or does this tool capture the stdout (console output) produced by a program and that's the "output" that it looks at?

Isn't there documentation in the tool that shows an example of how to monitor a process/service?
Raul Chiarella 21 Reputation points

2021-06-21T13:06:58.813+00:00

It uses the output of Typeperf... It deals automatically with the output.

I already use it for monitoring CPU, Memory and HD.
Typeperf is pretty useful, i even use it to monitor some things on my Hyper V server

The problem is that i cant find a counter that checks Service Status...
There is thread counts, priority, bytes available, bytes being used... A lot of counters for services and proccesses.

But there isnt a single one regarding 'Status' 😥
Like stopped, running, paused... Etc.

Answer 1

MotoX80 36,401

I'm sure that it's possible somehow with typeperf, but I think that Powershell would be a better tool to use.

 param ($ComputerName = "")

 $np = get-process -Name notepad -ComputerName $ComputerName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
 If ($np.count -eq 0) {
     "Notepad is not running."
 } else {
     "There are {0} instances of Notepad that are running." -f $np.Count
 } 
 try {
     $svc = Get-Service -Name LanmanServer -ComputerName $ComputerName -ErrorAction Stop
     if ($svc.Status -eq 'Running') {
         "LanmanServer is running." 
     } else {
         "LanmanServer is NOT running." 
     }
 } catch {
     "Error, the LanmanServer service is not defined."
 }

Raul Chiarella 21 Reputation points

2021-06-21T12:26:16.357+00:00

Hello,
Thanks for your reply!

That script is very usefull, i will save it.

Regarding my question: Unfortunately this will not solve my problem since i need Typeperf because i will use it with Zabbix Monitoring Tool...
And i will use Typeperf to check if the service is running...

I do not know how to integrate scripts with Zabbix - For example i could use your script to generate a 1 or 0 value and just check using Zabbix but i have no clue how to do that!!
Thats why im trying to find a way to do this using Typeperf...

I saw that there are a LOT of counters for Typeperf but i did not see a single one that returned if the service is running or not...
MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points

2021-06-21T13:11:47.023+00:00

From my experience, typeperf is the wrong tool to use to do this.

I have no experience with this Zabbix tool. Let's assume for a minute that typeperf could do what you want it to do. When you define the monitor, you will need to tell Zabbix the program name to execute (typeperf.exe) and an argument to pass to it (the counter name).

If you can do that, then it should be just as easy to tell Zabbix to run Powershell.exe and for the argument give it the name of a script to execute.

I do not understand why you are focused on using typeperf.
Raul Chiarella 21 Reputation points

2021-06-21T13:16:02.397+00:00

Because Typeperf can be executed remotelly...
If i use a powershell script i will need to do on all machines that i need to monitor!

Lets say that i need to check if Anti Virus program is running on 200 machines on a domain...
With typeperf i can just use my Active Directory Administrator Login and execute typeperf remotelly just fine.

It works on all machines... And i can do it remotelly from one place only!
But how will i execute this script remotelly on all machines?

I will need to enter each one of them and create this script manually...
Or is it possible to execute this script remotelly? If it is possible, how to achieve that?

MotoX80 36,401

Just use the -Computername switch

PS C:\> get-help Get-Service

NAME
    Get-Service

SYNOPSIS
    Gets the services on a local or remote computer.


SYNTAX
    Get-Service [-ComputerName <String[]>] [-DependentServices] -DisplayName <String[]> [-Exclude <String[]>] [-Include <String[]>] [-RequiredServices] 
    [<CommonParameters>]

MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points

2021-06-21T14:01:10.617+00:00
I updated the script to accept a computer name. Run it like this with your names.

Powershell.exe C:\Scripts\ProcessServiceTest.ps1 -ComputerName MyServerName

If you are new to scripting you will need to set the execution policy.

https://thinkpowershell.com/powershell-execution-policy-explained/
Raul Chiarella 21 Reputation points

2021-06-21T19:17:59.403+00:00

Thanks! I will try it out...
MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points

2021-06-22T00:59:16.53+00:00

Just to clear up a few loose ends.... you commented about using typeperf to check to see if a service was running. That's what WMI was intended for.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/wmisdk/about-wmi

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/get-wmiobject?view=powershell-5.1

WMI is big topic. You might want to do some internet searches as it can provide all kinds of info. Or ask another question.

And I still wonder about the typeperf command. In particular the CTRL+C that terminates it. You might want to check task manager on your monitor server and see if the typeperf processes are terminating. I don't know how that Zabbix tool works.

Answer 2

Castorix31 90,686

You can use Tasklist command and parse the result

For example, test if Windows Defender service is running :

tasklist /svc /fi "SERVICES eq Windefend"

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Typeperf: How to check if a Service/Proccess is currently running?

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