How can I make a SSH tunnel command into a service on Windows 10? - service

Question

I have a very simple command in powershell to start SSH tunnels:
ssh -N -L 28777:localhost:28778 myapp-db
What's the simplest way to make this a service, so I can run:
start-service db-tunnel
etc on Windows 10? I've read an old article on doing this and it involves using C#, which seems way too complex for such a simple task.

Answer 1

PowerShell is not necessary. Here's one way:
Install the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools package somewhere and get the files instsrv.exe and srvany.exe.
Use srvany.exe to create the service using the ssh.exe program and its parameters using the information in Microsoft help article 137890.
For example:
instsrv "SSH Server" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Resource Kit Tools\srvany.exe"
Of course, specify whatever service name you want and the path and filename of srvany.exe.
Next, use the registry editor to go to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SSH Tunnel (or whatever you named the service) in the registry and create a Parameters subkey. In the Parameters subkey create an Application value (REG_SZ type):
C:\Program Files (x86)\ssh\ssh.exe
(or whatever - the path and filename to your ssh executable).
You can also create the values AppDirectory (REG_SZ) to specify the starting directory for the executable, and AppParameters (REG_SZ) to specify the parameters to the executable; e.g.:
-N -L 28777:localhost:28778 myapp-db
You can substitute the use of the NSSM tool mentioned by BenH in his comment if you prefer that tool and are allowed to use third-party software.

Answer 2

To make something into a service, you would need to compile your script into an executable. This can be done via PS2EXE.
What may work just as well for you is making a function in powershell, Start-DbTunnel, and making that import into your powershell session on start. You can do this by loading functions in the foloowing path:
$PSprofilePath\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
or for the ISE
$PSprofilePath\Microsoft.PowerShellISE_profile.ps1
Inside those files, I have
$PSprofilePath = "C:\Users\cknutson\Documents\WindowsPowershell"
$items = Get-ChildItem "$PSprofilePath\functions"
#Set-Location "$PSprofilePath\functions"
$items | ForEach-Object {
. $_.FullName
}
Set-Location C:\
Any scripts containing functions, or otherwise will be run each time you open a powershell host.