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Starting agents and VDog MasterService as applications

On certain devices, depending on your environment, you must start either the agent or the VDog MasterService as an application rather than running it solely as a background service.
When launched as an application, the services behave like any manually started program (e.g., a web browser).

Devices that need agents or VDog MasterService started as applications

  • Atlas Copco nutrunner controls (Power Focus 4000 & MACS 4000): Required for upload
  • MELSOFT GX Works3: Required for comparison
  • Microsoft Word: Required for comparison
  • Omron CX-Programmer: Required for upload
  • Omron Sysmac Studio: Required for upload
  • RSLogix 5 / 500 / 5000: Recommended for upload
  • SEW MOVITOOLS MotionStudio v6.20, v6.30, v6.40: Required for upload
  • Siemens SINAMICS inverters: Required for upload
  • Siemens TIA Portal: Required when using upload variant Software upload until V15.1

To start a service as an application, choose either Option A or Option B based on your environment and preference.

  • Option A guides you through creating a shortcut that runs the agent with administrator privileges. Placing the shortcut in the startup folder allows the agent to launch automatically at login.
  • Option B shows you how to start the agent from the command line and how to automate this process using a batch file.

Info

  • You can use both methods to start the VDog MasterService as an application.
  • Before starting the VDog MasterService or any agent as an application, ensure the related agent services (VDogUploadAgent and VDogCompareAgent) are stopped. You can stop them using Task Manager. Next, disable these services in Windows to prevent them from restarting automatically after a system reboot.

Option A. Starting agents or VDog MasterService as applications by creating a shortcut

  1. Open Windows Services and open the properties of the agent service.
  2. Copy the service path and paste it into a text editor (e.g., Notepad).

  3. Modify the path to match your Windows version:

    1. Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016:
      Example:
      Original path: 

          "C:\Program Files (x86)\vdogAgents\VDogCompareAgent.exe" /at:s /rd:D:\vdAgentArchive

      Modified path: 

      Powershell Start-Process -Verb Runas -FilePath 'C:\Program Files (x86)\vdogAgents\VDogCompareAgent.exe' -ArgumentList '/RD:D:\vdAgentArchive','/AT:S','/app','/visible'

      Ensure that all double quotes (") are replaced with single quotes (') or escaped properly if needed.

    2. Older Windows Versions:
      Example:
      Original path: 

      "C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\vdogAgents\VDogCompareAgent.exe" /at:s /rd:D:\vdAgentArchive

      Modified path: 

      "C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\vdogAgents\VDogCompareAgent.exe" /at:s /rd:D:\vdAgentArchive /app /visible

      Info

      The /visible parameter launches the process with a visible application window. This setting is optional.

  4. Create a new shortcut (e.g., on your desktop).

  5. Paste the modified path into the shortcut location field.

    Figure: Create link dialog

  6. Select Next, assign a name to the shortcut, and select Finish.

  7. If you're using a version older than Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016:

    1. Right-click the shortcut and select Properties.
    2. In the Compatibility tab, select Change settings for all users.
    3. Check the box for Run this program as an administrator.

    Figure: VDogCompareAgent.exe properties

  8. To enable automatic startup:

    1. Move the shortcut to the startup folder:
      C:\Users\auvesy\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
    2. In User Account Control (UAC) settings, set notifications to Never notify to avoid prompts during login.

Info

If UAC prompts cannot be disabled, the shortcut cannot run automatically with administrator privileges. In this case, the user must start the shortcut manually after each system restart.

Option B. Starting agents or VDog MasterService as applications via the command line

  1. Run one of the following commands, based on the agent you need to start:

    "C:\Program Files (x86)\vdogAgents\VDogCompareAgent.exe" /at:s /rd:D:\vdAgentArchive /app

    "C:\Program Files (x86)\vdogAgents\VDogUploadAgent.exe" /at:s /rd:D:\vdAgentArchive /app

  2. To automate startup, create a batch file that contains the required command and move the file to the startup folder. Each batch file should contain only one command.

  3. To start the agent manually, right-click the batch file and select Run as administrator.