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ServiceWatcher for Windows

2010-08-14T02:56:54Z

Configuration:

New page

=== About ===

The Starksoft Service Watcher is a Windows Service that is designed to monitor any other Windows Services and attempt to restart those monitored services in the event a service stops for whatever reason.

The Service Watcher also will inform one or more administrators through an SMTP email address that the monitored service is experiencing problems. In addition, Service Watcher will also log any events to the local system Event Log as well as a text file log located in the same directory as he windows service application. These events are logged under the Application events section.

=== Configuration ===

After installing the Starksoft Service Watcher on your machine you must complete the following steps to active the Service Watcher.

(1) Edit the config.xml.txt file and specify the following information. If you would like to monitor more than one process simple separate each service name by a comma. The service will report any errors to a log file called log.txt, the Windows Event Viewer, and optional send a SMTP email to one or more email addresses.

<config>
<setting name="ServiceName" value="MSSQLSERV" />
<setting name="SmtpIpAddress" value="10.25.33.29" />
<setting name="PollingSleepTimeSeconds" value="60" />
<setting name="MaxRestartAttemptsBeforeAlertingAdmin" value="3" />
<setting name="SystemAdminEmailAddress" value="my-email@domain.com" />
<setting name="EmailFromAddress" value="do-not-reply@domain.com" />
</config>

ServiceName - the names of the services to monitor (for multiple names separate with a comma)
SmtpIpAddress - the SMTP address of a mail relay server (optional)
PollingSleepTimeSeconds - seconds between each monitor cycle
MaxRestartAttemptsBeforeAlertingAdmin – number of restart attempts before an email is sent to administrators
SystemAdminEmailAddress - admin email addresses (for multiple names separate with a comma)
EmailFromAddress - return email address

(2) Start the Starksoft Service Watcher service from the Starksoft Service Watcher from your Windows Administration Tools -> Services panel. The service watcher can run under the local system account.

== FAQ ==

=== Windows already has the ability to watch services and attempt to restart them. Why would I want this application? ===
Because Windows does not send you email in the event of a restart and each service must be configured to be monitored for recovery. You can configure the recovery to launch a command line application to do other functions such as send email or log events to a file. But, if you want greater assurances out the box without having to configure each service recovery independently then this application is for you.

=== Can ServiceWatcher send more one email to alert multiple administrators in the event of a service restart or failure? ===
Yes. You can list one or more email addresses in the SystemAdminEmailAddress attribute in the ServiceWatcher configuration files.

=== Can ServiceWatcher send alert emails for specific services to a specific email address? ===
No. All email addresses listed in the SystemAdminEmailAddress attribute in the ServiceWatcher configuration files will receive an email in the event any of the watched services has an issue to report.

=== Can ServiceWatcher monitor more than one service at the same time? ===
Yes, the ServiceWatcher can monitor multiple services on the same machine. Simply separate the names of the services you would like to monitor with a comma. Each monitored service will have a dedicated thread that monitors that particular service. In the event there is a non-recoverable error for a particular service, the other threads will not be affected.

=== I do not want the ServiceWatcher to send email to me. Is there a way to turn off the email feature? ===
Yes, simple put an empty string value for the SmtpIpAddress attribute in the ServiceWatcher.

=== Does the ServiceWatcher send alerts to the Windows Event Manager? ===
Yes, all alerts are sent to the Windows Event Manager and a text log named log.txt located in the ServiceWatcher directory.

=== What happens if the ServiceWatcher fails to restart a monitored service? ===
The ServiceWatcher will never give up attempting to restart a monitored service. After a specified number of retry attempts, the ServiceWatcher will notify an administrator via email (and log it to the Event Log and log file) that the monitored service is not responding. The number of retry attempted before notifying an administrator can be changed in the ServiceWatcher configuration file. The default number of retries is 3. Change the attribute MaxRestartAttemptsBeforeAlertingAdmin to affect this behavior.

=== If a monitored service fails and is restarted will I be notified? ===
If you set up the SMTP server and email addresses in the ServiceWatcher configuration file you will be notified if a service has been restarted via email. The alert will also be logged in the Windows Event Log and the ServiceWatcher log.txt file.

=== How often does the ServiceWatcher check to make sure all monitored services are up and running? ===
By default the ServiceWatcher checks ever 60 seconds to see if all monitored services are running. You can change the number of seconds between checks by editing the PollingSleepTimeSeconds value in the ServiceWatcher configuration file.

=== Is the ServiceWatcher software supported? ===
Please send any support questions to support@starksoft.com. Since this is a free application and the author has a day job please be patient. He will attempt to try to answer all your questions as quickly as possible but there may be questions concerning your system and architecture that are beyond the author’s ability to answer.

=== I would really like an additional feature to the ServiceWatcher application. Can I ask for new features? ===
Certainly. Please send any feature requests to support@starksoft.com. I can’t guarantee your request will be added but I will gladly consider any ideas or needs you might have.

Starksoft Proxy Component

2010-08-14T02:35:56Z

About:

New page

==About==

The Starksoft Proxy library component is a 100% managed implementation of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOCKS SOCKS] protocol using no third party code or dependencies other than the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_framework .NET Framework]. The library was written completely in C# 2.0 and tested in .NET and Mono. The library implements the SOCKS protocol as defined by RFC 3089, RFC 1961, RFC 1928, and RFC 1929 specifications. The library is easy to use and integrate into existing code bases. The proxy client includes a factory class which negotiates the proxy connection and returns a standard [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.net.sockets.tcpclient%28VS.71%29.aspx TcpClient] object. The proxy factory and lower level proxy client objects create a new TcpClient object or a valid TcpClient object can be passed by the consumer. The library does not support [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSSAPI GSSAPI] username and password authentication but standard SOCKS 5 username and password is supported. HTTP proxy username and password credentials are also supported with a [http://code.google.com/p/starksoft-component-libraries/issues/detail?id=22 software patch] with full support in the next version release.

Starksoft FTP/FTPS Component

2010-03-27T23:06:48Z

Secure Data Transfers:

←Older revision		Revision as of 23:06, 27 March 2010
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	==About==		==About==

-	The Starksoft FTP/FTPS component is a ~~pure .NET C#~~ implementation of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Transfer_Protocol FTP protocol] as defined by ~~the~~ RFC 959 ~~and~~ RFC 1579 specifications. The library is rich in features boasting a modular design for high extensibility. In addition the library supports extended features such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_eXchange_Protocol File Exchange Protocol (FXP)], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTPS SSL/TLS protocol] to secure your data transfers, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zlib zlib] data compression for faster data transfers, non-standard extensions [[XCRC]], XSHA1, and XMD5 for upload and download validation, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOCKS SOCKS] proxy and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_tunnel HTTP tunnel] support, passive connections, as well as custom features such as directory lists in ADO.NET DataSet format and custom file system parsing should you need to implement your own directory format parser.	+	The Starksoft FTP/FTPS library component is a 100% managed implementation of the client [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Transfer_Protocol FTP protocol] using no third party code or dependencies other than the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_framework .NET Framework]. The library was written completely in C# 2.0. The library implements the FTP protocol as defined by RFC 959, RFC 1579, RFC 2389, RFC 4217, and RFC 3659 specifications. The library is rich in features boasting a modular design for high extensibility and customization. In addition the library supports several extended features such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_eXchange_Protocol File Exchange Protocol (FXP)] to transfer data server to server, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTPS SSL/TLS protocol] to secure your data transfers, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zlib zlib] data compression for faster data transfers, non-standard extensions [[XCRC]], [[XSHA1]], and [[XMD5]] for upload and download validation, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOCKS SOCKS] proxy and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_tunnel HTTP tunnel] support, passive connections, as well as custom features such as directory lists in ADO.NET DataSet format and custom file system parsing should you need to implement your own directory format parser.

-	==~~FAQ~~==	+	===Free Open-Source Software===

		+	The Starksoft FTP/FTPS class library source code is licensed under the very permissive [http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php MIT open-source license]. This license was chosen for maximum compatibility with the [http://www.mono-project.com/FAQ:_Licensing Mono class library license]. The MIT open-source license does not have the same viral restrictions as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gpl GPL] license. In addition, the LGPL license was not chosen due to ambiguity concerning derivative works. Finally, the MIT license was also chosen for maximum adoption of the Starksoft FTP/FTPS library for both non-commercial and commercial uses.

-	==~~Examples~~==	+	===Secure Data Transfers===
		+
		+	Data security is a high priority requirement for many enterprise class applications. You can secure FTP sessions using the same technology and protocol as used to secure web application sessions. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security Secure Socket Layer] (SSL 2.0 and SSL 3.0) and the newer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security Transport Layer Security] (TLS 1.0) provides a secure tunnel for web applications and is defacto standard for securing web application data transmitted between the web client and the web server. The same protocol can be used to secure FTP commands and FTP data transfers and defined by RFC 2228. SSL and TLS provide data security using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rsa RSA] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Signature_Algorithm DSA] public/private key exchanges which authenticate the FTP server as well encrypts FTP commands and data.
		+
		+	The Starksoft FTP/FTPS library provides support for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTPS#Explicit explicit FTPS] and implicit FTPS by implementing Secure Socket Layer protocol (SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0) and the newer Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.0) protocol in compliance to the RFC 2228 specification. Explicit FTPS means that the client must 'explicitly' send an FTP command instructing the FTP server to begin encrypt all data using either SSL or TLS security protocol. One of the additional advantages of explicit FTPS is that the encrypted connection can use the standard FTP port 21.
		+
		+	In addition, the Starksoft FTP/FTPS library always issues the '''AUTH''' command immediately upon connecting to the FTP server when explicit FTPS is specified. This is done in accordance with RFC 2228 to secure the FTP command connection. Issuing the explicit '''AUTH''' command invokes SSL/TLS security and insures no unsecured commands or data are ever transmitted to the FTP server. In addition, most modern FTPS server implementations require '''AUTH''' command to be the first command issued when SSL/TLS is enabled.
		+
		+	The older and now depreciated [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTPS#Implicit implicit FTPS] is still supported by the Starksoft FTP/FTPS library. Implicit FTPS is not defined by an RFC specification and predates RFC 2228. As the name suggests, implicit FTPS requires the FTP client to 'implicitly' assume the FTP connection is always encrypted using SSL or TLS. Since the client does not send an 'explicit' AUTH command to the FTP server to secure the connection, the server must listen on a port other than port 21 to receive implicit FTPS connections. In practice, this port is generally the well known port 990.
		+
		+	The Starksoft FTP/FTPS library can secure your connection to your FTP server whether you are connecting to an explicit of implicit FTPS server using SSL or TLS. See the properties FtpClient.SecurityProtocol and FtpClient.SecurityCertificates and the event ValidateServerCertificate for more information.
		+
		+	===Modular Design===
		+
		+	The Starksoft FTP/FTPS library allows any developer to easily add [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ftp FTP] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ftps FTPS] functionality to any .NET 2.0 or higher application by simply referencing the library dll or compiling the source code into the project. The developer can also add FTP/FTPS functionality to any mono application on other supported platforms such as Linux or OS/X without recompiling the Starksoft FTP/FTPS library. The library is flexible and supports both client applications and back-end application architectures such as a web server application. The library is tuned for maximum transfer speeds with support for the most common extension and feature set as specified by prevailing RFC specifications.
		+
		+	The developer also has the option to extend the functionality of the Starksoft FTP/FTPS library when needed. If a custom directory parser is needed to parse unique directory listings, the developer only needs to implement the IFtpItemParser interface and then set the ItemParser property on the FtpClient object. Additional extensibility can be accomplished by using the Quote() method to send custom commands to the FTP server. Finally, the fully commented source code is provided allowing the developer to customize the implementation for his or her specific needs.
		+
		+	===Event Pattern Asynchronous Method Calls===
		+
		+	The Starksoft FTP/FTPS library provides extensive support for asynchronous method calls using the [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/e7a34yad.aspx Event-based Asynchronous Pattern]. The asynchronous event based pattern allows the developer to write asynchronous code just like any other .NET event. This pattern replaces the cumbersome [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms228963.aspx Begin/End Asynchronous] pattern.
		+
		+	===Transfer Files Using Streams===
		+
		+	All data transfer methods in the Starksoft FTP/FTPS library accept.NET System.IO.Stream parameters. This allows the consumer to provide any stream object that inherits from the [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.stream%28VS.80%29.aspx System.IO.Stream] abstract base class. Stream object parameters allow the consumer to pass any stream objects such as the .NET [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.memorystream%28VS.80%29.aspx MemoryStream] object for uploading and downloading data files. This implementation is very convenient on systems such as web servers where the processing thread may not have permissions to read or write to the local file system or a stream abstraction is a more elegant implementation approach.
		+
		+	===Proxy Support===
		+
		+	The Starksoft FTP/FTPS library also includes support for connecting through [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOCKS SOCKS] proxy servers as well as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Http_tunnel HTTP Tunnel] servers (sometimes called HTTP proxy servers). Proxy support is provided by the simple to use Starksoft Proxy Component library for creating SOCKS 4, SOCKS 5, SOCKS 5a, and HTTP proxy connections over TCP/IP. In addition, the Starksoft Proxy Component library is a stand-alone component that can be used to proxify other .NET applications where the [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.net.sockets.tcpclient%28VS.80%29.aspx System.Net.TcpClient] class is utilized for establishing and maintaining TCP communications between the client application and remote servers. Please see the Starksoft Proxy Component documentation for more information.

XSHA1

2010-02-01T00:57:16Z

←Older revision		Revision as of 00:57, 1 February 2010
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-	XSHA1 File Integrity Checking	+	'''XSHA1 File Integrity Checking'''

	When transmitting data files using FTP it is important to know if the file transferred correctly. To facility to automation of file integrity checking the non-standard XSHA1 FTP command is supported by many FTP servers. After the FTP client performs a file transfer the client can request the server to calculate a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sha1 SHA1] hash valid on the data file to verify the file transferred without error.		When transmitting data files using FTP it is important to know if the file transferred correctly. To facility to automation of file integrity checking the non-standard XSHA1 FTP command is supported by many FTP servers. After the FTP client performs a file transfer the client can request the server to calculate a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sha1 SHA1] hash valid on the data file to verify the file transferred without error.

XMD5

2010-02-01T00:56:25Z

New page

'''XMD5 File Integrity Checking'''

When transmitting data files using FTP it is important to know if the file transferred correctly. To facility to automation of file integrity checking the non-standard XMD5 FTP command is supported by many FTP servers. After the FTP client performs a file transfer the client can request the server to calculate a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Md5 MD5] hash valid on the data file to verify the file transferred without error.

The command implementation syntax is defined below.

XMD5 <File Name>

XMD5 <File Name>, <EP>

XMD5 <File Name>, <SP>, <EP>

SP = Byte starting point EP = Byte ending points.

== See also ==
* [[XCRC]]
* [[XSHA1]]

XSHA1

2010-02-01T00:44:19Z

New page

XSHA1 File Integrity Checking

When transmitting data files using FTP it is important to know if the file transferred correctly. To facility to automation of file integrity checking the non-standard XSHA1 FTP command is supported by many FTP servers. After the FTP client performs a file transfer the client can request the server to calculate a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sha1 SHA1] hash valid on the data file to verify the file transferred without error.

The command implementation syntax is defined below.

XSHA1 <File Name>

XSHA1 <File Name>, <EP>

XSHA1 <File Name>, <SP>, <EP>

SP = Byte starting point EP = Byte ending points.

== See also ==
* [[XCRC]]
* [[XMD5]]

XCRC

2010-02-01T00:23:10Z

New page

'''XCRC File Integrity Checking'''

When transmitting data files using FTP it is important to know if the file transferred correctly. To facility to automation of file integrity checking the non-standard XCRC FTP command is supported by many FTP servers. After the FTP client performs a file transfer the client can request the server to calculate a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_redundancy_check CRC] hash valid on the data file to verify the file transferred without error.

The command implementation syntax is defined below.

XCRC <File Name>

XCRC <File Name>, <EP>

XCRC <File Name>, <SP>, <EP>

SP = Byte starting point
EP = Byte ending points.

== See also ==
* [[XSHA1]]
* [[XMD5]]

Starksoft FTP/FTPS Component

2010-02-01T00:07:03Z

About:

←Older revision		Revision as of 00:07, 1 February 2010
Line 1:		Line 1:
	==About==		==About==

-	The Starksoft FTP/FTPS component is a pure .NET C# implementation of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Transfer_Protocol FTP protocol] as defined by the RFC 959 and RFC 1579 specifications. The library is rich in features boasting a modular design for high extensibility. In addition the library supports extended features such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_eXchange_Protocol File Exchange Protocol (FXP)], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTPS SSL/TLS protocol] to secure your data transfers, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zlib zlib] data compression for faster data transfers, non-standard extensions XCRC, XSHA1, and XMD5 for upload and download validation, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOCKS SOCKS] proxy and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_tunnel HTTP tunnel] support, passive connections, as well as custom features such as directory lists in ADO.NET DataSet format and custom file system parsing should you need to implement your own directory format parser.	+	The Starksoft FTP/FTPS component is a pure .NET C# implementation of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Transfer_Protocol FTP protocol] as defined by the RFC 959 and RFC 1579 specifications. The library is rich in features boasting a modular design for high extensibility. In addition the library supports extended features such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_eXchange_Protocol File Exchange Protocol (FXP)], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTPS SSL/TLS protocol] to secure your data transfers, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zlib zlib] data compression for faster data transfers, non-standard extensions [[XCRC]], XSHA1, and XMD5 for upload and download validation, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOCKS SOCKS] proxy and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_tunnel HTTP tunnel] support, passive connections, as well as custom features such as directory lists in ADO.NET DataSet format and custom file system parsing should you need to implement your own directory format parser.

	==FAQ==		==FAQ==

Main Page

2010-02-01T00:06:02Z

Software:

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	==Software==		==Software==
-	[[Starksoft FTP/S Component]]	+	[[Starksoft FTP/FTPS Component]]

	[[Starksoft Proxy Component]]		[[Starksoft Proxy Component]]

Starksoft FTP/S Component

2010-02-01T00:04:45Z

[[Starksoft FTP/S Component]] moved to [[Starksoft FTP/FTPS Component]]

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Starksoft FTP/S Component

2010-01-31T23:21:02Z

About:

←Older revision		Revision as of 23:21, 31 January 2010
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	==About==		==About==

-	The Starksoft FTP/FTPS component is a pure .NET C# implementation of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Transfer_Protocol FTP protocol] as defined by the RFC 959 ~~specification~~. The library is rich in features boasting a ~~motdular~~ design for ~~improved~~ extensibility. In addition the library supports extended features such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_eXchange_Protocol File Exchange Protocol (FXP)], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTPS SSL/TLS protocol] to secure your data transfers, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zlib zlib] data compression for faster data transfers, non-standard extensions XCRC, XSHA1, and XMD5 for upload and download validation, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOCKS SOCKS] proxy and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_tunnel HTTP tunnel] support,	+	The Starksoft FTP/FTPS component is a pure .NET C# implementation of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Transfer_Protocol FTP protocol] as defined by the RFC 959 and RFC 1579 specifications. The library is rich in features boasting a modular design for high extensibility. In addition the library supports extended features such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_eXchange_Protocol File Exchange Protocol (FXP)], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTPS SSL/TLS protocol] to secure your data transfers, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zlib zlib] data compression for faster data transfers, non-standard extensions XCRC, XSHA1, and XMD5 for upload and download validation, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOCKS SOCKS] proxy and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_tunnel HTTP tunnel] support, passive connections, as well as custom features such as directory lists in ADO.NET DataSet format and custom file system parsing should you need to implement your own directory format parser.

	==FAQ==		==FAQ==