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Windows Service Deployment

Deploy HoneyBee Node as a Windows service.

Prerequisites

  • Windows 7 or later
  • Administrator privileges
  • HoneyBee Node binary (honeybee-node.exe)

Installation Methods

Method 1: NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager)

NSSM is the recommended way to install HoneyBee Node as a Windows service.

Install NSSM

  1. Download NSSM from https://nssm.cc/download
  2. Extract to a directory (e.g., C:\nssm)
  3. Add to PATH or use full path

Install Service

# Install service
nssm install HoneyBeeNode "C:\Program Files\HoneyBee\honeybee-node.exe"

# Set parameters
nssm set HoneyBeeNode AppParameters "-config C:\Program Files\HoneyBee\config.yaml"

# Set working directory
nssm set HoneyBeeNode AppDirectory "C:\Program Files\HoneyBee"

# Set description
nssm set HoneyBeeNode Description "HoneyBee Node - Distributed honeypot node"

# Set startup type
nssm set HoneyBeeNode Start SERVICE_AUTO_START

# Set log output
nssm set HoneyBeeNode AppStdout "C:\Program Files\HoneyBee\logs\stdout.log"
nssm set HoneyBeeNode AppStderr "C:\Program Files\HoneyBee\logs\stderr.log"

Start Service

# Start service
nssm start HoneyBeeNode

# Check status
nssm status HoneyBeeNode

Method 2: Windows Service Wrapper

Create a service wrapper using Go or another language (advanced).

Service Management

Start Service

# Using NSSM
nssm start HoneyBeeNode

# Using Windows Service Manager
Start-Service HoneyBeeNode

# Or using sc
sc start HoneyBeeNode

Stop Service

# Using NSSM
nssm stop HoneyBeeNode

# Using Windows Service Manager
Stop-Service HoneyBeeNode

# Or using sc
sc stop HoneyBeeNode

Restart Service

# Using NSSM
nssm restart HoneyBeeNode

# Using Windows Service Manager
Restart-Service HoneyBeeNode

Check Status

# Using NSSM
nssm status HoneyBeeNode

# Using Windows Service Manager
Get-Service HoneyBeeNode

# Or using sc
sc query HoneyBeeNode

Configuration

Place configuration file at:

C:\Program Files\HoneyBee\config.yaml

Ensure the service has read permissions.

Logs

Logs are written to:

C:\Program Files\HoneyBee\logs\

Configure log rotation using Windows Task Scheduler or log management tools.

Troubleshooting

Service Won’t Start

  1. Check Event Viewer for errors
  2. Verify binary path is correct
  3. Check configuration file exists and is valid
  4. Verify user permissions

Service Stops Unexpectedly

  1. Check logs in logs\ directory
  2. Review Event Viewer
  3. Verify Core manager is accessible
  4. Check network connectivity

View Logs

# View stdout
Get-Content "C:\Program Files\HoneyBee\logs\stdout.log" -Tail 50

# View stderr
Get-Content "C:\Program Files\HoneyBee\logs\stderr.log" -Tail 50

Uninstall Service

# Stop service first
nssm stop HoneyBeeNode

# Remove service
nssm remove HoneyBeeNode confirm

Next Steps