Introduction
Control a service on a managed device during an automation run. Use this action to start, stop, or restart services, and optionally change how the service starts up — all in a single step.
Manage Service Action
From the automation pipeline in edit mode, click + and select Manage service from the System category.
The action panel opens with service configuration fields.
Service name
The name of the service to manage. Required.
Enter the service's short name (not its display name). Example: nginx, wuauserv, spooler.
Click (x) to insert a variable, system variable, or custom field reference. The value resolves at runtime before the action executes.
💡 TIP: To find the exact service name, navigate to Manage → Services in the device details for a target device. The services list shows the "Service Name" column which is what this action expects.
Startup type
Whether to change the service's startup configuration.
Option | Behavior |
No change | Leave the startup type as-is |
Enabled | Set the service to start automatically |
Disabled | Prevent the service from starting |
Service state
The action to take on the service.
Option | Behavior |
Start | Start the service if it isn't running |
Stop | Stop the service if it's running |
Restart | Stop then start the service |
💡 TIP: To disable a service and ensure it's stopped, set Startup type to Disabled and Service state to Stop. Both changes apply in the same action.
Conditions
The Conditions section lets you restrict when this action runs based on device attributes or the outcome of a previous action.
See Action Conditions for the full reference on condition types, operators, and values.
Additional Options
Expand Additional options for action name, failure behavior, output variable assignment, retries, and the enabled toggle.
See Actions Overview for the full reference on additional options available on every action.
FAQ
What if the service doesn't exist on the device? The action will fail. Use an Action Condition to scope this action to devices where the service is expected, or use Suppress and continue in Additional options if failure is acceptable.
What's the difference between Startup type and Service state? Startup type controls how the service behaves at boot — it persists across reboots. Service state is an immediate action taken on the running service right now. They're independent and can be configured together or separately in a single action.
Who can add or modify Manage Service actions? Technicians with permission to edit automations in the relevant group. See Workspace → Permissions for access control configuration.