Running Selenium Server standalone 2 as a service in windows XP

Or if you want it start at startup, you can do this:

1. Create file 01_start_hub.bat which will contain this command:

   java -jar selenium-server-standalone-2.20.0.jar -role hub

2. Create file 02_start_node.bat which will contain this command:

   java -jar selenium-server-standalone-2.20.0.jar -role node  -hub http://localhost:4444/grid/register

3. Place both bat files into Startup folder C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Yes you will have two "ugly" dos prompts after startup, but this is quickwin solutin

http://brantleytec.blogspot.com/2012/11/selenium-hub-and-node-as-windows-service.html

That link describes the process I used to set up and use Selenium hub and node as a service using native Microsoft programs. I was able to get this running locally on my work PC as well as on a remote server which runs my tests after every build.

If this is for your local PC though, I might suggest using the ChromeDriver instead of the RemoteWebDriver. It's less setup and allows new hires to start using your tests without any extra setup.

I've had a lot of luck with the Non-Sucking Service Manager. It's a standalone executable that creates and a windows service and works much better than any alternatives I've ever used (I'm thinking about srvany.exe). The usage instructions are pretty straightforward.

Here's how I used it:

1. Download and extract nssm.exe
2. I wanted to run a single instance that acted as both the hub and a node, so I didn't specify a role. I also just wanted the default settings, so I didn't pass in any parameters. Here's what I did from the command line: nssm install Selenium-Server "C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\java.exe" "-jar C:\Selenium\selenium-server-standalone-2.21.0.jar"

If you want to run as just a hub or a node, then add in the -role hub or -role node to the last parameter in step #2, e.g. "-jar C:\Selenium\selenium-server-standalone-2.21.0.jar -role hub". You can specify any other parameters for Selenium here as well.

If you need to adjust the parameters later, you can do this through Regedit under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\\Parameters. Specifically, the AppParameters Key contains the parameters you pass to Selenium.