Just to let people know, that this can be done. I have read a number of posts stating it cannot.
The problem:Normally, logging into Windows to play media in JRiver is the way most of us do it but sometimes, JRiver is installed on a remote machine and merely streams content to other devices. For example, some media streamers running in my house, get their music from a Virtual Machine running JRiver Media Center. The problem I had was that for Media Center to run required a user to login to run JRiver. Because Windows Updates occur automatically and reboot the VM, streaming hardly ever worked since no-one was logged in. The solution to this would normally be to run the application as a Windows Service, allowing the program to run under its own credentials and not requiring any user to log in. However, such programs need to be designed to run as a Service because need to interact with the Windows Service Controller. Alas JRiver is not designed as such a program and will therefore not run as a Service directly.
However, the solution is straight forward, what is required is some software that can sit between JRiver and the Windows Service Controller to act as a Service wrapper. Today, I managed to successfully do this so JRiver Media Center will automatically restart following a system reboot and no longer requires any user log in (except to change configuration setting for JRiver itself etc).
What I Did:Step 1: I downloaded "AlwaysUp" from Core Technologies.com and installed it (
www.coretechnologies.com), there is a 30 day trial and also other people who produce "Service Wrapper" type software.
Step 2: Change JRiver to
not auto start when a user logs in (since it will be already running as a Service by the time we have finished).
Step 3: Configure "AlwaysUp" to run JRiver (this is pretty straightforward via the their GUI). Key things here are to use the Username and Password of the windows account that is normally used to run JRiver so it picks up the correct library (Services default to use a System Account instead) and let it run as with admin rights, so it can assign itself rights to run as a service.
Step 4: if JRiver Media Center is running, close. The start the Media Center service in "Always Up". Hopefully, you should see the music libraries now appear on the network. If this happens, you can log off (Yes since it is now a Service) and if you want to test, then reboot and check the libraries appear without needing to log in.
Remember, if you need to open JRiver Media Center to make some settings changes, you will need to stop the service first. Then run JRiver, when complete exit it and restart the Service. You may also wish to manually perform JRiver updates rather than automatically, since a pending update will stop the service from starting.