wpmdctl

A PowerShell utility for managing a Windows Scheduled Task that launches and controls a wpm daemon/service.

Description

If you are not familiar with wpm by LGUG2Z, check that out first. It is a simple user process management for Windows.

Think of it as an incredibly minimal alternative to systemd in Windows. Are you annoyed by having simple scripts/portable appliations being started by one of 9,000,000 possible arbitrary places in Windows? These are perfect for WPM to handle.

Windows Task Scheduler starts wpmd, wpmd starts everything else.

It's magic.

This tool makes it a tiny bit more magical.

Video

Features

• Loads all configuration from a single JSON file (wpmdctl.json)
• Supports environment variable expansion in config values
• Robust error handling and clear CLI usage
• Requires PowerShell 7.2+

Quick Start

1. Copy wpmdctl.ps1 into your $env:Path somewhere!

2. Copy the configuration file:

   Place your wpmdctl.json file in the configuration directory. By default, the script will look for the config file at:

   $env:WPMDCTL_CONFIG_HOME\wpmdctl.json
   

   If the environment variable WPMDCTL_CONFIG_HOME is not set, it will default to:

   $env:USERPROFILE\.config\wpmdctl\wpmdctl.json
   

3. Edit your configuration:

   See wpmdctl.example.json for a template. Example:

   {
     "wpm_instances": [
       {
         "TaskName": "wpmd",
         "TaskPath": "\\",
         "Command": "C:\\Windows\\System32\\conhost.exe",
         "Arguments": "--headless $env:USERPROFILE\\.cargo\\bin\\wpmd.exe $env:USERPROFILE\\.config\\wpm\\",
         "WorkingDir": "$env:USERPROFILE\\.config\\wpm\\",
         "StartAsAdmin": false
       }
     ]
   }

   Note: Only one instance is currently supported. If more than one is defined, the script will abort.

4. Run the script:

Usage: wpmdctl [-ConfigHome <PathToConfig>] [-TaskName <TaskName>] <Action> [SubCommand]

Config Parameters:
    -ConfigHome         - Path to directory containing wpmdctl.json (Alterntively set environment variable WPMDCTL_CONFIG_HOME)
    -TaskName           - Name of Task to Manage (Alternatively set environment varible WPMDCTL_TASK_NAME)
                        - TaskName MUST be specified if more than one wpmd instance is defined in wpmdctl.json
Available Actions:
    create              - Creates the scheduled task 'wpmd'
    destroy             - Removes the scheduled task 'wpmd'
    state               - Shows the registration and current status of the task 'wpmd' (including the raw output of 'wpmctl state' if the task is running)

    start               - Starts the scheduled task 'wpmd' (same as 'start task')
    start task          - Starts the scheduled task 'wpmd'
    start watch         - Starts the scheduled task 'wpmd' and waits for it to become ready by streaming 'wpmctl log'

    start services-all  - Starts all non-Oneshot wpm services that are not running
    start services-auto - Starts wpm services configured for auto-start
    start all           - Starts the scheduled task 'wpmd' and then all non-Oneshot wpm services

    stop                - Stops the scheduled task 'wpmd' (same as 'stop task')
    stop task           - Stops the scheduled task 'wpmd'

    stop services       - Stops all running wpm services
    stop all            - Stops all running wpm services and then the scheduled task 'wpmd'

Requirements

• PowerShell 7.2 or later
• wpmctl must be installed and available in your PATH

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

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Note: This project is under active development. Multi-instance support is not yet available.