CICB Run as Service

Instructions for v2.3.0.0 and Above

This document provides instructions for configuring the Cyber Intel Classification Banner (CICB) Server to run as a Windows Service in the background.

Native Service Support

As of version 2.3.2.3+, the CICB Server supports running as a native Windows Service. This means you can register it directly with the Windows Service Control Manager (WSCM) without needing third-party wrappers like NSSM.

Configuration Steps

1. Register the Service

  1. Open a Command Prompt or PowerShell as Administrator.
  2. Run the following command to create the service:
    sc.exe create CICB-Server binPath= "C:\Program Files (x86)\CICBv2\Server.exe -service" start= auto DisplayName= "CICB Server"
  3. Important Notes:
    • binPath: Must include the full path to the executable AND the -service flag.
    • Spaces: Ensure there is a space after each equals sign, e.g. binPath= "...", NOT binPath="...", space between = and ” matters here.
    • Quotes: If the path contains spaces (like “Program Files”), wrap the entire path and argument string in quotes as shown above.

2. Verify and Start the Service

  1. Start the service:sc start CICB-Server
  2. Verify the status:sc query CICB-Server You should see STATE : 4 RUNNING.

3. Firewall Configuration

Ensure the Windows Firewall allows traffic on the configured Server Port (Default: 56789).

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "CICB - Server" -Direction Inbound -LocalPort 56789 -Protocol TCP -Action Allow

Data Location

The Server service runs as the Local System account by default. It stores its data in the Machine-Wide Shared Data (MWSD) location:

  • PathC:\ProgramData\ClassificationBanner\
  • Filesserver.dbserver.cfgwfo.jsonsecurity.bin
  • LicensesC:\ProgramData\ClassificationBanner\license\

This ensures that the service shares the same configuration and licenses as the interactive GUI application.

Troubleshooting

Service Fails to Start

  • Check the Windows Event Viewer (Application Log) for any error messages.
  • Ensure that binPath correctly includes the -service flag. If you omit this flag, the service will timeout and fail to start because it won’t register with the WSCM.

Logging

  • The service logs to the standard application log file location (usually C:\ProgramData\ClassificationBanner\Logs or similar, depending on Logger configuration).

Instructions for v2.1.2.3 and Below

Pre-Steps

  1. Download our ServiceInstaller.zip and unzip all files to C:\CICB-ServiceInstaller\*.*.
  2. Open a PowerShell console with administrative privileges.
  3. Run the following commands one by one.
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
cd C:\CICB-ServiceInstaller\
.\ServiceInstallerGUI.ps1

If you succeed, you should see a notification.

Post-Steps

When configuring settings on the CICB-Server running as a service, follow these steps:

CICB-Server Settings in Service Mode

  1. One issue you may encounter is that the banner may not reflect all your CICB-Server settings, such as colors, text, and more.
  2. This is caused by the Windows app protection mechanism, which puts applications in two different modes that do not share the same installation path. (aka. settings, licenses, etc.)
  3. To solve this issue, simply run CICB-Server.exe with administrative privileges.