[spambayes-bugs] Unable to start service on NT4 (sp6a)

[Kenny Pitt]

Bradley Richards wrote:
> This may be a Python problem rather than a SpamBayes bug - but I'm
> just a naive sys-admin looking for a spam solution...
> 
> I've installed Python 2.3.2, win32all-163 and spambayes 1.0a7 on our
> gateway machine, which is running NT4 sp6a. All users read e-mail
> through this machine, which makes it the logical place to hook in a
> spam filter. 
> 
> When I try to start the POP3 proxy service, I receive the error
> message 
> 
>   The procedure entry point RegisterServiceCtrlHandlerExW
>   could not be located in the dynamic link library ADVAPI32.dll
> 
> The precise NT version info: 4.00.1381
> The ADVAPE32.dll version is 4.00, dated 18 Nov 99

The Platform SDK docs for RegisterServiceCtrlHandlerEx say:

"""
Requirements
    Client: Included in Windows XP, Windows 2000 Professional.
    Server: Included in Windows .NET Server 2003, Windows 2000 Server.
"""

so not supported on NT4.  This call is made in win32all, which provides
the service framework.  Unfortunately, it appears that win32all
currently requires the additional functionality of the newer function.
There may be a way to add support for NT4 in win32all, but it would be
up to Mark (who develops win32all) to determine if it is worth the
effort.

In the meantime, you could possibly run the sb_server.py script
directly, but it would require leaving the gateway machine logged into a
user account that is running the script.  I believe there are also
utilities (maybe in the NT Resource Kit?) that allow you to register a
command-line program as a service.

You might also want to look at FAQ #6.2
(http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/faq.html#are-there-plans-to-develop-a-
server-side-spambayes-solution) before deciding to use SpamBayes on a
gateway.

-- 
Kenny Pitt