Windows Service Diagnostics

The AmbirScan Web Connect Windows Service is the middleware that bridges browser requests to the Desktop App. It runs as a standard Windows Service, listening for HTTPS requests on localhost:53052 and forwarding commands to the Desktop App via a named pipe.

This guide covers how to diagnose issues with the service itself — connectivity, certificates, logging, and common failure modes.

Service Management

Checking Service Status

Open a Command Prompt (as Administrator) or use the Services console:

Command Prompt:

sc query "ASWCN Scanner Bridge Service"

Expected output includes STATE: 4 (RUNNING).

Services Console:

Press Win+R, type services.msc, press Enter
Find "AmbirScan Web Connect Service"
Check the Status column — should show Running

Starting and Stopping

REM Start the service
net start "ASWCN Scanner Bridge Service"

REM Stop the service
net stop "ASWCN Scanner Bridge Service"

REM Restart (stop then start)
net stop "ASWCN Scanner Bridge Service" && net start "ASWCN Scanner Bridge Service"

You can also right-click the service in services.msc and choose Start, Stop, or Restart.

Startup Order

The service and Desktop App can start in either order. On startup, the service waits 2 seconds then begins checking for the Desktop App every 5 seconds. Once the Desktop App starts, the service detects it and establishes the named pipe connection automatically.

Recommended order for manual startup:

Start the Desktop App first (AmbirWebScan.exe)
Start the Windows Service

Diagnostic Endpoints

The service exposes several endpoints useful for diagnosing issues. You can test these from a browser or with curl. Use the -k flag with curl to skip self-signed certificate verification.

Root Endpoint

GET https://localhost:53052/

Returns basic service info. If this responds, the service is running and accepting HTTPS connections.

{
  "service": "ASWCN Scanner Bridge Service",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "status": "running",
  "timestamp": "2026-02-26T14:30:00Z"
}

If this fails: The service is not running, the port is blocked, or the certificate is invalid.

Health Check

GET https://localhost:53052/health

Returns the health status including Desktop App connectivity:

Status	Meaning
Healthy	Service running, Desktop App connected
Degraded	Service running, Desktop App not connected
Unhealthy	Exception occurred during health check

Diagnostic use: Monitoring systems can poll this endpoint to detect when the Desktop App goes down.

Status Endpoint

GET https://localhost:53052/api/twain/status

Returns detailed status of the entire system:

{
  "success": true,
  "serviceOnline": true,
  "desktopAppConnected": true,
  "scannerStatus": {
    "isOnline": true,
    "isPaperLoaded": true,
    "isSourceOpen": false,
    "ocrEnabled": false
  },
  "timestamp": "2026-02-26T14:30:00Z"
}

Key fields to check:

desktopAppConnected — Is the pipe connection established?
scannerStatus.isOnline — Is a scanner detected and powered on?
scannerStatus.isPaperLoaded — Is paper in the feeder?

Scanner List

GET https://localhost:53052/api/twain/scanners

Returns all detected scanners. If this returns an empty list, the scanner may not be connected or its TWAIN driver may not be installed.

Returns HTTP 503 if the Desktop App is not connected.

End-to-End Diagnostic Sequence

Run through these checks in order to isolate where a problem lies:

Step	Test	Pass	Fail
1	Is the service running? (`sc query`)	Continue	Start the service
2	Does `https://localhost:53052/` respond?	Continue	Check certificate, port conflicts
3	Does `/health` return Healthy?	Continue	Desktop App not running — start it
4	Does `/api/twain/scanners` list scanners?	Continue	Scanner not connected or driver missing
5	Does a scan from the web app succeed?	Working	Check browser console for CORS/network errors

Certificate Management

The service requires an HTTPS certificate to accept browser requests. A self-signed certificate is created during installation.

Checking the Certificate

Open the Certificate Manager: press Win+R, type certlm.msc, press Enter (requires admin)
Navigate to Personal > Certificates
Look for a certificate with subject CN=ASWCN Scanner Bridge
Double-click to check the Valid from and Valid to dates

The service logs the certificate thumbprint and expiry date on startup:

Certificate loaded: Thumbprint=ABC123..., Expires=2027-02-26

Certificate Expired or Missing

If the certificate is expired or missing, the service will fail to start.

To reinstall the certificate:

REM Remove old certificate (if present)
ASWCNCertManager.exe remove

REM Install new certificate (requires admin)
ASWCNCertManager.exe install

Then restart the service.

Browser Certificate Warning

When a user first visits https://localhost:53052, the browser may show a certificate warning because the certificate is self-signed. This is expected:

Click Advanced
Click Proceed to localhost (unsafe) or equivalent
The browser remembers this choice for future visits

info

The self-signed certificate is validated at startup. If the certificate will expire within 1 day, the service logs a warning and refuses to use it. Run ASWCNCertManager.exe install to create a fresh certificate.

Named Pipe Connection

The service communicates with the Desktop App through a named pipe called ASWCNScannerBridgePipe.

How It Works

The Desktop App creates and listens on the named pipe
The service connects as a client when it needs to send a command
Messages are length-prefixed JSON (4-byte length header + UTF-8 JSON body)
The connection is reestablished automatically if it drops

Connection Timeouts

Setting	Default	Purpose
`ConnectionTimeoutMs`	5,000 ms	Time to wait when connecting to the pipe
`RequestTimeoutMs`	300,000 ms (5 min)	Maximum time for a scan command to complete

If the Desktop App is not running, pipe connection attempts timeout after 5 seconds.

Background Connectivity Monitor

The service runs a background worker that continuously monitors the Desktop App connection:

When disconnected: Attempts to connect every 5 seconds
When connected: Sends a heartbeat ping every 30 seconds
On detection: Logs connection state changes

This means if the Desktop App crashes, the service detects it within 30 seconds and begins reconnection attempts every 5 seconds.

Log Files

Location

%LOCALAPPDATA%\ASWCN\ScannerBridge\Service\Logs\

Log files are named aswcn-service-YYYY-MM-DD.log and rotate daily. The last 7 days are retained.

Viewing Logs

REM Open log folder in Explorer
explorer %LOCALAPPDATA%\ASWCN\ScannerBridge\Service\Logs

REM View today's log
type %LOCALAPPDATA%\ASWCN\ScannerBridge\Service\Logs\aswcn-service-2026-02-26.log

REM Follow the log in real time (PowerShell)
Get-Content -Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\ASWCN\ScannerBridge\Service\Logs\aswcn-service-2026-02-26.log" -Wait -Tail 50

Log Levels

Level	What It Captures
Verbose	Everything, including framework internals
Debug	Detailed application flow (pipe messages, request details)
Information	Normal operations (startup, requests, connections)
Warning	Potential issues (timeouts, retries, disconnections)
Error	Failed operations (scan errors, pipe failures)
Fatal	Unrecoverable errors (startup failure, certificate missing)

The default log level is Information. For troubleshooting, set it to Debug in appsettings.json to capture more detail.

HTTP Request Logging

Every HTTP request is logged with method, path, status code, and elapsed time:

HTTP GET /api/twain/status responded 200 in 12ms
HTTP POST /api/twain/scan responded 200 in 4523ms
HTTP GET /api/twain/scanners responded 503 in 2ms

A 503 response on scanner endpoints indicates the Desktop App is disconnected.

What to Look For

Log Pattern	Meaning
`"Service starting..."`	Service startup
`"Certificate loaded: Thumbprint=..."`	Certificate found and valid
`"Successfully connected to desktop application"`	Pipe connection established
`"Unable to connect to desktop application"`	Desktop App not reachable (repeats every 5s)
`"Desktop app connection status changed: False"`	Pipe connection lost
`"responded 503"`	Request rejected — Desktop App not connected
`"responded 504"`	Request timed out
`"Command ... timed out"`	Named pipe command exceeded timeout
`"Certificate not found"`	Fatal — service cannot start without certificate

Configuration

The service is configured via appsettings.json in the service installation directory.

Key Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`PipeName`	`ASWCNScannerBridgePipe`	Named pipe name (must match Desktop App)
`Port`	`53052`	HTTPS port
`BindLocalhostOnly`	`true`	Only accept connections from localhost
`ConnectionTimeoutMs`	`5000`	Pipe connection timeout (ms)
`RequestTimeoutMs`	`300000`	Default scan command timeout (ms, 5 min)
`CertificateSubject`	`CN=ASWCN Scanner Bridge`	Certificate subject name to search for
`CertificateThumbprint`	(empty)	Specific certificate thumbprint (overrides subject search)
`CertificateStore`	`LocalMachine`	Certificate store location (`LocalMachine` or `CurrentUser`)

Environment Variable Overrides

Settings can be overridden with environment variables using the ASWCN_ prefix:

REM Example: Change port
set ASWCN_ServiceSettings__Port=54000

REM Example: Increase scan timeout to 10 minutes
set ASWCN_ServiceSettings__RequestTimeoutMs=600000

tip

When troubleshooting timeout issues, increase RequestTimeoutMs temporarily. For persistent changes, edit appsettings.json and restart the service.

HTTP Status Codes

The service returns specific HTTP status codes that help diagnose issues:

Code	Meaning	Action
200	Success	Request completed normally
204	No Content	CORS preflight handled successfully
400	Bad Request	Missing required parameter (e.g., scanner name)
408	Request Timeout	Client disconnected before response was sent
500	Internal Server Error	Unexpected error — check the service logs
503	Service Unavailable	Desktop App not connected — start it
504	Gateway Timeout	Scan took longer than the configured timeout

CORS and Browser Security

CORS Policy

The service allows requests from any origin because it binds to localhost only. This is safe — no remote machine can reach the service.

Chrome Private Network Access

When a public website (e.g., https://yourapp.com) makes a request to localhost:53052, Chrome sends a preflight request with the header Access-Control-Request-Private-Network: true. The service responds with Access-Control-Allow-Private-Network: true to allow the request without triggering a browser security prompt.

If users are seeing Chrome's "Local Network Access" permission dialog, verify:

The service is up to date (this header was added in a recent update)
Try restarting the browser to clear cached preflight results

Security Headers

All responses include:

X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
X-Frame-Options: DENY
X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block

Common Failure Scenarios

Service Won't Start

Check in order:

Certificate missing — Run ASWCNCertManager.exe install (admin required)
Port conflict — Another process is using port 53052. Check with:
```
netstat -ano | findstr :53052
```
If another process is using the port, stop it or change the port in appsettings.json.
Missing runtime files — The service ships with its own .NET 10 runtime in C:\Program Files (x86)\ASWCNextgen\ASWCNService\, so no separate .NET installation is needed. If it reports missing runtime files (for example coreclr.dll), repair or reinstall AmbirScan Web Connect.
Check Windows Event Viewer — Open eventvwr.msc, navigate to Windows Logs > Application, and filter by source "ASWCN"

Desktop App Connected but Scans Fail

Check the service logs for error messages during the scan
Verify the scanner is open in the Desktop App (test with a local scan from the Desktop App UI)
Try increasing RequestTimeoutMs if scans are timing out (504 errors)
Check if the scanner is being used by another application

Intermittent Disconnections

If the service repeatedly loses and regains the pipe connection:

Check if the Desktop App is crashing — look for gaps in the Desktop App logs
Check system resources (memory, CPU) — the Desktop App may be running out of memory during large scans
Check for antivirus or security software interfering with named pipe communication
Review both service and Desktop App logs around the time of disconnection

Scan Requests Return 504 (Timeout)

Default timeout is 5 minutes — this may not be enough for large document batches at high resolution

Increase the timeout:

{
  "ServiceSettings": {
    "RequestTimeoutMs": 600000
  }
}

Check if the Desktop App is stuck — does a local test scan from the Desktop App UI complete?
Check the scanner hardware — paper jams, empty feeder, or offline status can cause hangs

API Returns 503 but Desktop App Is Running

The Desktop App may have started but the named pipe server hasn't initialized yet — wait 10 seconds and retry
The pipe name may be mismatched — verify PipeName in both service and Desktop App appsettings.json files
Restart the Desktop App, then restart the service
Check the Desktop App's activity log for pipe server errors

Collecting Diagnostic Information

When escalating an issue to support, gather the following:

Service logs — Copy all files from:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\ASWCN\ScannerBridge\Service\Logs\

Desktop App logs — Copy all files from:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\ASWCN\ScannerBridge\Desktop\Logs\

Diagnostic endpoint output — Run and save the output of:

curl -k https://localhost:53052/health
curl -k https://localhost:53052/api/twain/status
curl -k https://localhost:53052/api/twain/scanners

Service status:
```
sc query "ASWCN Scanner Bridge Service"
```
System information — Windows version, .NET runtime version, scanner model
Certificate info — Certificate thumbprint and expiry date from the service startup log

Service Management​

Checking Service Status​

Starting and Stopping​

Startup Order​

Diagnostic Endpoints​

Root Endpoint​

Health Check​

Status Endpoint​

Scanner List​

End-to-End Diagnostic Sequence​

Certificate Management​

Checking the Certificate​

Certificate Expired or Missing​

Browser Certificate Warning​

Named Pipe Connection​

How It Works​

Connection Timeouts​

Background Connectivity Monitor​

Log Files​

Location​

Viewing Logs​

Log Levels​

HTTP Request Logging​

What to Look For​

Configuration​

Key Settings​

Environment Variable Overrides​

HTTP Status Codes​

CORS and Browser Security​

CORS Policy​

Chrome Private Network Access​

Security Headers​

Common Failure Scenarios​

Service Won't Start​

Desktop App Connected but Scans Fail​

Intermittent Disconnections​

Scan Requests Return 504 (Timeout)​

API Returns 503 but Desktop App Is Running​

Collecting Diagnostic Information​