Vick's

Because dev life on Windows deserves smooth background workers too.

💭 The Problem

So you're working on a Django or Flask project. You’ve set up Celery to handle background tasks — perfect for sending emails, crunching data, or queuing long-running jobs. Everything works great locally… until you close your terminal or restart your PC.

Suddenly, your Celery worker disappears.

Welcome to the reality of running Python apps on Windows. But don’t worry — there's a simple fix: run Celery as a Windows Service using NSSM.

Let’s walk through the full process step-by-step.

🧰 What You’ll Need

Before diving in, make sure you’ve got the essentials:

• A Python project with Celery configured

• A working virtual environment (with Celery installed)

• Admin access to your Windows machine

• NSSM — Non-Sucking Service Manager

🛠 Step 1: Install NSSM

First up, grab a copy of NSSM.

1. Head over to nssm.cc/download

2. Download the version that matches your OS (likely 64-bit)

3. Unzip it

4. Copy the correct nssm.exe (from the win64 or win32 folder) to somewhere on your PATH — like C:\Windows\System32
   Or just keep it in a known folder and reference it directly

🪟 Step 2: Run Command Prompt as Admin

You’ll need admin privileges to register a service.

• Hit Win → search “cmd”

• Right-click it → select Run as administrator

📌 If you skip this step, NSSM won’t be able to install the service, and you’ll hit permission errors later.

🔍 Step 3: Figure Out Your Celery Command

In your virtual environment, you typically run Celery with a command like:

celery -A dj worker --loglevel=info

But for reliability, especially in a service context, run it through Python like this:

D:\newdj.com\env\Scripts\python.exe -m celery -A dj worker --loglevel=info

Why? This makes sure the right environment is loaded — no ambiguity about what celery is pointing to.

🧑‍🔧 Step 4: Create the Celery Service with NSSM

From your admin terminal, type:

nssm install dj_dev_worker

A small GUI window will pop up — this is where you define how the service runs.

✅ Application Tab

Fill in the following:

📄 I/O Tab – Logging

Set up log files so you can check what Celery is doing.

⚠️ If the C:\Logs\ folder doesn't exist, create it first — NSSM won’t do it for you, and the service will silently fail otherwise.

📝 Details Tab (Optional)

Just for visibility:

Once you’re done, click Install service at the bottom.

▶️ Step 5: Start the Service

With the service installed, you can start it in two ways:

Option 1: From CMD

nssm start dj_dev_worker

Option 2: From the Windows Services GUI

• Press Win + R → type services.msc → hit Enter

• Find dj_dev_worker in the list

• Right-click → Start

You should now see its status change to Running ✅

🕵️ Step 6: Check If It’s Working

Open the output log you set earlier:

C:\Logs\dj_dev_worker_output.log

You should see logs like:

[INFO/MainProcess] Connected to amqp://guest@localhost:5672//
[INFO/MainProcess] celery@DESKTOP ready.

Boom — your Celery worker is now running in the background as a real Windows service. 🎉

🧭 Bonus: Controlling the Service

Here are the basic commands you’ll use again and again:

nssm start dj_dev_worker    # Start
nssm stop dj_dev_worker     # Stop
nssm restart dj_dev_worker  # Restart

For pausing/resuming, use the Services GUI (services.msc) — but note, not all services (like Celery) respond to pause signals.

🔁 Optional: Auto-Restart on Failure

You can make your service more resilient by auto-restarting if it crashes.

1. Run:

   nssm edit dj_dev_worker
   

2. Go to the Exit Actions tab

3. Set:

   • On exit: Restart service

   • Delay: 3000 ms (or whatever works for you)

👤 Advanced: Run Under a Specific User

By default, Windows services run as Local System — fine for most cases. But if your worker needs access to files on the network, mapped drives, or user-specific permissions, do this:

1. Open services.msc

2. Find your service → double-click it

3. Go to Log On tab

4. Select This account → enter your username + password

Done. The service now runs under your user context.

✅ Wrapping Up

With NSSM, you’ve turned Celery into a true Windows service. That means:

• No more leaving terminals open

• Clean start/stop/restart via GUI or command line

• Automatic log storage

• Optional restart-on-failure

• Closely mirrors how Celery runs in production

Whether you're debugging tasks or building a microservices setup, this approach keeps your dev environment reliable — even on Windows.

🧪 TL;DR

nssm install dj_dev_worker
# Set:
# Path: python.exe from your venv
# Args: -m celery -A dj worker --loglevel=info
# Dir: Your project folder
# Logs: Setup stdout/stderr paths

nssm start dj_dev_worker

That's it — you now have a background Celery worker, ready to go.

Bonus: Want to run Celery Beat too? Just repeat this process with a different name and -B or beat argument.