Process Lasso
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The Core Engine
The most critical component of Process Lasso is its stand-alone core engine, called the Governor. The Governor is responsible for applying all the process rules and adjustments. It runs silently in the background, emitting only log entries when actions are taken.
Since the background engine can run by itself, without the GUI, users can choose to open the GUI only when configuration or status updates are necessary. This results in less resource usage by Process Lasso. However, even with the GUI running, resource usage is negligible on most systems.
Multiple instances of the Governor can (and do) run simultaneously. For each user that logs into the system, an instance will be created to manage that user's processes. You can alternatively configure the Governor to run as a system service, so that a single instance is responsible for managing the processes of all users. Each instance of the Governor can have its own configuration and log files, or they can all share the same ones (see global overrides). By default, each instance of the governor defaults to using a configuration file located in the user's application data directory. The log folder is also located there.
Running as a service
In many cases, it is ideal to have only a single instance of the Governor that manages the processes of all active users on the system. This single instance can be run as a system service (Pro version only). You can configure this mode of startup during the install process.
When running the Governor as a service, a global configuration file and log folder over-ride should be used. These too can be specified during the install process.
Installation types
| Install type | Description |
|---|---|
| Normal process | In this mode, each instance of the governor will manage the processes in its own user context, and those in the system context if it has access to them. This is the default way the Governor is installed, and is recommended for most people. Note that you configured the UAC settings to 'Highest' during Install so that Process Lasso could manage the processes of other users, then each instance of the governor will manage all processes running on the system, instead of just those in its own user context. This won't cause any functional problems, but log events may be spread amongst the different user contexts if a centralized log folder isn't used. |
| Service (system) | In this mode, the Governor runs as a service in the system context and manages the processes of all users. System tray balloon tip notifications (off by default) will not work in this mode. |
| Service (user) | In this mode, the Governor runs as a service in a particular user context and manages the processes of all users. You must edit the security policy so that services are allowed to login as the user you've chosen. You can run 'secpol.msc' or use the NTRights utility to edit the local security policy. |
Config and log storage modes
| Config and log storage mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Per-user |
In this mode, the configuration file and log folder for each user is independent. Each user can therefore have control of his or her own configuration, and only sees the log events that their instance of the Governor created. This is the default mode of operation. |
| Global / Centralized |
In this mode, a centralized configuration file and log folder are used. All users share the same configuration and log. Any change to the configuration or log in one user context is shown in all users contexts. This is the required mode of operation when running the Governor as a service. The global paths can be set during the install process (last configuration dialog). Be sure that all users have at least read access to the configuration file, and have write access to the log folder. |