A base class that allows writing a long running background task in ASP.NET Core 2.0

HostedService.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;

namespace WebApplication24
{
    public abstract class HostedService : IHostedService
    {
        private Task _executingTask;
        private CancellationTokenSource _cts;

        public Task StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        {
            // Create a linked token so we can trigger cancellation outside of this token's cancellation
            _cts = CancellationTokenSource.CreateLinkedTokenSource(cancellationToken);

            // Store the task we're executing
            _executingTask = ExecuteAsync(_cts.Token);

            // If the task is completed then return it
            if (_executingTask.IsCompleted)
            {
                return _executingTask;
            }

            // Otherwise it's running
            return Task.CompletedTask;
        }

        public async Task StopAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        {
            // Stop called without start
            if (_executingTask == null)
            {
                return;
            }

            // Signal cancellation to the executing method
            _cts.Cancel();

            // Wait until the task completes or the stop token triggers
            await Task.WhenAny(_executingTask, Task.Delay(-1, cancellationToken));

            // Throw if cancellation triggered
            cancellationToken.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
        }

        // Derived classes should override this and execute a long running method until 
        // cancellation is requested
        protected abstract Task ExecuteAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken);
    }
}