run wix batch script as elevated/admin - c#

I have written a WIX Installer using wixsharp that wraps a legacy installation procedure that used a batch file.
When running the MSI as an non-admin I do get prompted to elevate (the UAC dialog) however the batch script is run as a non-admin
var project = new Project(string.Format("App");
project.Actions = new[] { new PathFileAction(#"C:\build\build_script.bat", args[1], #"C:\build\", Return.check, When.After, Step.InstallExecute, Condition.NOT_Installed, Sequence.InstallExecuteSequence) };
project.UI = WUI.WixUI_InstallDir;
One way around this is to start a command prompt as Administrator and run the MSI using msiexec - this works but is very clunky.
How can I make my PathFileAction run as Administrator?

I used this answer which is based on pure WIX - you need to add Execute='deferred' Impersonate='no' to the output xml so in wixsharp this is possible via Attributes...
var publishAction = new PathFileAction(#"C:\build\build_script.bat"...
publishAction.Attributes = new Dictionary<string, string>()
{
{"Execute", "deferred"},
{"Impersonate", "no"}
};
UPDATE: this will run the script as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM - if you want to run it as yourself (with elevated permissions) it appears this is not possible

I can't see the contents of build_script.bat but I assume it's installing the MSI silently. In this scenario UAC prompts aren't possible so the installer exits out with a no priv failure. You have to run the .bat file elevated or you have to "bless" the MSI by advertising (msiexec /jm) it first so that it'll self elevate in place from the non elevated user process.

Related

IIS 8( windows server 2012) cannot run batch file

Im hosting an asp.net application in IIS8 on windows server 2012.
this application suppose to execute an batch file.
it works perfect if i execute the application with visual studio in debug mode. but when i upload it to the IIS the application cant execute the batch file.
i tried to change the batch file with exe file. same problem.
the batch file suppose to execute from the application(WCF application) that in the IIS:
System.Diagnostics.Process proc = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
proc.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = #"C:\path";
proc.StartInfo.FileName = #"C:\path\executer.bat";
proc.Start();
proc.Close();
please help,
Most likely the problem you are experiencing is due to permissions. You need to check what account the IIS Application Pool that your app is running under is configured for and whether that account has rights to run your batch file or the commands within that batch file.
When running in Visual Studio you're likely running IIS Express as the interactive user.
When running under IIS by default you're running under ApplicationPoolUser identity which has no rights to execute code, has no file access or anything else. Unless you've explicitly set a different account with appropriate file access rights to the batch file, and rights to execute the commands inside of the batch file, you won't be able to run the batch file from within IIS. To change that change the Application Pool user identity to a user that does have rights to both read and execute the batch file on disk and has any rights required to run what's executing in the batch file.
Make sure any folder or file accessed by your application have permissions granted to the AppPoolUser account. It is also important to check your applications resource folders too. For example, if you are writing logs, make sure you give the appPool user account enough permission to write to that file.
Your code is working fine . May be there is some issue in batch file i faced before .My batch file is
start "" BATCHLOG.exe
where BATCHLOG.exe is the executable
Some times batchfile named only
BATCHLOG.exe
does not work correctly on windows scheduler so may be in that case of yours

Run C# Application on Windows Start up

I'm trying to start a few applications for the current user only when Windows starts up.
I can accomplish this with the following:
RegistryKey oKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("Software", true);
oKey = oKey.OpenSubKey("Microsoft", true);
oKey = oKey.OpenSubKey("Windows", true);
oKey = oKey.OpenSubKey("CurrentVersion", true);
oKey = oKey.OpenSubKey("Run", true);
oKey.SetValue("Application 1", "C:\\path\\to\\ap1.exe");
oKey.SetValue("Application 2", "C:\\path\\to\\ap2.exe");
But I'm trying to run this as part of a Visual Studio Installer Project. I've added my custom action, the program starts like it should, and the installer works great in XP.
In Windows 7, the installer gets elevated privileges, and does everything but insert the entries into the registry for the current user. How ever, it does insert the registry entries when ran as a standalone application (outside of the installer project) and it does not get elevated privileges.
The only thing I can figure is that with the elevated privileges, it's trying to insert the entries into the Administrators account instead of the current user? or is there something else I'm missing? and is there another way I can achieve my goal here?
Is there a reason to not use the startup folder for the user?
More than likely the problem is the user the installer is executing under. If the user isn't the admin the elevated installer will run under the context of the user who elevated the process.
It would be a safer choice to add your application to the startup folder or to add the registry key on first launch.
If the installer is getting elevated permissions, why write the setting to HKCU? Write it to HKLM instead. It will then take effect for all users.

Installing C# Windows Service on Windows 7

I have a batch file that I have been using to install my C# Windows Services for awhile now, never had a problem until Windows 7. I have attempted to run the batch file with Administrator privileges. I have attempted to run the command prompt with admin privs, navigate to the windows service EXE and run InstallUtil there. Still doesn't work.
After reading some other suggestions I tried moving my files out of the /bin folder and running them from another location but that also didn't work.
The batch file looks like this
#ECHO OFF
REM The following directory is for .NET 2.0
set DOTNETFX2=%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727
set PATH=%PATH%;%DOTNETFX2%
echo Installing IEPPAMS Win Service...
echo ---------------------------------------------------
InstallUtil /i IEPPAMS_WinService1.exe
echo ---------------------------------------------------
echo Done.
and I have a install log file that I dump info to. If I just double click the .bat file I get
Running a transacted installation.
Beginning the Install phase of the
installation. See the contents of the
log file for the
C:\Users\Justin\Desktop\service
test\IEPPAMS_WinService1.exe
assembly's progress. The file is
located at
C:\Users\Justin\Desktop\service
test\IEPPAMS_WinService1.InstallLog.
An exception occurred during the
Install phase.
System.InvalidOperationException:
Cannot open Service Control Manager on
computer '.'. This operation might
require other privileges. The inner
exception
System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception
was thrown with the following error
message: Access is denied.
The Rollback phase of the installation
is beginning. See the contents of the
log file for the
C:\Users\Justin\Desktop\service
test\IEPPAMS_WinService1.exe
assembly's progress. The file is
located at
C:\Users\Justin\Desktop\service
test\IEPPAMS_WinService1.InstallLog.
The Rollback phase completed
successfully.
The transacted install has completed.
When I run the .bat file with admin privileges nothing is written to the log file, and the service is still not installed.
Any thoughts? Is there a new way to install services in Windows 7?
Right click on the batch file and run it as Administrator.
You are most likely running into battle with the new security model (User Account Control) from Windows Vista and Windows 7. Even if you are running as an account that has Admin rights you will still need to elevate to do some (most) administrative activities. (Yes it is possible to disable this feature, but don't)
UAC (MSDN)
UAC (Wikipedia)
InstallUtil (MSDN)
Edit... The correct commandline is InstallUtil YourApp.exe. The /i does not look to be a vaild switch for InstallUtil.
So I was able to fix the problem by typing in the command line the entire path to InstallUtil and it worked. So after navigating to the folder that had my EXE I typed the following:
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.21006\installutil.exe
IEPPAMS_WinService1.exe
Not sure why I have to do that in Windows 7 now when I never had to in XP, but oh well. Thanks for all the suggestions!
When I run the .bat file with admin privileges nothing is written to the log file, and the service is still not installed.
First off, you HAVE to run as admin permissions.
Second, when you "Run as Administrator", it actually changes the directory to c:\windows\system32 as the initial directory ( no idea why ), which would probably explain why running as admin causes no log file. Manually change to the path IEPPAMS_WinService1.exe resides in that the start of your script.

Mark MSI so it has to be run as elevated Administrator account

I have a CustomAction as part of an MSI.
It MUST run as a domain account that is also a member of the local Administrators account.
It can't use the NoImpersonate flag to run the custom action as NT Authority\System as it will not then get access to network resources.
On Vista/2008 with UAC enabled if NoImpersonate is off then it will run as the executing user but with the unprivileged token and not get access to local resources such as .installState. See UAC Architecture
Anyone know of a way to either
Force the MSI to run with the elevated token in the same way that running from an elevated command prompt does?
Force the CustomAction to run elevated (requireAdministrator in manifest doesn't appear to work)?
Work out if UAC is enabled and if it hasn't been ran elevated and if so warn or cancel the installation?
Answering my own question for any other poor s0d looking at this.
You can't add a manifest to an MSI. You could add a SETUP.EXE or bootstrapper to shell the MSI and manifest that with requireAdministrator but that defeats some of the point of using an MSI.
Adding a manifest to a CustomAction does not work as it is ran from msiexec.exe
The way I have tackled this is to set the MSIUSEREALADMINDETECTION property to 1 so the Privileged condition actually works and add a Launch Condition for Privileged that gives an error message about running via an elevated command prompt and then quits the installation.
This has the happy side effect - when an msi is ran from an elevated command prompt deferred CustomActions are ran as the current user with a full Administrator token (rather than standard user token) regardless of the NoImpersonate setting.
More details - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2cd92e43-6cda-478a-9e3b-4f831e899433
[Edit] - I've put script here that lets you add the MSIUSEREALADMINDETECTION property as VS doesn't have ability to do it and Orca's a pain.
requireAdministrator in the manifest should work.
You can also use a bootloader .exe file which can use ShellExecute with "RUNAS" as the verb (you can use 7-zip to create the bootloader, or there are many other ways).
You can creating a simple sfx archive file for msi file with Winrar and these options:
Setup tab > Run after execution input: your msi file name
Advanced tab > Mark Request Administrative access option checkbox

Uninstall Command Fails Only in Release Mode

I'm able to successfully uninstall a third-party application via the command line and via a custom Inno Setup installer.
Command line Execution:
MSIEXEC.exe /x {14D74337-01C2-4F8F-B44B-67FC613E5B1F} /qn
Inno Setup Command:
[Run]
Filename: msiexec.exe; Flags: runhidden waituntilterminated;
Parameters: "/x {{14D74337-01C2-4F8F-B44B-67FC613E5B1F} /qn";
StatusMsg: "Uninstalling Service...";
I am also able to uninstall the application programmatically when executing the following C# code in debug mode.
C# Code:
string fileName = "MSIEXEC.exe";
string arguments = "/x {14D74337-01C2-4F8F-B44B-67FC613E5B1F} /qn";
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo(fileName, arguments)
{
CreateNoWindow = true,
UseShellExecute = false,
RedirectStandardOutput = true
};
Process process = Process.Start(psi);
string errorMsg = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
process.WaitForExit();
The same C# code, however, produces the following failure output when run as a compiled, deployed Windows Service:
"This action is only valid for products that are currently installed."
Additional Comments:
The Windows Service which is issuing
the uninstall command is running on
the same machine as the code being
tested in Debug Mode. The Windows
Service is running/logged on as the
Local system account.
I have consulted my application logs
and I have validated that the
executed command arguments are thhe
same in both debug and release mode.
I have consulted the Event Viewer
but it doesn't offer any clues.
Thoughts? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Step 1: Check the MSI error log files
I'm suspicious that your problem is due to running as LocalSystem.
The Local System account is not the same as a normal user account which happens to have admin rights. It has no access to the network, and its interaction with the registry and file system is quite different.
From memory any requests to read/write to your 'home directory' or HKCU under the registry actually go into either the default user profile, or in the case of temp dirs, c:\windows\temp
I've come across similar problems in the past with installation, a customer was using the SYSTEM account to install and this was causing all sorts of permission problems for non-administrative users.
MSI log files aren't really going to help if the application doesn't appear "installed", I'd suggest starting with capturing the output of MSIINV.EXE under the system account, that will get you an "Inventory" of the currently installed programs (or what that user sees installed) http://blogs.msdn.com/brada/archive/2005/06/24/432209.aspx
I think you probably need to go back to the drawing board and see if you really need the windows service to do the uninstall. You'll probably come across all sorts of Vista UAC issues if you haven't already...
Thanks to those offering help. This appears to be a permissions issue. I have updated my service to run under an Administrator account and it was able to successfully uninstall the third-party application. To Orion's point, though the Local System account is a powerful account that has full access to the system -- http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc782435.aspx -- it doesn't seem to have the necessary rights to perform the uninstall.
[See additional comments for full story regarding the LocalSystem being able to uninstall application for which it installed.]
This is bizarre. LocalSystem definitely has the privileges to install applications (that's how Windows Update and software deployment in Active Directory work), so it should be able to uninstall as well.
Perhaps the application is initially installed per-user instead of per-machine?
#Paul Lalonde
The app's installer is wrapped within a custom InnoSetup Installer. The InnoSetup installer, in turn, is manually executed by the logged in user. That said, the uninstall is trigged by a service running under the Local System account.
Apparently, you were on to something. I put together a quick test which had the service running under the LocalSystem account install as well as uninstall the application and everything worked flawlessly. You were correct. The LocalSystem account has required uninstall permissions for applications in which it installs. You saved the day. Thanks for the feedback!

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