Develop Reference

Automatic Updates setting via WMI

Attempting to pull the automatic update settings from the registry of a remote server. For some reason, it's returning a 0 even though a manual check of the key is 1-4. What am I overlooking? Snippet below:
ManagementScope msAutoUpdateReg = new ManagementScope(#"\\" + remoteServer + #"\root\DEFAULT:StdRegProv", connection);
msAutoUpdateReg.Connect();
ManagementClass ci = new ManagementClass(msAutoUpdateReg, new ManagementPath(#"DEFAULT:StdRegProv"), new ObjectGetOptions());
ManagementBaseObject inParams = ci.GetMethodParameters("GetDWORDValue");
inParams["hDefKey"] = 0x80000002; //HKLM
inParams["sSubKeyName"] = #"Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update";
inParams["sValueName"] = "AUOptions";
ManagementBaseObject outParams = ci.InvokeMethod("GetDWORDValue", inParams, null);
UInt32 auValue = (UInt32)outParams["uValue"];
if (auValue.ToString() != "0")
{
if (auValue == 1)
{
string currentSetting = "Keep my computer up to date has been disabled in Automatic Updates.";
}
if (auValue == 2)
{
string currentSetting = "Notify of download and installation.";
}
if (auValue == 3)
{
string currentSetting = "Automatically download and notify of installation.";
}
if (auValue == 4)
{
string currentSetting = "Automatically download and scheduled installation.";
}
}
else
{
string currentSetting = "Unknown";
}

I guess a process of elimination might help here...
1) Is this happening on just one server or are you getting this on all servers? How about on your own local machine? Is it a Windows version thing? For example it seems my Windows 10 box doesn't show the SubKey name you are looking for.
2) Do you also get zero if you change the sValueName to "foo"? Is a value of 0 representing an error?
3) Can you put a watch on outParams and check to see what values have been returned?
4) Are you being blocked by UAC, firewall or other permission issues? Can you execute other WMI commands against this server without any problems? Do you need to Run As Administrator to get this to work?
5) Are you getting an other exceptions or return values? I'm guessing you've posted just a portion of the code here so is this code inside a try/catch block?
Sorry if this sounds either vague or simplistic but I think you may need to look at what does work and what doesn't to see if you can identify a pattern.

WMI Win32_Share.Create method on localhost via WMI on Server OSes gives Error Code 24

I am detecting whether or not I'm attempting a connection against localhost, and creating (or not) the WMI connection options as follows:
if (NetworkUtils.IsLocalIpAddress(machineName))
{
_scope = new ManagementScope(string.Format(#"\\{0}\root\cimv2", machineName));
}
else
{
_connectionOptions = new ConnectionOptions
{
Username = username,
Password = password,
Impersonation = ImpersonationLevel.Impersonate
};
_scope = new ManagementScope(string.Format(#"\\{0}\root\cimv2", machineName), _connectionOptions);
}
When I call _scope.Connect() in either case, it works. That is, no exception and IsConnected is true.
However, when I attempt to invoke a method in the local case, such as Win32_Share.Create I get errors. The following code always works for remote connections for me:
var winSharePath = new ManagementPath("Win32_Share");
var winShareClass = new ManagementClass(_scope, winSharePath, null);
var shareParams = winShareClass.GetMethodParameters("Create");
shareParams["Path"] = pathName.TrimEnd('\\');
shareParams["Name"] = shareName;
shareParams["Type"] = 0;
shareParams["Description"] = "CMC Bootstrap Share";
var outParams = winShareClass.InvokeMethod("Create", shareParams, null);
if ((uint) (outParams.Properties["ReturnValue"].Value) != 0)
{
throw new Exception("Unable to share directory. Error code: " +
outParams.Properties["ReturnValue"].Value);
}
I create the pathName directory just prior to invoking this method, so I guarantee pathName exists in all cases.
When executing locally ONLY on Windows Server 2008 & 2012, the above code throws the exception with error code 24. Executing against localhost on Windows 8 works just fine.
What is the correct way to specify "blank credentials" when invoking WMI methods against localhost, as I believe this is the underlying issue?

I tried the code below on my local PC and this works (shares my temp folder). Could you try the same please? Also, which is the patch & share name you're using?
string pathName = #"c:\temp\";
string shareName = "tempFolder";
var scope = new ManagementScope(string.Format(#"\\{0}\root\cimv2", "localhost"));
// your code below
var winSharePath = new ManagementPath("Win32_Share");
var winShareClass = new ManagementClass(scope, winSharePath, null);
var shareParams = winShareClass.GetMethodParameters("Create");
shareParams["Path"] = pathName.TrimEnd('\\');
shareParams["Name"] = shareName;
shareParams["Type"] = 0;
shareParams["Description"] = "CMC Bootstrap Share";
var outParams = winShareClass.InvokeMethod("Create", shareParams, null);
if ((uint)(outParams.Properties["ReturnValue"].Value) != 0)
{
throw new Exception("Unable to share directory. Error code: " +
outParams.Properties["ReturnValue"].Value);
}

the above code throws the exception with error code 24
That doesn't have anything to do with the error you mention in the title of your question. Error codes for Win32_Share.Create method are documented in this MSDN article. Return value 24 means "Unknown Device or Directory".
In other words, your pathName variable is wrong.

Adding “Everyone” privilege to a network share for a folder

NOTE: Please don't disregard based on the title being similar to others.
I'm trying to share a folder on a Windows 7 machine. And I want to give everyone full permissions to it via C#.
I've seen several articles on other pages including here, that tell how to do it. But like some others, it doesn’t work for me. Below is a snippet taken from SO.
DirectorySecurity sec = Directory.GetAccessControl(path);
// Using this instead of the "Everyone" string means we work on non-English systems.
SecurityIdentifier everyone = new SecurityIdentifier(WellKnownSidType.WorldSid, null);
sec.AddAccessRule(new FileSystemAccessRule(everyone, FileSystemRights.FullControl | FileSystemRights.Synchronize, InheritanceFlags.ContainerInherit | InheritanceFlags.ObjectInherit, PropagationFlags.None, AccessControlType.Allow));
Directory.SetAccessControl(path, sec);
Sharing the folder is already done before I invoke the code above. The below images are the results of what i get:
So far, so good. But on the next image you'll see that the the two remaining checkboxs are still unchecked.
What am I missing please?
Thanks!
EDIT: Below is the code used to do the actual sharing.
private static void QshareFolder(string FolderPath, string ShareName, string Description)
{
try
{
ManagementClass managementClass = new ManagementClass("Win32_Share");
ManagementBaseObject inParams = managementClass.GetMethodParameters("Create");
ManagementBaseObject outParams;
inParams["Description"] = Description;
inParams["Name"] = ShareName;
inParams["Path"] = FolderPath;
inParams["MaximumAllowed"] = null;
inParams["Password"] = null;
inParams["Access"] = null;
inParams["Type"] = 0x0; // Disk Drive
// Invoke the method on the ManagementClass object
outParams = managementClass.InvokeMethod("Create", inParams, null);
// Check to see if the method invocation was successful
if ((uint) (outParams.Properties["ReturnValue"].Value) != 0)
{
throw new Exception("Unable to share directory.");
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "error!");
}
}

Permissions on share and underlying folder are separate - your code set ACL on files/folders... So you are missing portion of setting ACL on network share itself.
One gets minimum between permissions on file and share when finally accessing file via share.
I don't know how to set ACL on share but here is a related C++ question that may be good staring point on how to set permissions on shares: How to create read-only network share programmatically?.

Actually I had the opposite problem of yours and your first code snippets solved it for me... Your implementation is just missing a SecurityDescriptor.
private static ManagementObject GetSecurityDescriptor()
{
ManagementObject Trustee = new ManagementClass(new ManagementPath("Win32_Trustee"), null);
Trustee["SID"] = GetWellKnwonSid(WellKnownSidType.WorldSid);
Trustee["Name"] = "Everyone";
ManagementObject userACE = new ManagementClass(new ManagementPath("Win32_Ace"), null);
userACE["AccessMask"] = 2032127;//Full access
userACE["AceFlags"] = AceFlags.ObjectInherit | AceFlags.ContainerInherit;
userACE["AceType"] = AceType.AccessAllowed;
userACE["Trustee"] = Trustee;
ManagementObject secDescriptor = new ManagementClass(new ManagementPath("Win32_SecurityDescriptor"), null);
secDescriptor["ControlFlags"] = 4; //SE_DACL_PRESENT
secDescriptor["DACL"] = new object[] { userACE };
secDescriptor["Group"] = Trustee;
return secDescriptor;
}
private static byte[] GetWellKnwonSid(WellKnownSidType SidType)
{
SecurityIdentifier Result = new SecurityIdentifier(SidType, null);
byte[] sidArray = new byte[Result.BinaryLength];
Result.GetBinaryForm(sidArray, 0);
return sidArray;
}
This you'd have to assign to the Access property the Win32_Share instance

Reading Share Permissions in C#

Is it possible to read the sharing permissions assigned to a shared folder? I'm able to read in the local security settings programmaticaly (the ones found under Right Click > Properties > Security) no problem. But, I'm wondering how I can read the permissions under Right Click > Sharing and Security... > Permissions
Here is an image of the Permissions I want to read:
Is this possible? I'm running an XP Pro machine if it helps.
Edit:
As per my answer I was able to iterate through all the shares, and get the access you (ie the person running the program) has on that share, but have not found a way to read the permissions others have on that share. This was done using Win32_Share class, however it does not have an option for getting the share permissions of other users. If anyone has any helpful hints that would be a huge help.

I was able to get this working by expanding on the approach taken by Petey B. Also, be sure that the process that runs this code impersonates a privileged user on the server.
using System;
using System.Management;
...
private static void ShareSecurity(string ServerName)
{
ConnectionOptions myConnectionOptions = new ConnectionOptions();
myConnectionOptions.Impersonation = ImpersonationLevel.Impersonate;
myConnectionOptions.Authentication = AuthenticationLevel.Packet;
ManagementScope myManagementScope =
new ManagementScope(#"\\" + ServerName + #"\root\cimv2", myConnectionOptions);
myManagementScope.Connect();
if (!myManagementScope.IsConnected)
Console.WriteLine("could not connect");
else
{
ManagementObjectSearcher myObjectSearcher =
new ManagementObjectSearcher(myManagementScope.Path.ToString(), "SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalShareSecuritySetting");
foreach(ManagementObject share in myObjectSearcher.Get())
{
Console.WriteLine(share["Name"] as string);
InvokeMethodOptions options = new InvokeMethodOptions();
ManagementBaseObject outParamsMthd = share.InvokeMethod("GetSecurityDescriptor", null, options);
ManagementBaseObject descriptor = outParamsMthd["Descriptor"] as ManagementBaseObject;
ManagementBaseObject[] dacl = descriptor["DACL"] as ManagementBaseObject[];
foreach (ManagementBaseObject ace in dacl)
{
try
{
ManagementBaseObject trustee = ace["Trustee"] as ManagementBaseObject;
Console.WriteLine(
trustee["Domain"] as string + #"\" + trustee["Name"] as string + ": " +
ace["AccessMask"] as string + " " + ace["AceType"] as string
);
}
catch (Exception error)
{
Console.WriteLine("Error: "+ error.ToString());
}
}
}
}
}

I know you can with Windows Home Server:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb425864.aspx
You can do this in MMC and most of that is available through code, so it should be possible. If you can't find it there then you should check out Windows API calls. I've seen it done in C++, so it should also be possible in C#. Sorry, I don't have any sample code or other links to provide for those. I'll see if I can dig some up though.
I also just saw this on SO:
how to create shared folder in C# with read only access?
Another good link:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/windowssdk/thread/de213b61-dc7e-4f33-acdb-893aa96837fa

The best I could come up with is iterating through all the shares on a machine and reading the permissions you have on the share.
ManagementClass manClass = new ManagementClass(#"\\" +computerName +#"\root\cimv2:Win32_Share"); //get shares
//run through all the shares
foreach (ManagementObject objShare in manClass.GetInstances())
{
//ignore system shares
if (!objShare.Properties["Name"].Value.ToString().Contains('$'))
{
//print out the share name and location
textBox2.Text += String.Format("Share Name: {0} Share Location: {1}", objShare.Properties["Name"].Value, objShare.Properties["Path"].Value) + "\n";
Int32 permissions = 0;
try
{
//get the access values you have
ManagementBaseObject result = objShare.InvokeMethod("GetAccessMask", null, null);
//value meanings: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa390438(v=vs.85).aspx
permissions = Convert.ToInt32(result.Properties["ReturnValue"].Value);
}
catch (ManagementException me)
{
permissions = -1; //no permissions are set on the share
}
textBox2.Text += "You have permissions: " + permissions + "\n\n";
}
}
If anyone could figure out how to get the permissions others have on the share that would be amazing.

i have problem with sharing a folder through programming using c#?

here is my code it shares the folder but that does not work correctly when i want to access it , it shows access denied help required,
private static void ShareFolder(string FolderPath, string ShareName, string Description)
{
try
{
// Create a ManagementClass object
ManagementClass managementClass = new ManagementClass("Win32_Share");
// Create ManagementBaseObjects for in and out parameters
ManagementBaseObject inParams = managementClass.GetMethodParameters("Create");
ManagementBaseObject outParams;
// Set the input parameters
inParams["Description"] = Description;
inParams["Name"] = ShareName;
inParams["Path"] = FolderPath;
inParams["Type"] = 0x0; // Disk Drive
//Another Type:
//DISK_DRIVE = 0x0;
//PRINT_QUEUE = 0x1;
//DEVICE = 0x2;
//IPC = 0x3;
//DISK_DRIVE_ADMIN = 0x80000000;
//PRINT_QUEUE_ADMIN = 0x80000001;
//DEVICE_ADMIN = 0x80000002;
//IPC_ADMIN = 0x8000003;
//inParams["MaximumAllowed"] = int maxConnectionsNum;
// Invoke the method on the ManagementClass object
outParams = managementClass.InvokeMethod("Create", inParams, null);
// Check to see if the method invocation was successful
if ((uint)(outParams.Properties["ReturnValue"].Value) != 0)
{
throw new Exception("Unable to share directory. Because Directory is already shared or directory not exist");
}//end if
}//end try
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "error!");
}//end catch
}//End Method

You have to add permissions to the shared folders. This post Adding Permissions to a shared folder using WMI and Microsoft .Net explains the steps in detail.
Excerpt from the post
To assign permission to the user, the
following needs to be done
Get hold of the Shared folder object’s setting and extract its
security descriptor.
Extract Access Control List (ACL) from the security descriptor.
Get hold of the user account object and extract its security
descriptor.
Create a Windows Trustee object for the user using its security
descriptor.
Create an Access Control Entry (ACE) using the Trustee object.
Add Access Control Entry to Access Control List.
Assign List back to Security Descriptor for the folder
Reassign security descriptor to the shared folder.

Return Values
Returns one of the values in the following table or any other value to indicate an error.
0 – Success
2 – Access denied
8 – Unknown failure
9 – Invalid name
10 – Invalid level
21 – Invalid parameter
22 – Duplicate share
23 – Redirected path
24 – Unknown device or directory
25 – Net name not found

Where are you accessing the shared folder from? If from another computer, make sure you have given read privileges on that folder to the computer that you are accessing it from.. Hope this helps...
Thanks,
Ram