Develop Reference

Run windows command without cmd.exe from C#

I am attempting to run a windows command (e.g. whoami) without calling cmd.exe (or powershell) directly using C#.
Within VB this is possible using CreateObject(WScript.Shell) it obviously does not have to be the same method as within the VB, although that would be nice, but I just do not want to call cmd.exe directly.
How would I be able to achieve this?

This runs a console program, waits for exit and reads the output. I changed the cmd to ping since that takes longer and I can verify no console window opens.
ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.FileName = "ping.exe";
startInfo.Arguments = "google.com";
startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
startInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
// This wasn't needed
//startInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
Process processTemp = new Process();
processTemp.StartInfo = startInfo;
processTemp.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
try
{
processTemp.Start();
textBox1.Text = processTemp.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
processTemp.WaitForExit();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
textBox1.Text = ex.Message;
}

You could call whoami.exe and capture the output directly.
The key is UseShellExecute = false to run the executable directly.
var proc = new Process
{
StartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo
{
FileName = #$"{Environment.ExpandEnvironmentVariables("%systemroot%")}\system32\whoami.exe",
Arguments = // Put any command line arguments here
UseShellExecute = false,
RedirectStandardOutput = true,
CreateNoWindow = true
}
};
proc.Start();
string line = proc.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();

How to run this app with hidden or even minimized console?

var process = new Process
{
StartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo
{
FileName = #"C:\Program Files\CPUID\CPU-Z\cpuz.exe",
UseShellExecute = false,
RedirectStandardOutput = true,
CreateNoWindow = true
}
};
for(; ; )
{
process.Start();
Thread.Sleep(20000);
process.Kill();
}
This program need to be hidden or even minimized?
Can someone explain to me how to upgrade this?

Add these lines to your code
this.ShowInTaskbar = false;
this.FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.FixedToolWindow;

Problem with running batch files from within my application

I've been trying to create a simple application to backup my Windows Server databases aswell as a whole server backup.
For this I want to use batch files which are being executed by my application.
I tried several approaches but for some reason it always fails so I'd be happy if you could help me out.
Batch file BACKUPSERVER:
wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:D: -include:C: -allCritical -quiet
I have to run the bat as administrator or it fails due to missing permissions.
C# code:
static Task<int> RunProcessAsync(string fileName)
{
............
Process p = new Process();
p.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
p.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
p.StartInfo.Verb = "runas";
p.StartInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
p.StartInfo.Arguments = "/C \"D:\\SQLBACKUP\\BACKUPSERVER.bat\"";
p.Start();
string output = p.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
p.WaitForExit();
}
Debugging says 'wbadmin wasnt found'. 'runas' activated or not doesn't make any difference.
ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.FileName = fileName;
startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
startInfo.UseShellExecute = true;
startInfo.CreateNoWindow = false;
// startInfo.Verb = "runas";
var process = new Process
{
StartInfo = { FileName = fileName },
EnableRaisingEvents = true
};
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
process.Exited += (sender, args) =>
{
tcs.SetResult(process.ExitCode);
process.Dispose();
};
process.Start();
Also doesn't work.
Any ideas?
EDIT:
I'm able to run commands like shutdown but wbadmin doesn't work whatsoever...

This is how I solved the problem:
Make sure ure compiling for 64bit if u intend to use your application on 64bit system, otherwise it will redirect to different subfolders and wont find 'wbadmin.exe'.
Run wbadmin with ProcessStart or run a batch but without direct cmd input, so use this with filename = batch file or wbadmin with startInfo.Arguments:
ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.FileName = fileName;
startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
startInfo.UseShellExecute = true;
startInfo.CreateNoWindow = false;
// startInfo.Verb = "runas";
var process = new Process
{
StartInfo = { FileName = fileName },
EnableRaisingEvents = true
};
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
process.Exited += (sender, args) =>
{
tcs.SetResult(process.ExitCode);
process.Dispose();
};
process.Start();
Make sure u request administrator rights

running cmd in c# answer yes to prompt

I'm running the below command from c#. There is a prompt that will be shown that I want to answer "yes" to how can I do this with the current code
If I run this as a batch script I can just do
echo y | pscp.exe -batch -pw password E:\\Certs\\client.conf me#<ip>:/home/user
which works - but unsure how I can replicate this using the below
string pscpPath="-batch -pw password E:\\Certs\\client.conf me#<ip>:/home/user";
ExecuteCopyCerts("pscp.exe", pscpPath);
Function:
public Boolean ExecuteCopyCerts(string fileName, string arguments)
{
txtLiveHubStatus.Text = "";
try
{
System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo procStartInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo(fileName, arguments);
procStartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
procStartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
procStartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
System.Diagnostics.Process proc = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
proc.StartInfo = procStartInfo;
proc.Start();
string result = proc.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
return proc.ExitCode == 0;
}
}

Set RedirectStandardInput to true
procStartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true
and then write to StandardInput
proc.StandardInput.WriteLine("yes");

To reiterate what Hesam said though the prompt is Y, not yes. This is the prompt for the cert, which only occurs on the first call to each new linux machine. I use this code today in one of our applications.
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo();
psi.FileName = "pscp";
psi.RedirectStandardInput = true;
psi.RedirectStandardOutput = false;
psi.Arguments = $"-r -p -pw {passWord} \"{localFileNamePath}\" {userName}#{hostName}:{remotePath}";
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
psi.CreateNoWindow = true;
using (Process process = new Process())
{
process.StartInfo = psi;
process.Start();
process.StandardInput.WriteLine("Y");
process.WaitForExit();
}

Redirect process input and use shell execute

Is it possible to redirect just stdin but also allow stdout to be written to the console?
I have a process which starts child processes and needs to read the output of those processes, but also display it in the console. Is it possible? I tried to just create my own console process but I can't write to it unless I UseShellExecute and the purpose is to show the output in the console.
protected void startp() {
Process p = new Process();
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo();
psi.FileName = "cmd.exe";
psi.Arguments = "/k";
//Can't redirect output without UseShellExecute = false
psi.RedirectStandardInput = true;
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
psi.CreateNoWindow = false;
p.StartInfo = psi;
p.Start();
//Can't write to StandardInput with UseShellExecute = true
p.StandardInput.WriteLine("#ECHO OFF");
p.StandardInput.WriteLine("echo | set /p=Child Process");
Console.ReadLine();
p.StandardInput.WriteLine("exit");
}