Develop Reference

Programmatically check if a windows service is running c#

I am writing an app to check to see if certain software is installed. One of my cases im looking for a service. I know the full path of the service. i.e. "c:\some folder\MyService.exe" I want to check to see if the service is installed and running. I have tried process.GetProcessbyName, but running into issues with 64 bit vs 32 bit processes. I've also tried ManagementObject but i keep getting invalid object path. Is it possible to get a service knowing only the path to the executable?
I know only the name and path of the executable. There may be more than one version of the executable as well, each with a different service name, which i do not have.

Here is how you can check if the service is installed or not , also get the status of the service
public static string CheckService(string ServiceName)
{
//check service
var services = ServiceController.GetServices();
string serviceStatu = string.Empty;
bool isServiceExist = false;
foreach (var s in services)
{
if (s.ServiceName == ServiceName)
{
serviceStatu = "Service installed , current status: " + s.Status;
isServiceExist = true;
}
}
if (!isServiceExist)
{
serviceStatu= "Service is not installed";
}
return serviceStatu;
}
Console.WriteLine(CheckService("Service name"));
you need to add System.ServiceProcess to the project reference

Try looking into the ServiceController / Management object for the executable path. Then based the executable path determine whether the service is running.
How to get executable path : [1] [2] [3]
Borrowed from an answer above
ManagementClass mc = new ManagementClass("Win32_Service");
foreach(ManagementObject mo in mc.GetInstances())
{
if(mo.GetPropertyValue("PathName").ToString().Trim('"') == "<your executable path>")
{
return mo.GetPropertyValue("Name").ToString(); // or return true;
}
}
I haven't tested this, and a comment suggested PathName may return command line arguments as well, so you may need to write another method to separate the path from the arguments (I'm assuming it'll just be a split on the string), and pass PathName to it in If statement..

I'd like to run a command over ssh from a windows box running using c#

Note that this has to be on a windows box as I am using c# to access information about windows
(I need information from both a windows box and a linux box, plus I think that making a program/script that runs without gui and accesses windows from a linux box without user intervention would be more difficult, if this is not true please tell me, I would love to do get this running on *nix with only the part that access windows info running on windows).
There is a nice c# api to get this information from windows, on *nix its simple enough to run a command and parse the output to my needs.
There doesn't seem to much decent advice about using ssh from c# out there, sharpSSH and Granados seem to have not been updated for years, are they decent? should I be possible worried about security issues?
(the info I'm retrieving isn't sensitive but if the ssh implementation might have unpatched security flaws(if they haven't been updated for years) I'm worried about someone stealing my credentials.
Are there any other decent c# ssh libraries. If the command output is simple should I just run plink/putty(is it difficult to run a windows cmd shell for plink, and capture output(and is there a way to do it without the shell popping up)?
P.S. while the commercial library seems nice I prefer something free (as in cost and free in source if possible).

Sample Code
There are several commercial SSH client libraries for C#. Following code shows how to connect to a *nix box, run a command and read the response using our Rebex SSH Shell.
// create client, connect and log in
Ssh client = new Ssh();
client.Connect(hostname);
client.Login(username, password);
// run the 'uname' command to retrieve OS info
string systemName = client.RunCommand("uname -a");
// display the output
Console.WriteLine("OS info: {0}", systemName);
client.Disconnect();
For advanced scenarios (such as interactive commands) see SSH Shell Tutorial.
References & Stability
You might be already using Rebex SSH core library without knowing about it. The Rebex SFTP (which uses this SSH lib as a transport layer) is used by Microsoft in several products including Expression Web and Visual Studio 2010. The Rebex SSH Shell is 'just' another layer on top of it (most notable addition is a terminal emulator).
You can download a trial from http://www.rebex.net/ssh-shell.net/download.aspx. Support forum uses engine very similar to this site and runs on http://forum.rebex.net/
Disclaimer: I am involved in development of Rebex SSH

It is quite easy to call plink without the shell popping up.
The trick to not show a window is to set ProcessStartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true.
Add some error handling to this and you're done.
--- PlinkWrapper.cs ---
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
namespace Stackoverflow_Test
{
public class PlinkWrapper
{
private string host { get; set; }
/// <summary>
/// Initializes the <see cref="PlinkWrapper"/>
/// Assumes the key for the user is already loaded in PageAnt.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="host">The host, on format user#host</param>
public PlinkWrapper(string host)
{
this.host = host;
}
/// <summary>
/// Runs a command and returns the output lines in a List<string>.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="command">The command to execute</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public List<string> RunCommand(string command)
{
List<string> result = new List<string>();
ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("plink.exe");
startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
startInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
startInfo.Arguments = host + " " + command;
using (Process p = new Process())
{
p.StartInfo = startInfo;
p.Start();
while (p.StandardOutput.Peek() >= 0)
{
result.Add(p.StandardOutput.ReadLine());
}
p.WaitForExit();
}
return result;
}
}
}
--- END PlinkWrapper.cs ---
Call it like
PlinkWrapper plink = new PlinkWrapper("albin#mazarin");
foreach (var str in plink.RunCommand("pwd"))
Console.WriteLine("> " + str);
and the output will be like
> /home/albin
The nice thing with plink is that it is well proven and integrates well with pageant.

I used SharpSsh lib to make an asynchronous directory sync program between linux and windows boxes (i choosed sftp for secure file tranfer). Remained unchanged for years doesn't mean it is unsecure.
it is really easy to use:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Tamir.SharpSsh;
namespace sftpex
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
try
{
SshExec exec = new SshExec(ipAddress, username, password);
Console.Write("Connecting...");
exec.Connect();
Console.WriteLine("OK");
if (exec.Connected)
Console.WriteLine(exec.Cipher);
while (true)
{
Console.Write("Enter a command to execute ['Enter' to cancel]: ");
string command = Console.ReadLine();
if (command == "") break;
string output = exec.RunCommand(command);
string[] m = output.Split('\n');
for(int i=0; i<m.Length; i++)
Console.WriteLine(m[i]);
}
Console.Write("Disconnecting...");
exec.Close();
Console.WriteLine("OK");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
}
}
}

If you're not averse to interop with C libs, I believe OpenSSH is one of the best libraries available for the job.

I used SharpSSH in the past to execute commands on a Linux box. There are quite a few bugs, and I had to modify the code to fix some of them, but eventually it kinda worked...

There is a commercial software IP*Works SSH which can do the job.

How to execute process on remote machine, in C#

How can I start a process on a remote computer in c#, say computer name = "someComputer", using System.Diagnostics.Process class?
I created a small console app on that remote computer that just writes "Hello world" to a txt file, and I would like to call it remotely.
Console app path: c:\MyAppFolder\MyApp.exe
Currently I have this:
ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(string.Format(#"\\{0}\{1}", someComputer, somePath);
startInfo.UserName = "MyUserName";
SecureString sec = new SecureString();
string pwd = "MyPassword";
foreach (char item in pwd)
{
sec.AppendChar(item);
}
sec.MakeReadOnly();
startInfo.Password = sec;
startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
Process.Start(startInfo);
I keep getting "Network path was not found".

Can can use PsExec from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897553.aspx
Or WMI:
object theProcessToRun() = { "YourFileHere" };
ManagementClass theClass = new ManagementClass(#"\\server\root\cimv2:Win32_Process");
theClass.InvokeMethod("Create", theProcessToRun);

Use one of the following:
(EDIT) Remote Powershell
WMI (see Ivan G's answer)
Task Scheduler API (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa383606%28v=vs.85%29.aspx)
PsExec
WshRemote object with a dummy script. Chances are, it works via DCOM, activating some of scripting objects remotely.
Or if you feel like it, inject your own service or COM component. That would be very close to what PsExec does.
Of all these methods, I prefer task scheduler. The cleanest API of them all, I think. Connect to the remote task scheduler, create a new task for the executable, run it. Note: the executable name should be local to that machine. Not \servername\path\file.exe, but c:\path\file.exe. Delete the task if you feel like it.
All those methods require that you have administrative access to the target machine.
ProcessStartInfo is not capable of launching remote processes.

According to MSDN, a Process object only allows access to remote processes not the ability to start or stop remote processes. So to answer your question with respect to using this class, you can't.

An example with WMI and other credentials as the current process, on default it used the same user as the process runs.
var hostname = "server"; //hostname or a IpAddress
var connection = new ConnectionOptions();
//The '.\' is for a local user on the remote machine
//Or 'mydomain\user' for a domain user
connection.Username = #".\Administrator";
connection.Password = "passwordOfAdministrator";
object[] theProcessToRun = { "YourFileHere" }; //for example notepad.exe
var wmiScope = new ManagementScope($#"\\{hostname}\root\cimv2", connection);
wmiScope.Connect();
using (var managementClass = new ManagementClass(wmiScope, new ManagementPath("Win32_Process"), new ObjectGetOptions()))
{
managementClass.InvokeMethod("Create", theProcessToRun);
}

I don't believe you can start a process through a UNC path directly; that is, if System.Process uses the windows comspec to launch the application... how about you test this theory by mapping a drive to "\someComputer\somePath", then changing your creation of the ProcessStartInfo to that? If it works that way, then you may want to consider temporarily mapping a drive programmatically, launch your app, then remove the mapping (much like pushd/popd works from a command window).

Enable ASP.NET in IIS6 Programmatically

Is there a way to enable the ASP.NET Web Service Extension in IIS6 via C#? I'm trying to simplify a website setup program for people who haven't used IIS before.

C# NET. Framework usage:
Process.Start(#"C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_regiis", "-i -enable");
CMD usage:
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_regiis -i -enable
It's useful.
Source: https://serverfault.com/questions/1649/why-does-iis-refuse-to-serve-asp-net-content

You could call out to WMI easily enough (System.Management namespace, IIRC) and I believe you can set it from there. However, it may well be much simpler to set it manually, you can't do it from within an ASP.NET site since your server won't be able to run it until it is set...
Principles of doing something similar may be found here

Looking around all the examples of this are written in vbscript. So I cheated and came up with this function:
static void EnableASPNET()
{
var file = "wmi.vbs";
using (var writer = new StreamWriter(file))
{
writer.WriteLine("Set webServiceObject = GetObject(\"IIS://localhost/W3SVC\")");
writer.WriteLine("webServiceObject.EnableWebServiceExtension \"ASP.NET v2.0.50727\"");
writer.WriteLine("webServiceObject.SetInfo");
}
var process = Process.Start("cscript", file);
process.WaitForExit();
File.Delete(file);
}

// if windows 2003
if (Environment.OSVersion.Version.Major == 5 &&
Environment.OSVersion.Version.Minor == 2)
{
DirectoryEntry folderRoot = new DirectoryEntry("IIS://localhost/W3SVC");
folderRoot.Invoke("EnableWebServiceExtension", "ASP.NET v2.0.50727");
}
Copied from: http://lastdon.blogspot.com/2006/12/setup-web-application-on-windows-2003.html

I believe you can also run the following command line:
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_regiis.exe -s W3SVC
And this will recursively enable the AND.NET framework v2.0.50727 for all configured websites.

Use C# to interact with Windows Update

Is there any API for writing a C# program that could interface with Windows update, and use it to selectively install certain updates?
I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of storing a list in a central repository of approved updates. Then the client side applications (which would have to be installed once) would interface with Windows Update to determine what updates are available, then install the ones that are on the approved list. That way the updates are still applied automatically from a client-side perspective, but I can select which updates are being applied.
This is not my role in the company by the way, I was really just wondering if there is an API for windows update and how to use it.

Add a Reference to WUApiLib to your C# project.
using WUApiLib;
protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e){
base.OnLoad(e);
UpdateSession uSession = new UpdateSession();
IUpdateSearcher uSearcher = uSession.CreateUpdateSearcher();
uSearcher.Online = false;
try {
ISearchResult sResult = uSearcher.Search("IsInstalled=1 And IsHidden=0");
textBox1.Text = "Found " + sResult.Updates.Count + " updates" + Environment.NewLine;
foreach (IUpdate update in sResult.Updates) {
textBox1.AppendText(update.Title + Environment.NewLine);
}
}
catch (Exception ex) {
Console.WriteLine("Something went wrong: " + ex.Message);
}
}
Given you have a form with a TextBox this will give you a list of the currently installed updates. See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa387102(VS.85).aspx for more documentation.
This will, however, not allow you to find KB hotfixes which are not distributed via Windows Update.

The easiest way to do what you want is using WSUS. It's free and basically lets you setup your own local windows update server where you decide which updates are "approved" for your computers. Neither the WSUS server nor the clients need to be in a domain, though it makes it easier to configure the clients if they are. If you have different sets of machines that need different sets of updates approved, that's also supported.
Not only does this accomplish your stated goal, it saves your overall network bandwidth as well by only downloading the updates once from the WSUS server.

If in your context you're allowed to use Windows Server Update Service (WSUS), it will give you access to the Microsoft.UpdateServices.Administration Namespace.
From there, you should be able to do some nice things :)

P-L right. I tried first the Christoph Grimmer-Die method, and in some case, it was not working. I guess it was due to different version of .net or OS architecture (32 or 64 bits).
Then, to be sure that my program get always the Windows Update waiting list of each of my computer domain, I did the following :
Install a serveur with WSUS (may save some internet bandwith) : http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=5216
Add all your workstations & servers to your WSUS server
Get SimpleImpersonation Lib to run this program with different admin right (optional)
Install only the administration console component on your dev workstation and run the following program :
It will print in the console all Windows updates with UpdateInstallationStates.Downloaded
using System;
using Microsoft.UpdateServices.Administration;
using SimpleImpersonation;
namespace MAJSRS_CalendarChecker
{
class WSUS
{
public WSUS()
{
// I use impersonation to use other logon than mine. Remove the following "using" if not needed
using (Impersonation.LogonUser("mydomain.local", "admin_account_wsus", "Password", LogonType.Batch))
{
ComputerTargetScope scope = new ComputerTargetScope();
IUpdateServer server = AdminProxy.GetUpdateServer("wsus_server.mydomain.local", false, 80);
ComputerTargetCollection targets = server.GetComputerTargets(scope);
// Search
targets = server.SearchComputerTargets("any_server_name_or_ip");
// To get only on server FindTarget method
IComputerTarget target = FindTarget(targets, "any_server_name_or_ip");
Console.WriteLine(target.FullDomainName);
IUpdateSummary summary = target.GetUpdateInstallationSummary();
UpdateScope _updateScope = new UpdateScope();
// See in UpdateInstallationStates all other properties criteria
_updateScope.IncludedInstallationStates = UpdateInstallationStates.Downloaded;
UpdateInstallationInfoCollection updatesInfo = target.GetUpdateInstallationInfoPerUpdate(_updateScope);
int updateCount = updatesInfo.Count;
foreach (IUpdateInstallationInfo updateInfo in updatesInfo)
{
Console.WriteLine(updateInfo.GetUpdate().Title);
}
}
}
public IComputerTarget FindTarget(ComputerTargetCollection coll, string computername)
{
foreach (IComputerTarget target in coll)
{
if (target.FullDomainName.Contains(computername.ToLower()))
return target;
}
return null;
}
}
}