Develop Reference

calling devcon from inside windows forms not working

Plan
The plan is to disable and subsequently enable a device from inside a windows forms application. To test the first building block of my plan, I open cmd with admin privileges and the following works perfectly:
> devcon hwids =ports
> devcon hwids *VID_10C4*
> devcon disable *VID_10C4*
> devcon enable *VID_10C4*
I can see the device being disabled and enabled again in device manager.
I can also achieve all of this by putting the commands into a batch file and running it from cmd with admin privileges. The above tells me that my plan is essentially good.
Application
However, what I actually want to do is achieve the same thing from inside a windows forms application:
I've set the following in the app manifest:
requestedExecutionLevel level="requireAdministrator" uiAccess="false"
For the sake of baby steps, I have checked this, just to ensure that there are no stupid mistakes in paths and whatnot. And it works just fine. The log file shows me the expected output from the dir command.
// Build String
string strCmdText =
"'/c cd " + prodPath +
" && dir " +
" > logs\\logFileEnablePrt.txt \"'";
// Run command
var p = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
var psi = new ProcessStartInfo("CMD.exe", strCmdText);
psi.Verb = "runas"; // admin rights
p.StartInfo = psi;
p.Start();
p.WaitForExit();
However, this does not work. It always returns an empty log file and does not change the device as expected:
// Build String
string strCmdText =
"'/c cd " + prodPath +
" && devcon hwids =ports " +
" > logs\\logFileEnablePrt.txt \"'";
// Run command
var p = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
var psi = new ProcessStartInfo("CMD.exe", strCmdText);
psi.Verb = "runas"; // admin rights
p.StartInfo = psi;
p.Start();
p.WaitForExit();
Error from cmd window is :
'devcon' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
What's going on?
The above has me stumped. I've proved the commands work. I've proved my C# code works. But when I join the 2 together, it doesn't work...
NB: My C# program is running on my D: drive, if that makes any difference...
Updates Based on Comments
#Compo
Using your code, it does exactly the same as with mine. I see an empty log file & no changes made to the device. I've altered the /c to /k so I can see what going on the cmd terminal and I see this:
I've even tried your code C:\\Windows\\System32\\devcon hwids =usb pointing directly at devcon. Also tried \devcon.exe for completeness. The inexplicable error is :
I can see the flipping devcon.exe file sitting right there in the folder! Is there any reason it would not recognise it?
Also, with the command as you wrote it, the log file name is actually named logFileEnablePrt.txt'. I agree that your command looks right, so don't ask me why this happens!
#Panagiotis Kanavos
using your code, I get the following error:
This is at the line p.Start();. I tried putting in devcon.exe, and even the whole path (I checked the folder was in my PATH, and it is). Can't get past this. I actually stumbled on that answer you shared and arrived at this brick wall already.

Here is the code works for me, I don't have ports devices so I change it to usb.
public static void Main()
{
string prodPath = #"c:\devcon\x64";
// Build String
string strCmdText =
"/c \"cd /d " + prodPath +
" && devcon hwids =usb " +
" > log.txt \"";
// Run command
var p = new Process();
var psi = new ProcessStartInfo("CMD.exe", strCmdText);
psi.Verb = "runas"; // admin rights
p.StartInfo = psi;
p.Start();
p.WaitForExit();
}

Worked through a few steps and think I may have an answer...
Just specifying devcon fails as expected...windows cant find the exe as the folder it is in is not in the %PATH% variable in windows..
IF I specify the full path however it works...
It wasnt clear from your original code but if your copy of devcon is sitting in either System32 or Syswow directories you may be hitting an emulation issue as well...see here....
EDIT1:: A way to prove this would be to do Direcory.GetFiles(directory containing devcon) and see if the results line up with what you expect
As for passing arguments through to devcon I'd try something like this as opposed to trying to concatenate one giant cmd line..
A similar example but with netstat:
EDIT 2::Another example but with devcon:
The target platform here for the build was x64
EDIT3::
With my application build set to x86:

After working through the answers and comments above, I seem to have something that reliably works, which obviously I'd like to share back for scrutiny and future use.
So, my function ended up looking like this:
private int enablePort(string action)
{
while (true)
{
// Command Arg
string devconPath = #"c:\Windows\SysNative";
string strCmdText =
"'/c \"cd /d \"" +
devconPath +
"\" && c:\\Windows\\SysNative\\devcon " + action + " *VID_10C4* " +
"> \"" + prodPath + "\\logs\\logFileEnablePrt.txt\"\"";
// Process
var p = new Process();
var psi = new ProcessStartInfo()
{
Arguments = strCmdText,
Verb = "runas",
FileName = "CMD.exe",
UseShellExecute = true
};
p.StartInfo = psi;
p.Start();
p.WaitForExit();
// Grab log output
string logPath = prodPath + "\\logs\\logFileEnablePrt.txt";
Console.WriteLine("logPath = " + logPath);
string tempFile = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(logPath);
System.Console.WriteLine("Contents of WriteText.txt = \n{0}", tempFile);
// Check if it worked
var success = false;
if (tempFile.Contains(action))
{
success = true;
return 0;
}
// Error -> Allow user to try again!
if (MessageBox.Show("Was unable to " + action + " Test Jig COM port. Unlug & Replug USB. Check COM port is enabled if not working.", "COM Port Problem", MessageBoxButtons.YesNo, MessageBoxIcon.Question) == DialogResult.No)
{
return -1;
}
}
}
And the calling code was:
this.enablePort("disable");
int milliseconds = 3000;
await Task.Delay(milliseconds);
this.enablePort("enable");
As you can see in the code above, I've logged everything to see what was going on... Stepping through with the debugger, I can now see after the disable:
USB\VID_10C4&PID_EA60\0001 : Disabled
1 device(s) disabled.
And then after the enable:
USB\VID_10C4&PID_EA60\0001 : Enabled
1 device(s) are enabled.
The one extra thing I need to stress is that during testing, I thought I could hook a serial peripheral onto the port and determine whether it could disable and enable successfully by checking the connection. THIS DOES NOT WORK. The above code only works when the port is idle. Perhaps someone who understands the underlying software could hazard an explanation of why this is.

How do i execute an external exe using a specific user

Im making an application which needs to monitor the filesystem using FileSystemWatcher, to detect how an installation affects the filesystem.
To get rid of noise i want to filter the events that are created by their creating user, and that code is working with the //BUILTIN //Administrator user, which is used by default when doing an installation. But still there are quite a bit of noise. Then i got the idea of creating a specific user that i can use for running the installation file, and filter on that specific user, and thereby getting rid of allmost all the noise.
this is my code for the process creation and start
private void executeInnoInstaller(string path, string fileName)
{
// Use ProcessStartInfo class
ProcessStartInfo installerProces = new ProcessStartInfo();
installerProces.CreateNoWindow = true;
installerProces.UseShellExecute = false;
installerProces.FileName = path + "\"" + fileName + "\"";
installerProces.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal;
installerProces.UserName = "test";
System.Security.SecureString encPassword = new System.Security.SecureString();
foreach (System.Char c in "test")
{
encPassword.AppendChar(c);
}
encPassword.MakeReadOnly();
installerProces.Password = encPassword;
try
{
// Start the process with the info we specified.
// Call WaitForExit and then the using statement will close.
using (Process exeProcess = Process.Start(installerProces))
{
exeProcess.WaitForExit();
//int exitCode = exeProcess.ExitCode;
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e);
}
}
this code exits with a access denied.
OS=Windows
Ive already tried to run the installer.exe from the OS filehandler with SHIFT - Rightclick using the specified user, and it works.
VisualStudio is run as administrator.
Ive tried to run the build project exe file as administrator, but it does not work.
Without the user credentials, the code works and uses the //BUILTIN //Administrator account
Does anybody have any idea ?
Thank you beforehand for your time and effort.

This code works if i turn down the UAC securitylevel to the lowest.

Adding Credentials to diffrent account from local system account

Were using octopus for deployment, the tentacle is running as "local system account" I would like the tentacle to add credentials for a diffrent account. However I have no luck i doing so.
So far i tried creating a c# program which starts a new process as the other user, and the calls the cmdkey.exe
private static void CallCmdKey(string runAsDomain, string runsAsUser, string runAsPass, string target, string user, string pass)
{
System.Diagnostics.Process proc = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
proc.StartInfo.Arguments = $"/generic:{target} /user:{user} /pass:{pass}";
proc.StartInfo.FileName = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("WINDIR") + "\\system32\\cmdkey.exe";
Console.Out.WriteLine(proc.StartInfo.Arguments);
proc.StartInfo.Domain = runAsDomain;
proc.StartInfo.UserName = runsAsUser;
proc.StartInfo.LoadUserProfile = true;
SecureString sec = new SecureString();
runAsPass.ToCharArray().ToList().ForEach(sec.AppendChar);
proc.StartInfo.Password = sec;
proc.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = ".";
proc.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
proc.Start();
proc.WaitForExit();
Console.Out.WriteLine("done");
}
But it fails with access denied.
Then i tried power shell and psexec like this:
$psexec = "C:\temp\psexec.exe"
Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock{&$psexec -accepteula -u $WEB02AP2User -p $GISWEB02AP2Pass cmd /c cmdkey /generic:ffff /user:mufasa /pass:yoyo}
but it fails with
Access is denied.
PsExec could not start cmd:
The remote script failed with exit code 5
For security reasons Im not allowed to change account for the tentacle service
How can i sovle this issue

I Was unable to find a solutions to this issue. Only workaround was to let the octopusservice run as a specific user account

Lauch a process on a remote machine with impersonation c#

I'm trying to launch a process using impersonation with WMI and C#.
Here's what I have so far:
var coptions = new ConnectionOptions();
coptions.Username = String.Format(#"{0}\{1}", machine.Domain, machine.Username);
coptions.Password = machine.Password;
coptions.Impersonation = ImpersonationLevel.Impersonate;
coptions.EnablePrivileges = true;
var mScope = new ManagementScope(String.Format(#"\\{0}\root\cimv2", machine.Address), coptions);
var mClass = new ManagementClass(mScope, new ManagementPath("Win32_Process"), new ObjectGetOptions());
object[] generatorProcess = { #"C:\test\test1.exe" };
mClass.InvokeMethod("Create", generatorProcess);
Exception:
E_ACCESSDENIED at mClass.InvokeMethod
How can I do it?
PS: The user I'm launching the process with does not have admin privileges, is it required?
EDIT: It works with an admin, looks like it's the user..
I've followed this guide here to try and give permissions without sucess.
https://support.infosim.net/demo/wmi/wmi.html
Help please

Basically, you can't do it with an account that has limited permissions. You can tweak the permissions on the WMI object to read but not to write it does not work at all.

WMI + Bitlocker + C# Get encrypted Volumes produces timeout

i want to create a wrapper class for specific WMI functions that affect Bitlocker functionality. The first step is to get all the Bitlocker volumes of a machine so I created a Console Application and did this:
private static ManagementClass management;
private static ManagementObjectCollection Volumes = null;
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ManagementPath path = new ManagementPath();
path.Server = "";
path.NamespacePath = "\\ROOT\\CIMV2\\Security\\MicrosoftVolumeEncryption";
path.ClassName = "Win32_EncryptableVolume";
ConnectionOptions options = new ConnectionOptions();
options.Authentication = AuthenticationLevel.PacketPrivacy;
options.Impersonation = ImpersonationLevel.Impersonate;
ManagementScope scope = new ManagementScope(path, options);
ObjectGetOptions getOptions = new ObjectGetOptions();
management = new ManagementClass(scope, path, getOptions);
management.Get();
Volumes = management.GetInstances();
}
When I run this on a non-Bitlocker machine the Volumes Collection gets initialized OK, only that it has a Count of 0 of course. Now I copied the code over to a WinForms App and when I click a button to run this code it steps through OK but when I try to expand the collection during debugging the App hangs and I get a "Function evaluation timed out". It's the same code just in another Application. What could be the reason for this?

Hm. I got a null reference exception if I didn't run it as administrator, but when I ran it as administrator (Win 7 x64, btw), I got four Volumes back.

I just had a similar issue, I will post my code for you hopefully it helps.
ManagementObjectSearcher Encryption = new ManagementObjectSearcher(#"root\cimv2\Security\MicrosoftVolumeEncryption", "SELECT * FROM Win32_EncryptableVolume");
foreach (ManagementObject QueryObj in Encryption.Get())
{
string EncryptionStatus = QueryObj.GetPropertyValue("ProtectionStatus").ToString();
if (EncryptionStatus == "0")
{
EncryptionDialog.Text = "Unencrypted";
}
else if (EncryptionStatus == "1")
{
EncryptionDialog.Text = "Encrypted - SysPrep will not complete";
}
else if (EncryptionStatus == "2")
{
EncryptionDialog.Text = "Cannot Determine Encryption";
}
}
I'm using this to display the status for a sysprep tool i'm creating so the "EncryptionDialog.Text = ..." can be replaced with any other calls you may need. you also need to remember "which caused me issues at least" if you are using visual studio you will need to add a file to your project labeled "Application Manifest File" in the "Add New File" Dialog. The reason for this is that the application will need to be opened in Administrator mode(Just an FYI in case you haven't made it that far)