Develop Reference

How do i include batch files inside of my .exe Instead of needing them in the folder the .exe is located in

So been searching or the web but can't seem to find an answer that has helped me. I have been looking for almost a week now.
I created a program in vs, alongside with some batch files. The Batch files run great by themselves and through the debug/release when including them in the folder with the .exe.
My problem is I want to be able to ONLY have the .exe file from my release and it still work.
Is there a way i can build these files inside the .exe? I have tried using c# to write my console commands instead of including seperate batch files. But im pretty new to c# and i get nothing but errors with the commands i want to run/if i run to many lines.
I would much rather have just c# instead of including the batch files but that I can't seem to figure out a solution to either.
Any help would be appreciated.
This is me currently calling batch files which works just fine. Again, if there is a way to just write this in c# instead of calling a batch file I would be happy to learn.
Process process = new Process();
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo();
psi.CreateNoWindow = false;
psi.Verb = "runas";
psi.FileName = Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location) + #"/" + "undo.bat";
psi.UseShellExecute = true;
process.StartInfo = psi;
_ = process.Start();
process.WaitForExit();
I'm starting CyberSecurity soon and am playing around with some Security stuff on my computer. Below is a sample code from my batch file to enable Security Protocols. If anything how would i write this in c#?
echo ...
echo Enabling Windows Firewall
netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state on
echo Enalbing HyperVisor
bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto
echo Enabling UAC
%windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
echo.
echo.
echo Your Computer will now be restarting for changes to take effect!
timeout 10
shutdown /r /t 001

What you can do is include the batchfiles as embedded resources in your project. Then read them and then execute them.
to include them as embedded resources example...
add them to your project.
right click and go to properties
select embedded resource
then to extract...
Write file from assembly resource stream to disk
you can then write the file to disk and create process on it. or there is a way to execute cmd.exe without writing the file to disk but this is a little complicated so the best way is to just write to disk.
Execute BATCH script in a programs memory

I followed the guide given above and a few others to get my solution to work. Embed the resource that's in your solution, then I used the following code to pretty much create the functions of being able to write it.
private static void Extract(string nameSpace, string outDirectory, string internalFilePath, string resourceName)
{
Assembly assembly = Assembly.GetCallingAssembly();
using (Stream s = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(nameSpace + "." + (internalFilePath == "" ? "" : internalFilePath + ".") + resourceName))
using (BinaryReader r = new BinaryReader(s))
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(outDirectory + "//" + resourceName, FileMode.OpenOrCreate))
using (BinaryWriter w = new BinaryWriter(fs))
w.Write(r.ReadBytes((int)s.Length));
}
Here is what I used to save, execute then delete the file.
Extract("nameSpace", "outDirectory", "internalFilePath", "resourceName");
Process process = new Process();
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo();
psi.CreateNoWindow = false;
psi.Verb = "runas";
psi.FileName = #"C:/" + "resourceName";
psi.UseShellExecute = true;
process.StartInfo = psi;
_ = process.Start();
process.WaitForExit();
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(10);
if ((System.IO.File.Exists(psi.FileName)))
{
System.IO.File.Delete(psi.FileName);
}
Keep in mind im new when it comes to this so im sure there is a better way of writing it, but this worked for me!

Running a Curl Command from C#

I'm trying to run a curl command from a C# program. My code is below. When I run the code below, I get an exception that the file is not found. I want to be able to do this but I do not want to use a batch file as a parameter for the filename. That is because the arguments for my curl command are variable based upon other conditions in the C# code. My variable strCmdText has the arguments for the curl command (the source and destination files). There are other examples of this on Stackoverflow, but they all use a batch file which I'm trying to avoid.
Process p = new Process();
p.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
p.StartInfo.FileName = "C:\\Windows\\System32\\curl.exe";
p.StartInfo.Arguments = strCmdText;
p.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
p.Start();
p.WaitForExit();
I changed my code to the following:
System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo p = new
System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
p.UseShellExecute = true;
p.WorkingDirectory = "C:\\Windows\\System32\\";
p.FileName = "curl.exe";
p.ErrorDialog = true;
p.CreateNoWindow = true;
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(p);
From a DOS prompt, curl does exist in this directory. But I still get the curl not found message.
Something has to be strange with the path here. When I put a break point in though, and view the Environment class, System32 is in the path.

Curl is available at the location: C:\Windows\System32\curl.exe
That only leaves the source file to be the culprit of a "File not found" issue.
As you're launching curl through a process, ensure that your paths are escaped properly in your startup arguments.
Alternatively, you could launch curl through cmd (through a process), you can try with the following, changing the command-line arguments from --help to suit your desired action.
string script = $"\"C:\\Windows\\System32\\curl.exe\" --help";
Process process = new Process()
{
StartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo()
{
FileName = "cmd",
Arguments = script
}
};
process.Start();
Please note that this is in principle, essentially using a batch file as it's just throwing some commands into a cmd.

I had the exact same problem. Just delete curl.exe from System32 and place it on another folder (dont't forget the dependences, dlls, etc.).
Then in the line
p.StartInfo.FileName = "C:\\Windows\\System32\\curl.exe";
Overwrite "C:\\Windows\\System32\\curl.exe" to "C:\\NEW PATH\\curl.exe".
Note: You MUST delete it from System32. If you just copy to the new location it will still don't work.

error invoking logoff.exe

I am trying to create an app that can kill a user's session on a terminal server.
I have written the following code:
string host = "terminalServer";
string user = "domain\criso";
string sid = "4";
System.Diagnostics.Process proc = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
startInfo.FileName = #"logoff.exe";
startInfo.Arguments = #"/SERVER:" + host + " " + sid;
startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
proc.StartInfo = startInfo;
proc.Start();
proc.WaitForExit();
// Catch error
if (proc.ExitCode != 0)
{
StreamReader reader = proc.StandardError;
string errorMessage = reader.ReadToEnd();
MessageBox.Show(#"ERROR " + proc.ExitCode.ToString() + ": " + errorMessage);
}
else
StatusLabel.Text = user + #"'s Session terminated";
The code above returned error "Couldn't find the file specified" message when executed. I have tried the combination of path to go to C:\windows\system32\logoff.exe but still get the same error message.
I have also tried to invoke cmd.exe process with following argument:
#"/C logoff /SERVER:" + host + " " + sid
it returned with "'logoff' is unrecognized as internal or external command, opreable program or batch file." and still no luck.
Anyone has ever solved this problem before?
For extra information, I am using windows 7 and the terminal server is windows server 2003 & 2008 r2 (there are multiple servers).
And if I run 'logoff' command directly from command prompt, it works fine killing my session.

I found the solution by including 'logoff.exe' into the project and set 'Copy to output directory' property of 'logoff.exe' to yes or copy if newer, which then I don't need to specify the full path on my Process.Start calling.
What's odd is that when I tried to include 'logoff.exe' into my project, VS file explorer didn't list the 'logoff.exe' under 'C:\windows\system32\' directory, but the executable is there if i get into the directory by windows' regular file explorer.
UPDATE
As pointed out in the comment, it looks like that when the app is trying to look into the system32 folder, it is interrupted by syswow64 layer somehow. Based on the comment I found a switch in the project settings to build the app as 32-bit, I turned it off and the app can now call 'logoff.exe' without any issue. But when I try to add existing file from VS file explorer, it still wouldn't list the complete content of the system32 folder (as it was looking into syswow64 folder instead).

Launch an app running as admin - by passing the filename.sln (UseShellExecute)

I can call Process.Start(filename.sln) and it launches VisualStudio with that solution.
But doing so using ProcessStartInfo with Verb="runas" and I get an exception. Even with UseShellExecute=true.
Is there a way to launch an app running as admin where I pass it the app's data file and don't have the application.exe filename?

Found the answer - when you run as admin you can only give it the executable file, not the app for the program to run. So you have to pass devenv.exe, not filename.sln

ProcessStartInfo processInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(); //new process class
processInfo.Verb = "runas"; //wanna admin rights
processInfo.FileName = sDevPath + "devenv.exe"; //exe file path
processInfo.Arguments = sPrjPath + "mConverter.sln"; //sln file as argument
try
{
Process.Start(processInfo); //try to start
}
catch (Win32Exception)
{
//oops
}

Redirect StandardIn when opening a shortcut

Due to the joys of UAC, I need to open an elevated command prompt programmatically and then redirect the standard input so I can use the time command.
I can open the link (a .lnk file) if I use
Process ecp = System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("c:/ecp.lnk");
however, if I use this method, I can't redirect the standardIn.
If I use the StartProcessInformation method (which works wonderfully if you are calling an exe)
ProcessStartInfo processStartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("c:/ecp.lnk");
processStartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
processStartInfo.ErrorDialog = false;
processStartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
processStartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
processStartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
Process process = new Process();
process.StartInfo = processStartInfo;
bool processStarted = process.Start();
StreamWriter inp = process.StandardInput;
StreamReader oup = process.StandardOutput;
StreamReader errorReader = process.StandardError;
process.WaitForExit();
I get the error message:
The specified executable is not a valid Win32 application.
Can anyone help me create an elevated command prompt which I can capture the standard input of? Or if anyone knows how to programatically escalate a command prompt?

In case no-one comes up with a better idea (pretty please), here is the work around one of the more devious in my office just came up with:
Copy cmd.exe (the link it pointing at this file)
Paste this file into a different directory
Rename the newly pasted file to something different
Set the permissions on this new file to Run As Administrator
You will still get the escalation dialog popping up, but at least you can capture the standardIn of this valid Win32 app!