I'm running PSExec Microsoft tool with Process class executing a remote command with its own output like this:
Process p = new Process();
string args = #"\\remotemachine -u someuser -p somepass wmic product get name";
ProcessStartInfo ps = new ProcessStartInfo();
ps.Arguments = args;
ps.FileName = psExecFileName;
ps.UseShellExecute = false;
ps.CreateNoWindow = true;
ps.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
ps.RedirectStandardError = true;
p.StartInfo = ps;
p.Start();
StreamReader output = p.StandardOutput;
string output = output.ReadToEnd();
where wmic product get name is WMI tool running remotely with its own output listing all installed applications on the remote machine.
So, in the output I don't see the output of wmic, at the same time when I'm running PSExec in the command line locally, I can fully see the output of both PSExec and started remotely WMIC.
The question is, how can I capture all the output on the local machine? Should I run it in a separate console and try to attach to the console to capture all the output?
More generally, if put plainly, why is the output in the process StandardOutput and in the console when running PSExec directly not the same?
ReadToEnd will wait till the process exit. e.g. a Console.ReadLine() in the psExecFile could block your reading. But you can get the already written stream,
StreamReader output = p.StandardOutput;
string line;
while ((line = output.ReadLine()) != null)
{
Console.WriteLine(line);
}
In the console, data written to both StandardOutput and StandardError is displayed in the console.
Within your program you need to look at each individually...try adding something like this at the end:
string error = p.StandardError.ReadToEnd();
Related
Having a challenge being able to send commands to cmd.exe from via the C# Process class.
Basically I want to call R.exe and then send it several commands to stage the data before I run some R functions and then pull out the result.
But I can't get the result back from a simple 'dir' statemenet :(
Process p = new Process();
ProcessStartInfo info = new ProcessStartInfo();
info.FileName = "cmd.exe";
info.RedirectStandardInput = true;
info.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
info.UseShellExecute = false;
string pathToR = #"C:\Program Files\R\R-3.3.1\bin";
p.StartInfo = info;
p.Start();
List<string> output = new List<string>();
using (StreamWriter sw = p.StandardInput)
{
if (sw.BaseStream.CanWrite)
{
sw.WriteLine("cd " + pathToR);
sw.WriteLine("dir");
while (p.StandardOutput.Peek() > -1)
{
var peekVal = p.StandardOutput.Peek();
output.Add(p.StandardOutput.ReadLine());
}
}
}
foreach (var line in output)
{
Console.WriteLine(line);
}
p.StandardInput.Close();
p.StandardOutput.Close();
p.WaitForExit();
p.Close();
Console.ReadLine();
Output:
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.10586]
(c) 2015 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
c:\users\micah_000\documents\visual studio 2015\Projects\RStagingTestApp\RStagingTestApp\bin\Debug>cd C:\Program Files\R\R-3.3.1\bin
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
I've seen several variations on this result, but I've never seen any kind of response from my commands :(
A lot of places say the async reads work best. I've seen some persuasive, comprehensive explanations for this, but I haven't been able to get it to work for me.
This one seemed to work. It might have been setting AutoFlush to true. Or just reading once at the end.
I have c# console app for ffmpeg command invocation. Here is it
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ProcessStartInfo cmd = new ProcessStartInfo("cmd.exe");
cmd.RedirectStandardInput = true;
cmd.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
cmd.RedirectStandardError = true;
cmd.UseShellExecute = false;
cmd.CreateNoWindow = true;
cmd.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
Process console = Process.Start(cmd);
console.StandardInput.WriteLine(#"cd C:\Users\vishnu.aravind");
console.StandardInput.WriteLine(#"ffmpeg -i sunp.avi -i Alarm03.wav -c:v copy -c:a aac -strict experimental output.avi");
string errors = console.StandardError.ReadToEnd();
Console.WriteLine("Video file is created.");
Console.Read();
}
}
if I remove the line of code
string errors = console.StandardError.ReadToEnd();
this program will work fine. Else it hangs. I need the error information if any, what to do, please help.
Cause of a problem
Your program hangs because
cmd is an interactive command line application and thus continually produces output for std. out and std. error stream
Process.StandardError.ReadToEnd() reads the output of std. error stream of a process till it reaches end of stream
as cmd is an interactive command line application - it will not end it's std. error stream until process of cmd terminates - and that's why Process.StandardError.ReadToEnd() hangs when it is invoked on running cmd process.
Solution for a problem
To get output for each command you execute there are at least two following options:
Start each command with separate Process instance - and read output with standard methods of StreamReader class (ReadToEnd() and Read() methods).
Use single Process instance for cmd application - to read and write to it interactively:
Start process as in following example:
Process interactiveProcess = new Process();
string processOutput = "";
interactiveProcess.StartInfo.FileName = this.processPath;
interactiveProcess.StartInfo.Arguments = commandLineParameters;
interactiveProcess.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
interactiveProcess.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = false;
interactiveProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
interactiveProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
interactiveProcess.Start();
interactiveProcess.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
interactiveProcess.ErrorDataReceived += new DataReceivedEventHandler((process, outputEventArgs) => processOutput += outputEventArgs.Data);
interactiveProcess.BeginErrorReadLine();
Write commands to cmd with following code
interactiveProcess.StandardInput.WriteLine(command);
To read response you will need to use System.Threading.Thread.Sleep() method and wait till processOutput variable is populated with output during execution of started commands.
Try to wait for exit before reading errors:
cmd.WaitForExit();
When i try to run BCDEDIT from my C# application i get the following error:
'bcdedit' is not recognized as an internal or external
command,
operable program or batch file.
when i run it via elevated command line i get as expected.
i have used the following code:
Process p = new Process();
p.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
p.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
p.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
p.StartInfo.FileName = #"CMD.EXE";
p.StartInfo.Arguments = #"/C bcdedit";
p.Start();
string output = p.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
String error = p.StandardError.ReadToEnd();
p.WaitForExit();
return output;
i have also tried using
p.StartInfo.FileName = #"BCDEDIT.EXE";
p.StartInfo.Arguments = #"";
i have tried the following:
Checking path variables - they are fine.
running visual studio from elevated command prompt.
placing full path.
i am running out of ideas,
any idea as to why i am getting this error ?
all i need is the output of the command if there is another way that would work as well.
thanks
There is one explanation that makes sense:
You are executing the program on a 64 bit machine.
Your C# program is built as x86.
The bcdedit.exe file exists in C:\Windows\System32.
Although C:\Windows\System32 is on your system path, in an x86 process you are subject to the File System Redirector. Which means that C:\Windows\System32 actually resolves to C:\Windows\SysWOW64.
There is no 32 bit version of bcdedit.exe in C:\Windows\SysWOW64.
The solution is to change your C# program to target AnyCPU or x64.
If you are stuck with x86 application on both 32it/64bit Windows and You need to call bcdedit command, here is a way how to do that:
private static int ExecuteBcdEdit(string arguments, out IList<string> output)
{
var cmdFullFileName = Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Windows),
Environment.Is64BitOperatingSystem && !Environment.Is64BitProcess
? #"Sysnative\cmd.exe"
: #"System32\cmd.exe");
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo(cmdFullFileName, "/c bcdedit " + arguments) { UseShellExecute = false, RedirectStandardOutput = true };
var process = new Process { StartInfo = psi };
process.Start();
StreamReader outputReader = process.StandardOutput;
process.WaitForExit();
output = outputReader.ReadToEnd().Split(new[] { Environment.NewLine }, StringSplitOptions.None).ToList();
return process.ExitCode;
}
usage:
var returnCode = ExecuteBcdEdit("/set IgnoreAllFailures", out outputForInvestigation);
Inspiration was from this thread and from How to start a 64-bit process from a 32-bit process and from http://www.samlogic.net/articles/sysnative-folder-64-bit-windows.htm
I'm trying to create a small program to run on a centralized device. This program will run
"psexec \server(s) netstat -na | findstr "LISTENING""
to collect netstat data from remote nodes (should redirect output to string), then parse the data and compare against a known list. I can run the psexec cmd above without any issues from the cmd line, but when I try to run the same command as a process within my C# program, no data is returned to be parsed. I can see that the netstat is being run (cmd window flashes with netstat results), but the process.standardoutput is not catching the stream. If I use ping or pretty much anything other than psexec as an argument, the stream is caught and the results are shown in my text box. I've also tried setting the filename to psexec.exe and specifying the arguments but I get the same results. Last but not least, if I run psexec without any arguments, I get the help kickback info returned in my textbox. This is true if I'm running psexec.exe as the filename OR if I run cmd.exe as filename with "/c psexec" specified as args.
I'm just trying to get psexec output to be caught when executing locally at this point. I'll worry about psexec to remote machines later. Any help would be MUCH appreciated.
Here's the code:
System.Diagnostics.Process pProcess = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
pProcess.StartInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
pProcess.StartInfo.Arguments = "/c psexec netstat";
pProcess.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
pProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
pProcess.Start();
string strOutput = pProcess.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
pProcess.WaitForExit();
if (pProcess.HasExited)
{
textBox1.Text = strOutput;
}
else
{
textBox1.Text = "TIMEOUT FAIL";
}
I would recommend also capturing the standard error output in case anything is being reported there.
Also, you may have a disconnect between "bitness" of psexec and your application if you are running on a 64-bit OS. If this is the case, change the platform for the project to match that of psexec rather than building as Any CPU.
Came across a few things to be changed but your recommendation of capturing standard error output was dead on and a good start. Turns out some info was being sent to the error output (even though really wasn't error, just run status 0 from psexec) so I knew at that point psexec wasn't just eating ALL the output. Once I started trying to pass remote hosts as args, I started getting user/pass error data back. Also needed to catch standard input if I wanted to supply credentials for proc run. Threw in some str literals and credentials for the remote exec, works perfectly. Thanks for the help. Here is the updated code--
System.Diagnostics.Process pProcess = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
pProcess.StartInfo.Domain = "domain";
pProcess.StartInfo.UserName = "user with priv";
pProcess.StartInfo.Password = new System.Security.SecureString();
char [] pass = textBox3.Text.ToArray();
for (int x = 0; x < pass.Length; ++x)
{
pProcess.StartInfo.Password.AppendChar(pass[x]);
}
pProcess.StartInfo.FileName = #"psexec.exe";
pProcess.StartInfo.Arguments = #"\\remoteHost netstat -ano";
pProcess.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
pProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
pProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
pProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
pProcess.Start();
pProcess.WaitForExit(30000);
if (!pProcess.HasExited)
{
pProcess.Kill();
}
string strOutput = pProcess.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
string errOutput = pProcess.StandardError.ReadToEnd();
textBox1.Text = strOutput;
textBox2.Text = errOutput;
I am new to C# so please sorry if i make no sense in my question. In my application which is C# DLL need to open command prompt, give a plink command for Linux system to get a system related string and set that string as environment variable. I am able to do this when i create C# console application, using plink command to get the string on command prompt and use to set it environment variable using process class in C# to open plink as separate console process. But, in C# DLL i have to open cmd.exe 1st and then give this command which i don't know how can i achieve? I tried through opening cmd.exe as process and then trying to redirect input and output to process and give command and get string reply, but no luck. Please let me know any other way to solve this.
Thanks for answers,
Ashutosh
Thanks for your quick replys. It was my mistake in writing code sequence. Now few changes and the code is working like charm. Here is code,
string strOutput;
//Starting Information for process like its path, use system shell i.e. control process by system etc.
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo(#"C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe");
// its states that system shell will not be used to control the process instead program will handle the process
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
psi.ErrorDialog = false;
// Do not show command prompt window separately
psi.CreateNoWindow = true;
psi.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
//redirect all standard inout to program
psi.RedirectStandardError = true;
psi.RedirectStandardInput = true;
psi.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
//create the process with above infor and start it
Process plinkProcess = new Process();
plinkProcess.StartInfo = psi;
plinkProcess.Start();
//link the streams to standard inout of process
StreamWriter inputWriter = plinkProcess.StandardInput;
StreamReader outputReader = plinkProcess.StandardOutput;
StreamReader errorReader = plinkProcess.StandardError;
//send command to cmd prompt and wait for command to execute with thread sleep
inputWriter.WriteLine("C:\\PLINK -ssh root#susehost -pw opensuselinux echo $SHELL\r\n");
Thread.Sleep(2000);
// flush the input stream before sending exit command to end process for any unwanted characters
inputWriter.Flush();
inputWriter.WriteLine("exit\r\n");
// read till end the stream into string
strOutput = outputReader.ReadToEnd();
//remove the part of string which is not needed
int val = strOutput.IndexOf("-type\r\n");
strOutput = strOutput.Substring(val + 7);
val = strOutput.IndexOf("\r\n");
strOutput = strOutput.Substring(0, val);
MessageBox.Show(strOutput);
I explained the code so far..., thanks a lot