In C#, How Could I go about checking for device and systems errors? Would it be simple to use PowerShell Scipts, or would that add to the complexity and difficulty?
For Windows 7 clients check out the Windows Troubleshooting Platform. Here is a download on it with more details. It uses PowerShell scripts to do exacty what you're talking about. This blog post shows how to author a troubleshooting pack - it's pretty easy.
I don't think WTP works on downlevel platforms. In this case, I would just write some PowerShell scripts to detect and fix root causes. If you want to wrap that up in a nice UI, check out PowerBoots - an easy way to create a WPF GUI on top of your script. If you want to host PowerShell in your on C#-based GUI it is very simple. Here's a code snippet from a Forms app:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string cmd = #"Get-ChildItem $home\Documents -recurse | " +
"Where {!$_.PSIsContainer -and " +
"($_.LastWriteTime -gt (Get-Date).AddDays(-7))} | " +
"Sort Fullname | Foreach {$_.Fullname}";
using (Runspace runspace = RunspaceFactory.CreateRunspace())
{
runspace.Open();
using (Pipeline pipeline = runspace.CreatePipeline(cmd))
{
this.Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor;
pipeline.Commands.AddScript(cmd);
Collection<PSObject> results = pipeline.Invoke();
foreach (PSObject obj in results)
{
listBox1.Items.Add(obj);
}
this.Cursor = Cursors.Default;
}
}
}
You need to add a reference to the System.Management.Automation assembly. If you have installed the Windows/.NET SDK that should be in ProgramFiles\ReferenceAssemblies\Microsoft\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0. You will also need a couple of using statememets:
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.Management.Automation;
using System.Management.Automation.Runspaces;
Related
TLDW: To support a specific process I need to go from a powershell instances/module to kick off a known safe executable for some c# magic, which then in turn needs to kick and execute a powershell script before exiting.
Powershell Entry point
{
Known Good Exe
{
Powershell Work To Do
}
}
Now ideally, this would all run from a single console instance so that all of the output is simple to look at. The exe -> powershell logging all works fine and as expected when using powershell.Streams.... The write-hosts in the powershell work all show up in the console and I get all the info I want.
powerShell.Streams.Information.DataAdded += LogMessage;
The problem comes when the outer powershell module is introduced. This one is needed because the parent process and execution environment this is running from is powershell. Once this whole stack is started from within a powershell instance, I get console logging from the outer powershell, and from the exe. BUT all of the write-hosts from the inner powershell modules disappear.
I've tried disabling the stream redirects, and a few other things, but this isn't resolving in the manner I would hope. I'm hoping someone knows if there is a way to get this to work as it solves so many problems if it just would.
PowerShell Outer:
$C#Exe = Join-Path $PSScriptRoot $C#ExePath
$C#Args = #()
Write-Host "Hello world" # will show up
& $C#Exe $C#Args
C# Exe Code:
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Hello world"); #Will show up
var powerShell = PowerShell.Create().AddScript("PowerShellInner.ps1");
powerShell.Streams.Information.DataAdded += LogMessage<InformationRecord>;
powerShell.Streams.Warning.DataAdded += LogMessage<WarningRecord>;
powerShell.Streams.Error.DataAdded += LogMessage<ErrorRecord>;
powerShell.Streams.Verbose.DataAdded += LogMessage<VerboseRecord>;
powerShell.Streams.Debug.DataAdded += LogMessage<DebugRecord>;
StringBuilder resultString = new StringBuilder();
foreach (dynamic item in powerShell.Invoke().ToList())
{
resultString.AppendLine(item.ToString());
}
Console.WriteLine(resultString.ToString());
}
private static void LogMessage<T>(object sender, DataAddedEventArgs e)
{
var data = (sender as PSDataCollection<T>)[e.Index];
Console.WriteLine($"[{typeof(T).Name}] {Convert.ToString(data)}");
}
PowerShell Inner:
Write-Host "Hello world" #Wont show up
UPDATE on 1/22/2020
I can't fully explain why you're experiencing what you're seeing, but the following code works.
Output from executing PowerShellOuter.ps1
Code
Notes:
Your c# program doesn't show any code manipulating input arguments,
so I didn't model any input args
You mis-used the AddScript method. It needs the text of the script, not the script name
The code below assumes that the c# exe and the two PS scripts are in the same folder
In PowerShellInner.ps1, use write-output. write-host does not output data to PowerShell Objectflow Engine but rather, as the name implies, writes directly to the host and sends nothing to the PowerShell engine to be forwarded to commands later in the pipeline. See Write-Output or Write-Host in PowerShell
PowerShellOuter.ps1
cls
$CSharpExe = Join-Path $PSScriptRoot "PowerShellExecutionSample.exe"
Write-Host "Hello from PowerShellOuter.ps1"
&$CSharpExe
pause
PowerShellInner.ps1
Write-Output "Hello from PowerShellInner.ps1"
Code for PowerShellExecutionSample.exe
using System;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.IO;
using System.Management.Automation;
namespace PowerShellExecutionSample
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
PowerShellExecutor t = new PowerShellExecutor();
t.ExecuteSynchronously();
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Provides PowerShell script execution examples
/// </summary>
class PowerShellExecutor
{
public void ExecuteSynchronously()
{
using (PowerShell PowerShellInstance = PowerShell.Create())
{
//You mis-used the AddScript method. It needs the text of the script, not the script name
string scriptText = File.ReadAllText(string.Format(#"{0}\PowerShellInner.ps1", Environment.CurrentDirectory));
PowerShellInstance.AddScript(scriptText);
Collection <PSObject> PSOutput = PowerShellInstance.Invoke();
// loop through each output object item
foreach (PSObject outputItem in PSOutput)
{
// if null object was dumped to the pipeline during the script then a null
// object may be present here. check for null to prevent potential NRE.
if (outputItem != null)
{
Console.WriteLine(outputItem.BaseObject.ToString() + "\n");
}
}
}
}
}
}
Original Answer on 1/21/2020
Updating your question to break out your code out helped - thanks.
I think you have two issues:
1) Modify your c# program to obtain the streams coming from PowerShell Inner and make your c# program re-emit the data from the PowerShell Inner output streams. Here is a Microsoft blog entry I used to crack the same nut: Executing PowerShell scripts from C#
2) Modify your PowerShell Outer to obtain the streams coming from the c# program. Here is a blog entry that seems to crack that nut: How to redirect output of console program to a file in PowerShell. The heart of this is to execute the following from your PowerShell Outer:
cmd /c XXX.exe ^>log.txt 2^>^&1
Note: The ^ are really backticks
I have a desktop application written in c#, and this application enables users to create the folder on their machine Hard drive . on windows 7 and 8, The App creates a shortcut for this folder under Favorit menu on the left side of windows Explorer window.
In windows 10 there is no Favorite menu, it was replaced by Quick access menu, and if you right click on the folder you can choose to Pin folder for quick access.
To do this programmatically from inside c# code, I found a .exe that can execute the Pin action as if the user clicked on the menu item to pin the folder
I got it from here http://www.maddogsw.com/cmdutils/
The problem is this exe does not contain an option for Unpin the folder from quick access so i will not be able to remove the shortcut from the quick access menu unless if I deleted it and I don't want to do that.
I tried to find the shortcut file and I found it in this path
%AppData%\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations
but there is no mapping between this file shortcut and the file itself. and at the same time when I delete the files from this path, all the Pinned folders shortcut delete from the quick access not only my shortcut.
anyone can help in this ??
Do I need to know if there is any command that I can use it to Pin\Unpin folders to quick access from the command prompt?
I know it's a bit late, but I've found a way to do it and thought maybe someone could still use this.
So as was mentioned by Bradley Uffner, there is no API for this to avoid the constant abuse of such APIs. But there is still a (rather ugly) way to do it!
I'm no expert in PowerShell, but I found a way to do it using PowerShell:
# To add 'C:\path\to\folder' to quick access:
$qa = New-Object -ComObject shell.application
$qa.NameSpace('C:\path\to\folder').Self.InvokeVerb("pintohome")
# To remove 'C:\path\to\folder' from quick access:
($qa.Namespace("shell:::{679F85CB-0220-4080-B29B-5540CC05AAB6}").Items() | Where-Object { $_.Path -EQ 'C:\path\to\folder' }).InvokeVerb("unpinfromhome")
Which finally led me to the solution using C#:
using System.Management.Automation;
using System.Management.Automation.Runspaces
private static void AddFolderToQuickAccess(string pathToFolder)
{
using (var runspace = RunspaceFactory.CreateRunspace())
{
runspace.Open();
var ps = PowerShell.Create();
var shellApplication =
ps.AddCommand("New-Object").AddParameter("ComObject", "shell.application").Invoke();
dynamic nameSpace = shellApplication.FirstOrDefault()?.Methods["NameSpace"].Invoke(pathToFolder);
nameSpace?.Self.InvokeVerb("pintohome");
}
}
private static void RemoveFolderFromQuickAccess(string pathToFolder)
{
using (var runspace = RunspaceFactory.CreateRunspace())
{
runspace.Open();
var ps = PowerShell.Create();
var removeScript =
$"((New-Object -ComObject shell.application).Namespace(\"shell:::{{679f85cb-0220-4080-b29b-5540cc05aab6}}\").Items() | Where-Object {{ $_.Path -EQ \"{pathToFolder}\" }}).InvokeVerb(\"unpinfromhome\")";
ps.AddScript(removeScript);
ps.Invoke();
}
}
NOTE: For this to work, you need to add a reference to System.Management.Automation which can easily be obtained as a nuget.
I have a bunch of powershell commands within c# however one is returning 0 results and I just cant figure it out, so with the power of the internet I am hoping you guys have an answer.
My c# code running the power is as follows
internal static List<ExchangeMailboxes> ExchangeMailboxList(string snapIn)
{
List<ExchangeMailboxes> data = new List<ExchangeMailboxes>();
StringBuilder stringBuild = new StringBuilder();
stringBuild.AppendLine("$script:WarningPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'");
stringBuild.AppendLine(
"Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited | Get-MailboxStatistics | Select DisplayName,#{name='TotalItemSize';expression={[math]::Round((($_.TotalItemSize.Value.ToString()).Split('(')[1].Split(' ')[0].Replace(',','')/1GB),2)}},#{name='TotalDeletedItemSize';expression={[math]::Round((($_.TotalDeletedItemSize.Value.ToString()).Split('(')[1].Split(' ')[0].Replace(',','')/1GB),2)}}");
using (PowerShell inst = PowerShell.Create())
{
inst.AddScript("Add-PSSnapin " + snapIn)
.AddScript(stringBuild.ToString());
Collection<PSObject> results = inst.Invoke();
foreach (PSObject obj in results)
{
data.Add(new ExchangeMailboxes()
{
Name = obj.Members["DisplayName"].Value.ToString(),
InboxSize = obj.Members["TotalItemSize"].Value.ToString(),
DeletedSize = obj.Members["TotalDeletedItemSize"].Value.ToString()
});
}
}
return data;
}
I can confirm that the snapin is loading correctly and if I run the powershell command manually it is all fine and I con confirm there are no rights issues
here is the powershell command in its raw format
Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited | Get-MailboxStatistics | Select DisplayName,#{name='TotalItemSize';expression={[math]::Round((($_.TotalItemSize.Value.ToString()).Split('(')[1].Split(' ')[0].Replace(',','')/1GB),2)}},#{name='TotalDeletedItemSize';expression={[math]::Round((($_.TotalDeletedItemSize.Value.ToString()).Split('(')[1].Split(' ')[0].Replace(',','')/1GB),2)}}
The recommended way to interact with Exchange 2010 and newer is to open a session to http://servername/powershell using the microsoft.exchange configuration:
$ExSession = New-PSSession –ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange –ConnectionUri ‘http://ExServer1.contoso.com/PowerShell/?SerializationLevel=Full’ -Credential $Credentials –Authentication Kerberos
I've never tried remoting from c# code, but I guess it shouldn't be any different than what your doing now (except for the powershell code itself, of course). Since you're interacting with various "size" attributes in Exchange, it is still recommended to have the management tools installed locally, otherwise those values don't serialize/deserialize properly (you'll find other posts on serverfault on that topic).
I am looking to replace a Virtual Box solution with MS Hyper-V since I have had many problems with non-Reproducible issues in my automated test-suite using Virtual Box. I have a Windows 8.1 computer I will be using to run the tests on.
The current Virtual Box flow:
Start a VM
Reset snapshot
Use C# to transfer files to Guest OS through the network
Use Virtual Box to trigger the transferred .exe file to start automated tests.
I see people using Powershell Scripts and WMI to start and stop their Hyper-V VMs, but I don't see any way to trigger the transferred files on the Guest OS.
Am I missing an API that I can use? Otherwise how could I trigger the EXE on the guest OS programmatically?
I ended up using System.Management.Automation.PowerShell. I will share the main code chunk I used to do each step so future users can get help.
The Main Code Chunk
var ps = PowerShell.Create();
//Restore Snapshots
ps.AddCommand("Restore-VMSnapshot");
ps.AddParameter("Name", snapshot);
ps.AddParameter("VMName", vmName);
ps.AddParameter("Confirm", false);
ps.Invoke();
ps.Commands.Clear();
//Start VM
ps.AddCommand("Start-VM");
ps.AddParameter("Name", vmName);
ps.Invoke();
ps.Commands.Clear();
//Get IP
string[] ipValues = null;
do
{
ps.AddCommand("Get-VMNetworkAdapter");
ps.AddParameter("VMName", vmName);
var ips = ps.Invoke();
ps.Commands.Clear();
if (ips.Count > 0)
{
ipValues = (string[])ips[0].Members["IPAddresses"].Value;
}
} while (ipValues.Length ==0);
string ip = ipValues[0];
//Move Exe to VM
File.Copy(#"...", "\\\\" + ip + "\\Users\\Public\\Documents\\...", true);
//Run Program
ps.AddScript("$Username = '...'; $Password = '...' ;$ComputerName = '"+ip+"' ;"+
"$Script = {Start-Process C:\\Users\\Public\\Documents\\....exe} ;$secpasswd = ConvertTo-SecureString $Password -AsPlainText -Force ;"+
"$mycreds = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential ($Username, $secpasswd) ;"+
" $Session = New-PSSession -ComputerName $ComputerName -credential $mycreds ; Invoke-Command -Session $Session -Scriptblock $Script");
var passwords = ps.Invoke();
ps.Commands.Clear();
Notes
The //GetIP section is a do{}while() cause the IP takes a while to be query-able.
There is alot of pre-work required with the host computer and VMs to make this system function, which I will not get into here as google explains those parts better than me.
The flow is designed to match another system which uses Virtual Box, so it may seems a bit inefficient.
This obviously needs to be modified to fit each situation, but should be a good starting point for Hyper-V Automation.
A very usefull PowerShell CmdLet to transfert files to VM is Copy-VMFile.
Syntax is explained here :
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn464282.aspx
Hope this helps !
I am currently developing an application in C# (.NET 4.0) that should have as a part of its functionality the ability to determine the percentage of fragmentation on a particular volume. All the other features have been tested and are working fine but I’ve hit a snag trying to access this data. I would ideally prefer to use WMI as this matches the format I’m using for the other features but at this point I’m willing to use anything that can be efficiently integrated into the application, even if I have to use RegEx to filter the data. I am currently doing the development on a Windows 7 Professional (x64) machine. I have tested the following Powershell snippet using Administrator rights and it works flawlessly.
$drive = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Volume -Namespace root\CIMV2 -ComputerName . | Where-Object { $_.DriveLetter -eq 'D:' }
$drive.DefragAnalysis().DefragAnalysis
This is the method I’m using in C# to accomplish the same thing, but the InvokeMethod keeps returning 11 (0xB).
public static Fragmentation GetVolumeFragmentationAnalysis(string drive)
{
//Fragmenation object initialization removed for simplicity
try
{
ConnectionOptions mgmtConnOptions = new ConnectionOptions { EnablePrivileges = true };
ManagementScope scope = new ManagementScope(new ManagementPath(string.Format(#"\\{0}\root\CIMV2", Environment.MachineName)), mgmtConnOptions);
ObjectQuery query = new ObjectQuery(string.Format(#"SELECT * FROM Win32_Volume WHERE Name = '{0}\\'", drive));
scope.Connect();
using (ManagementObjectSearcher searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(scope, query))
{
object[] outputArgs = new object[2];
foreach (ManagementObject moVolume in searcher.Get())
{
// Execution stops at this line as the result is always 11
UInt32 result = (UInt32)moVolume.InvokeMethod("DefragAnalysis", outputArgs);
if (result == 0)
{
Console.WriteLine("Defrag Needed: = {0}\n", outputArgs[0]);
ManagementBaseObject mboDefragAnalysis = outputArgs[1] as ManagementBaseObject;
if (null != mboDefragAnalysis)
{
Console.WriteLine(mboDefragAnalysis["TotalPercentFragmentation"].ToString());
}
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("Return Code: = {0}", result);
}
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine("Could not acquire fragmentation data.\n" + ex);
}
return result;
}
I have even added the following line to the app.manifest but still nothing.
<requestedExecutionLevel level="requireAdministrator" uiAccess="false" />
Could somebody please tell me what I’m overlooking? Failure is not an option for me on this, so if it cannot be done using C# I don’t mind creating a DLL in another language (even if I have to learn it), that will give me the results I need. Ideally the application should be able work on any OS from XP upwards and must be totally transparent to the user.
These are the resources I have already used. I wanted to add the jeffrey_wall blog on msdn as well but as a new user I can only add 2 hyperlinks at a time. Thanks again.
http://www.codeproject.com/Messages/2901324/Re-the-result-of-DefragAnalysis-method-in-csharp.aspx
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/vi-VN/winserverfiles/thread/9d56bfad-dcf5-4258-90cf-4ba9247200da
Try building your application targeting 'Any CPU' - on the Build tab of the project properties. I suspect you're using a target of x86. I get the same error code on my Win7 x64 machine if I do that.
In fact, running your PowerShell snippet in the x86 version of PowerShell gives an empty set of results, too.
You get the same error if you run either piece of code without full Administrator privileges, as you've found, so also ensure your app.manifest is correct. A UAC prompt is a handy hint that it's taking effect!
No idea why this WMI query doesn't like running under WoW64, I'm afraid, but hopefully this will give you a head-start.
You could simply call the PowerShell command you mentioned in your post, since you said the PowerShell code works. From C# you would want to follow this workflow:
Instantiate a PowerShell RunSpace
Open the RunSpace
Add a script to the Commands property
Invoke the command list
Here is an example of how to achieve this, and process the resulting object output.
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/18229/How-to-run-PowerShell-scripts-from-C
For Windows XP and Windows Vista, you would have to ensure that PowerShell was installed on each of the systems you want to run your program on. Not a bad prerequisite to have, but something to keep in mind as a dependency.
Hope this helps.
The 32-bit WMI provider for Win32_Volume doesn't seem to be able to start the defragsvc for whatever reason. You can force the 64-bit WMI provider even in a 32-bit client running under WOW64 by changing your code to add an additional WMI connection option:
ConnectionOptions mgmtConnOptions = new ConnectionOptions {
EnablePrivileges = true,
Context = new ManagementNamedValueCollection() {
{ "__ProviderArchitecture", 64 }
}
};