programmatically run cmd.exe as administrator in vista, C#

Question

I have a visual studio setup and deployment project. I've added a .cmd script in it. The script would need administrator privileges to run. When user clicks on the setup.exe, UAC prompts the user for Admin permissions. So I assumed that all processes created and called within setup.exe will run in admin capacity. So I made the setup call my console application which contains the following code.

ProcessStartInfo p1 = new ProcessStartInfo();
p1.UseShellExecute = true;
p1.Verb = "runas";
p1.FileName = "cmd.exe";
Process.Start(p1);

So it should've worked as it's run under administrator space.

I want to run cmd.exe through c# process class as an administrator.I'm running windows vista.

I tried didn't work! What can I do?

score 10 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 23 '15 at 17:56

10

Try executing the runas command:

...

using System.Diagnostics;

...

string UserName = "user name goes here";
ProcessStartInfo p1 = new ProcessStartInfo();
  p1.FileName = "runas";
  p1.Arguments = String.Format("/env /u:{0} cmd", UserName);
Process.Start(p1);

...

(And I don't think you need an explicit UseShellExecute)

edited Feb 23 '15 at 17:56

umlcat

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answered Mar 20 '09 at 18:32

Lucas Jones

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i want to impersonate the adminstrator. Like it happens in setup.exe automatically. This one asks for password! – Anirudh Goel Mar 20 '09 at 18:36
4

Did you expect a different result when you try to impersonate an administrator? Otherwise anyone executing code can be an administrator without knowing the password. Doesn't that strike you as a significant security risk? – John Feminella Mar 20 '09 at 18:39
i'l rephrase the question. please have a look and comment on it. – Anirudh Goel Mar 20 '09 at 18:42
You meant the UAC prompt? Oh.. :) I'm not sure about that. – Lucas Jones Mar 22 '09 at 13:41
@lucas, any chance you could provide a link or article that explains this in a bit more detail??? – IbrarMumtaz Aug 07 '10 at 17:55

score 6 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 23 '15 at 17:40

6

Just Try this, This worked for Me.

...

using System.Diagnostics;

...

ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
  startInfo.UseShellExecute = true;            
  startInfo.Verb = "runas";
  startInfo.Arguments = "/env /user:" + "Administrator" + " cmd";
Process.Start(startInfo);

...

Ashutosh

edited Feb 23 '15 at 17:40

umlcat

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3
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answered May 18 '09 at 15:03

Thanku so much for sharing your knowledge . The above code is working for me , but I want to execute "uwfmgr volume protect C:" this command from the cmd how can i do this using ur code – Apoorva Asthana Aug 24 '19 at 06:10

programmatically run cmd.exe as administrator in vista, C#

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