terminal services/ console session
seanact
anywhere- that is, to remotely administer a computer at another
location?
I know I can get close to this with normal Terminal Services
operation, but the problem I'm having is this:
I am running a Windows NT service that automatically restarts a
program when the service recognizes that the program has terminated.
Unfortunately, the service always starts the program up in the console
session, which can't be remotely controlled or monitored through
terminal services. Is there any way to remotely control the console
session, or to make the service start up a terminal services session
first and then launch the program in that context?
Maxim S. Shatskih
PC
> anywhere- that is, to remotely administer a computer at another
> location?
Yes.
> Unfortunately, the service always starts the program up in the
console
> session
Kill the service and start the program manually on the terminal you
use.
You have a very strange design. If you want some running code to be
controllable from many user desktops - then write a service.
Max
seanact
This would defeat the purpose. I want the program to be started up
automatically whenever it isn't running, even if no one is logged into
the server. This program itself is not a service (and cannot be made
into one), but I want it to behave like one. To accomplish this, we
wrote a "wrapper" service, which does nothing but start the program
when the wrapper finds that the program is not running.
> You have a very strange design. If you want some running code to be
> controllable from many user desktops - then write a service.
Perhaps the design is strange, but I can't think of an alternative. As
I said, I can't make the program itself into a service. All I want to
do is have this program start automatically upon reboot, and then be
able to administer the running of the program remotely with Terminal
Services if the program runs into problems. This is easy with PC
Anywhere. Can I do it with Terminal Services?
Maxim S. Shatskih
> Services if the program runs into problems. This is easy with PC
Sorry, you have added a fake service like SVCANY which will run your
app in the service context. OK. Then forget about any chances of
seeing its UI - it runs on invisible "service desktop" - TS or no TS.
Write a proper service and control it, say, via COM. Often, things
must be done properly - or cannot be done at all.
In NT, service (or SVCANY-like fake) is the only way of running the
user-mode process in the absense of the logged on interactive user. In
this case, you will not have any access to its UI.
Well, OK, you can cheat NT, switch the desktop and show the visible UI
from a service - but it is a bad way, and bad in security terms
primarily. Microsoft-supplied services never do this.
Max
seanact
Well, I do get to see the application's UI in the console session, and
I do get to see the application's UI when I use PC Anywhere. I'm not
sure what you mean by "invisible service desktop"- the console session
is not invisible, and it displays the UI the way I want it to. I just
can't see it remotely in a Terminal Services session.
> Well, OK, you can cheat NT, switch the desktop and show the visible UI
> from a service - but it is a bad way, and bad in security terms
> primarily. Microsoft-supplied services never do this.
How can I do this? I know that it is "bad", and that Microsoft
services don't do this, but it might be my only option in the short
term. Writing a "proper service and controlling it through COM" isn't
something I can do given my current time constraints. Any help you can
provide would be appreciated.
Ziv Caspi
>Is there any way to remotely control the console
>session, or to make the service start up a terminal services session
>first and then launch the program in that context?
Am I missing something? Does not "mstsc /console /v:my-server" do what
you want?
Ziv