What is a good pattern for using a Global Mutex in C#?

The Mutex class is very misunderstood, and Global mutexes even more so.

What is good, safe pattern to use when creating Global mutexes?

One that will work

• Regardless of the locale my machine is in
• Is guaranteed to release the mutex properly
• Optionally does not hang forever if the mutex is not acquired
• Deals with cases where other processes abandon the mutex

Solution 1:

I want to make sure this is out there, because it's so hard to get right:

using System.Runtime.InteropServices;   //GuidAttribute
using System.Reflection;                //Assembly
using System.Threading;                 //Mutex
using System.Security.AccessControl;    //MutexAccessRule
using System.Security.Principal;        //SecurityIdentifier

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    // get application GUID as defined in AssemblyInfo.cs
    string appGuid =
        ((GuidAttribute)Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().
            GetCustomAttributes(typeof(GuidAttribute), false).
                GetValue(0)).Value.ToString();

    // unique id for global mutex - Global prefix means it is global to the machine
    string mutexId = string.Format( "Global\\{{{0}}}", appGuid );

    // Need a place to store a return value in Mutex() constructor call
    bool createdNew;

    // edited by Jeremy Wiebe to add example of setting up security for multi-user usage
    // edited by 'Marc' to work also on localized systems (don't use just "Everyone") 
    var allowEveryoneRule =
        new MutexAccessRule( new SecurityIdentifier( WellKnownSidType.WorldSid
                                                   , null)
                           , MutexRights.FullControl
                           , AccessControlType.Allow
                           );
    var securitySettings = new MutexSecurity();
    securitySettings.AddAccessRule(allowEveryoneRule);

   // edited by MasonGZhwiti to prevent race condition on security settings via VanNguyen
    using (var mutex = new Mutex(false, mutexId, out createdNew, securitySettings))
    {
        // edited by acidzombie24
        var hasHandle = false;
        try
        {
            try
            {
                // note, you may want to time out here instead of waiting forever
                // edited by acidzombie24
                // mutex.WaitOne(Timeout.Infinite, false);
                hasHandle = mutex.WaitOne(5000, false);
                if (hasHandle == false)
                    throw new TimeoutException("Timeout waiting for exclusive access");
            }
            catch (AbandonedMutexException)
            {
                // Log the fact that the mutex was abandoned in another process,
                // it will still get acquired
                hasHandle = true;
            }

            // Perform your work here.
        }
        finally
        {
            // edited by acidzombie24, added if statement
            if(hasHandle)
                mutex.ReleaseMutex();
        }
    }
}

Solution 2:

Using the accepted answer I create a helper class so you could use it in a similar way you would use the Lock statement. Just thought I'd share.

Use:

using (new SingleGlobalInstance(1000)) //1000ms timeout on global lock
{
    //Only 1 of these runs at a time
    RunSomeStuff();
}

And the helper class:

class SingleGlobalInstance : IDisposable
{
    //edit by user "jitbit" - renamed private fields to "_"
    public bool _hasHandle = false;
    Mutex _mutex;

    private void InitMutex()
    {
        string appGuid = ((GuidAttribute)Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetCustomAttributes(typeof(GuidAttribute), false).GetValue(0)).Value;
        string mutexId = string.Format("Global\\{{{0}}}", appGuid);
        _mutex = new Mutex(false, mutexId);

        var allowEveryoneRule = new MutexAccessRule(new SecurityIdentifier(WellKnownSidType.WorldSid, null), MutexRights.FullControl, AccessControlType.Allow);
        var securitySettings = new MutexSecurity();
        securitySettings.AddAccessRule(allowEveryoneRule);
        _mutex.SetAccessControl(securitySettings);
    }

    public SingleGlobalInstance(int timeOut)
    {
        InitMutex();
        try
        {
            if(timeOut < 0)
                _hasHandle = _mutex.WaitOne(Timeout.Infinite, false);
            else
                _hasHandle = _mutex.WaitOne(timeOut, false);

            if (_hasHandle == false)
                throw new TimeoutException("Timeout waiting for exclusive access on SingleInstance");
        }
        catch (AbandonedMutexException)
        {
            _hasHandle = true;
        }
    }


    public void Dispose()
    {
        if (_mutex != null)
        {
            if (_hasHandle)
                _mutex.ReleaseMutex();
            _mutex.Close();
        }
    }
}

Solution 3:

This example will exit after 5 seconds if another instance is already running.

// unique id for global mutex - Global prefix means it is global to the machine
const string mutex_id = "Global\\{B1E7934A-F688-417f-8FCB-65C3985E9E27}";

static void Main(string[] args)
{

    using (var mutex = new Mutex(false, mutex_id))
    {
        try
        {
            try
            {
                if (!mutex.WaitOne(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5), false))
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Another instance of this program is running");
                    Environment.Exit(0);
                }
            }
            catch (AbandonedMutexException)
            {
                // Log the fact the mutex was abandoned in another process, it will still get aquired
            }

            // Perform your work here.
        }
        finally
        {
            mutex.ReleaseMutex();
        }
    }
}