System.Diagnostics.Process.Start not work from an IIS

When I run System.Diagnostics.Process.Start from my console application it works but the same code when I run from my web service hosted in IIS doesn't work.

Is it some thing to do with ASP.Net privileges?? if yes how can I configure it from my C# code.

Solution 1:

ASP.NET Web page and server control code executes in the context of the ASP.NET worker process on the Web server. If you use the Start method in an ASP.NET Web page or server control, the new process executes on the Web server with restricted permissions. The process does not start in the same context as the client browser, and does not have access to the user desktop. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0w4h05yb.aspx

- Give permission for ASP.NET worker process account

to interact with desktop or allow ASP.NET worker process to run in SYSTEM account.

To know how to allow worker process to run in SYSTEM account and to know the default permissions of ASPNET account, check this article INFO: Process and Request Identity in ASP.NET: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;317012

- Enable IIS Admin Service to interact with desktop

To configure this, follow this steps.

a. Open Control Panel and follow these steps: For Windows NT: click Services. For Windows 2000, Windows XP, and .NET Server: click Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
b. Double-click IIS Admin Service.
c. On the Log On tab, select the Allow Service to Interact with Desktop check box. Remember to run IIS Admin Service as a local system.
d. Stop and restart the IIS Admin Service.

Solution 2:

Changing the AppPool worked for me.

IIS > Application Pools
Select Advance Setting for the website
Change Identity to LocalSystem
Restart IIS

enter image description here

Solution 3:

I had a similar problem, and the ability to access the desktop from the service wasn't the problem. It worked fine when not impersonating another user, but when trying to run the process as a different user it failed. The first thing to do when it won't start is find out all the information you can about the problem. The first question is whether Process.Start returned true or false. Secondly, did you get any kind of exception when trying to start the process.

Before you can investigate fully it relevant to know whether Process.Start was run using UseShellExecute or not - this has to be false for impersonation, but otherwise you can choose whether to use it and it calls different Win32 functions depending on this setting.

If you're doing a process that needs to run as another user, don't bother trying to use .NET impersonation - the StartInfo username, password, domain are what you need to set. However, under IIS you've got some additional lockdown, and the only solution I found on Windows Server 2008 actually involved some Win32 calls and implementations of abstract security libraries. Many of the scenarios you can run into are outlined here: http://asprosys.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/perils-and-pitfalls-of-launching.html

The sample code from that page shows how to call the library and add Windows Station and Desktop access to a user before starting a process as that user. This was what I needed to get Process.Start to work from IIS, having ruled out UAC, DEP and any other three letter acronym I could think of ;)

Solution 4:

I had tried upper solutions but didn't work for me. What I need was, a command should run via Windows Command Prompt as Administration. Below the codes that didn't work but need to execute:

Process sysProcess = new Process();
sysProcess.StartInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
sysProcess.StartInfo.Verb = "runas";
sysProcess.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
sysProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
sysProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
sysProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
sysProcess.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
sysProcess.Start();
sysProcess.StandardInput.WriteLine("cal.exe");
sysProcess.StandardInput.Flush();
sysProcess.StandardInput.Close();
//localProcess.WaitForExit();
sysProcess.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();

Solution: It was an API project and when I Enable SSL from project's properties and debug tab (see, Image 1 and Image 2).

Image 1: Visual Studio 2019 enter image description here

Image 2: Visual Studio 2022 enter image description here

This solution will works on any Web App projects.