how to open remote desktop connection using robot framework? - robotframework

How do i achieve below using robot framework. SSHLibrary is not of any help
Using Remote Desktop, log into the web server. Using Windows Explorer navigate to the /folder1 for the web (for instance, \abc\W\india\1.exe). Doubleclick on the executable file: 1.exe
Is it even possible ?

Using Microsoft SysInternals PsExec you can open a terminal session to a windows box and execute commands like you would normally.

I would write a batch or powershell script that does what you want, and then write a robot framework keyword that calls that batch or powershell script.

The preceding answers by Bryan Oakley and A. Kootstra are what I would go for.
If you specifically need to interact with a Windows GUI application, you might want to try the Robot Framework AutoIT Library. AutoIT works pretty well for Windows GUI apps and is a whole language (BASIC-style) to itself. Otherwise, if it can be done via command-line, I'd go with one of their answers.

I believe, besides robot framework. SSHLibrary you need to install a SSH server in the remote windows machine https://serverfault.com/questions/8411/what-is-a-good-ssh-server-to-use-on-windows
hope that helps

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Run GUI application as part of BuildMaster deploy

I need to run a GUI application as part of BuildMaster deploy. Currently I added a PowerShell action that launches that application. The problem is the process is started but there is no GUI. I guess it is caused by the fact BuildMaster agent (that executes the PowerShell script) is a Windows Service. Is there any way to resolve it?
A Windows Service cannot launch applications with a GUI (as of Windows Vista / Server 2008 and newer at least), as they run in session 0 and will never be seen by an actual user. You might be able to hack around this by setting the "Interact With Desktop" flag, but that isn't really recommended at this point.
Is it possible to re-architect the application that has to be run into something that doesn't present a GUI and instead accepts command-line arguments?

Shell.Invoke doesn't launch the powershell script in deployed asp.net web application

I wrote an asp.net web application, which launches a powershell script. The program ran without any issue when I debugged it in my development environment. After publishing and deploying the asp.net web application (by the way the target server is the same machine localhost), by clicking the button for launching the powershell script, nothing happened. It means the powershell script was not launched. I attached the debugger to the deployed asp.net and saw that the Shell.Invoke() was hit as before and the command was also correct. However Shell.Invoke() returned immediately and the powershell script was not launched. In my environment the powershell execution policy is RemoteSigned.
Since the program in the development environment works perfectly and in the deployed case also hits the same code, I don't think it has to do with the code but more with security, certification,...???
Has anyone experienced the same? If yes, please advise me what I should do.
I appreciate your help in advance.
Thx
Might have something to do with the application pool identity not having the right permissions:
You might want to run your PowerShell invocation from a system service with explicit permissions though. That will take a steeper curve though.

Why would installation method affect .NET service?

I have built a WCF service that is hosted in a Windows Service following this article: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms733069.aspx. Part of what the code in the service does is join a multicast group and listen for data that is broadcast to the group. Then it processes it. I have found that when I install the service manually using InstallUtil it works fine. To install it manually I do the following:
Build the MyService project in Visual Studio.
Right click on the Visual Studio Command Prompt and choose Run As Administrator
Navigate to the folder that has the MyService.exe file
Run the InstallUtil command as follows: installutil.exe MyService.exe
The service installs in Windows fine and then I start it. Then I run my ASP.NET application which is the client for the service and it runs fine. The service receives and processes the data just fine.
However I am trying to use Advanced Installer to build an MSI or EXE that will install the service and the ASP.NET application all at once so it doesn't have to be done manually. I am able to successfully create the Advanced Installer project that does this and it actually installs both the ASP.NET application and the Windows Service just fine and it starts my Windows Service too. However the really strange thing is that when I run the application I find that my service code can not receive any multicast data. It seems to block on that line of code and I never get any data. Does anyone know why this would happen? I have tried using an EXE and using "Run As Administrator" when I do the Advanced Installer installation. Here is the code from my service.
_groupAddress = IPAddress.Parse(_myIPAddress);
_listener = new UdpClient(_myPort);
_groupEP = new IPEndPoint(_groupAddress, _myPort);
_listener.JoinMulticastGroup(_groupAddress);
byte[] _bytes = _listener.Receive(ref _groupEP);
It seems to block on that last line of code and it never receives any data. This only happens when I install using Advanced Installer. When I install manually it works fine.
A service is configured to run under the identity of a user. Is this different when you install with the different methods?
Do you use the same port number in both cases, if not it could be the firewall.
99% sure that you have checked it, but check that the service is running after it is installed using advanced installer.
Check the event log for problems with the service.
It may be that your Windows Service is not running with sufficient credentials to perform this action. To test this, I'd recommend trying to change the user account being used for the service to see if that makes any difference.
To do this, go to the services applet (start, run, type services.msc). Find your service, right-click, properties, "Log On" tab, choose "This Account" and select an administrator user account that the service can run under.
I initially thought as the guys said this was a problem with the user credentials. But since you said in both cases the service is installed under the LocalSystem the problem seems to be elsewhere.
I recommend you first check the system "Events Viewer" for any messages regarding your message failing to start, maybe there you can find more information about the failure case.
If you can't find more detailed there I suggest a little bit of reverse engineering, to see what InstallUtil does and Advanced Installer doesn't, or the other way around. Advanced Installer comes along with the Repackager tool. You can use this tool to capture the system changes performed when running "InstallUtil" by providing a dummy executable to the Repackager when it is asking for the setup package, for example Notepad.
When the Repackager launches Notepad, leave it open and run your install command for the service, after the service finished installing, close Notepad and leave the repackager do its job. Then analyze the new project that it generates to see what resources has captured, like files, registry, services, etc...
You can also capture the install package create by Advanced Installer to see if the services installation from it creates less or more registration info for your service.

How to call a windows form app from ASP.net

I am trying to use activeX to start a windows form application written in C# from my ASP.net website. When I click a button I would like a new page to open up and activeX on that page would call my windows application.
I am using Visual Studio 2010. I have followed this tutorial: http://dotnetslackers.com/articles/csharp/WritingAnActiveXControlInCSharp.aspx
However, that tutorial is only for 1 C# file which you compile via console.
My questions are the following:
1.How would I compile the entire windows form project to use the /t:library and regasm?
2.I have followed this question answer to modify my windows form application: How do I create an ActiveX control (COM) in C#?. However, like in both examples, they do not have a Main method. When I tried to modify the code of my windows form app, I get the error saying the program does not have a Main method for entry if I take it out and replace it with a Launch() method. I am sure I am missing something?
3.Would I just write the java script on the new .aspx page to access the application?
P.S. I am trying to open this open source windows form application: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/239849/Multiple-face-detection-and-recognition-in-real-ti
Thank you kindly
You can not do that. It would be huge security risk to allow websites to execute arbitrary code on local machine, outside of some sandboxed environment (like JavaScript for example).
AFAIK closest thing to what you want is ClickOnce, that is a installer and use it to install your WinForms app on client machine. It's easy to make installation for project, just right click in VS and publish.
There is a solution that you may be able to use called ClickOnce.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/t71a733d%28v=vs.100%29.aspx
I've created enterprise applications that I deploy to an internet accessible location and link my users to the "publish" website that allows them to click, install, and run the application.
Keep in mind that this will install the application in addition to running it, so if part of your requirements is to not install it, then ClickOnce won't work for your scenario.
I would suggest you can create ActiveX control instead of a Windows Form. You can create it using legacy VB (VB 6.0). You can refer something like
http://www.visualbasicbooks.com/activeXtutorial.html
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ajma/archive/2004/08/12/213868.aspx

Can my asp.net application make a call to a linux server, speficially some shell script?

If I have a asp.net web app on a windows box (obviously!), and I need to execute a shell script that is on a linux server, is that possible?
How can I do this safely?
To build on what cxfx has said above your best bet might be to set up a web server on the linux box, and build a web service using, for example, php.
php allows you to run shell scripts - so by calling a web page runscript.php and then using exec (http://php.net/manual/en/function.exec.php) you could run the script.
Security is a consideration - you could restrict access to the linux web server purely to the IP address of the server hosting your asp.net site?
Hope that helps.
One way of doing it is by logging through ssh. You can use the granados C# library for it. This will let you run arbitrary commands. If what you need is to always run the same command, you can take a different approach like a CGI script (hide it with at least HTTPS and user/password).
Your best bet might be to expose the triggering of the shell script through some sort of web interface, like a secure web service.

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