Shell and output redirection

General
#1

hello - a bit new to xojo (but do have other language experience) so please bear with me…

I am trying to work with the shell class to execute psexec (of the PsTools suite which you can google if you are not familiar) and also redirect psexecs remote output to a file. This is done via normal command line by the following (with some additional flags that may not be necessary - but still work):
psexec.exe \\COMPUTERNAME -u USERNAME -p PASSWORD -s -h -accepteula -nobanner cmd.exe /c dir >>c:\temp\remote.log
This command will do a directory listing on a remote computer and output that directory listing to c:\temp\remote.log

However, if I run the following code in xojo - it only outputs the first line:
Dim s as Shell
s = New Shell
s.Mode = 0
s.TimeOut = -1
s.Execute(“psexec.exe \\COMPUTERNAME -u USERNAME -p PASSWORD -s -h -accepteula -nobanner cmd.exe /c dir >>c:\temp\remote.log”)

I am assuming that the “shell” that xojo uses is not exactly the legit windows shell and it cannot handle the >> redirection properly. Would it be possible for someone else to confirm this for me? Or perhaps suggest another way that I can use output redirection with psexec. Psexec is a bit different than other tools because it has both local output and remote output. I can very easily capture the local output with s.Result but very much need to rely on >> to capture the remote output. Any help is much appreciated!

#2

(As an aid to us, please use the [code] tag to make code easier to read.)

I wonder if this is simply a timeout issue. What happens if you set the Shell’s TimeOut property to -1 (no timeout)?

#3

Can you capture the result of the shell command with .result and do the redirection by writing a file yourself?

#4

Kem - as you can see in the original post, I am already setting the timeout property to -1 (s.TimeOut = -1) so I don’t think it is a timeout issue.

#5

Beatrix - capturing .result and NOT using the >> redirection only seems to capture the first line of the REMOTE output - but it does capture all of the LOCAL output - for example:

the local output might look something like this:

Connecting to 192.168.1.26... Starting PSEXESVC service on 192.168.1.26... Connecting with PsExec service on 192.168.1.26... Starting cmd.exe on 192.168.1.26... cmd.exe exited on 192.168.1.26 with error code 0.
NOTE: all of this output is captured correctly and fully

While the remote output looks like this:

Volume in drive C has no label.

NOTE: only the FIRST LINE of this output is captured - this is the first line that you would see if you issued the “dir” command - and the rest of the output is MIA

I assume this might either have to do with how PSEXEC handles its remote output or how xojo uses the shell. Either way I was hopefully that maybe someone else might of had experience specifically with working with PSEXEC inside of xojo or maybe other tips with how to handle shell output.

#6

Try creating a batch file then executing that from your shell.

#7

Wayne - tried that as well and I get the same output as above. But the batch file works perfectly when I launch it myself outside of xojo - very odd!

#8

Isnt this TWO statements?

psexec.exe \\\\COMPUTERNAME -u USERNAME -p PASSWORD -s -h -accepteula -nobanner

and

cmd.exe /c dir

does it work if you execute these separately, into two different output files?

#9

What happens if you use the Shell in Mode 1, and use the DataAvailable event to capture the output (into a text area or something). Does it capture only the first line, or does it capture all of it?

#10

Is there some switch in psexec.exe to wait for remote process to complete.
It might be that xojo stops when psexec stops, but remote is not ready…

#11

You might try this instead for windows.

 dim s as new OLEObject("WScript.Shell")
dim s1 as OLEObject = s.run(CommandString)
#12

[quote=305801:@Mike Klemens]Dim s as Shell
s = New Shell
s.Mode = 0
s.TimeOut = -1
s.Execute(“psexec.exe \\COMPUTERNAME -u USERNAME -p PASSWORD -s -h -accepteula -nobanner cmd.exe /c dir >>c:\temp\remote.log”)[/quote]

Unless psexec.exe is next to your executable, you need to precede it with the full path.

Xojo shell does not use the path environment variable like the command prompt does.

#13

Have you looked at s.Result or s.ErrorCode to see if there’s an error?

#14

Darn it, I missed that. Sorry.

#15

[quote=305825:@Jeff Tullin]Isnt this TWO statements?

psexec.exe \\\\COMPUTERNAME -u USERNAME -p PASSWORD -s -h -accepteula -nobanner

and

cmd.exe /c dir

does it work if you execute these separately, into two different output files?[/quote]
Jeff - Nope - its actually one giant statement - you set certain flags with psexec to execute a specific command on a remote computer. The remote command we are executing is “cmd.exe /c dir” but all of this is written as one statement.

#16

[quote=305827:@Jukka Leino]Is there some switch in psexec.exe to wait for remote process to complete.
It might be that xojo stops when psexec stops, but remote is not ready…[/quote]
Jukka - nope - not that I am aware of - it might be that the way it returns data makes xojo think that after the first line it is done.

#17

[quote=305837:@Michel Bujardet]Unless psexec.exe is next to your executable, you need to precede it with the full path.

Xojo shell does not use the path environment variable like the command prompt does.[/quote]
Michel - for ease of this demo, I have actually put the psexec.exe with my app. But yes I am also using full paths and it is actually executing the psexec.exe - just not fully returning everything.

#18

Greg - Yup I did and no error - however, I was experiencing a timeout earlier (before I knew about the timeout property) - is there a listing somewhere for ALL the shell error codes and their meanings? Might be something good to have for reference in the future.

#19

[quote=305831:@Neil Burkholder]You might try this instead for windows.

dim s as new OLEObject("WScript.Shell") dim s1 as OLEObject = s.run(CommandString) [/quote]
Neil - this is an interesting approach that I am giving a try - a cmd window opens over the app to run psexec but I am not sure if its timing out or throwing an error before it finishes but I do capture the following OLEException error - “No automation server present” - Any ideas?

#20

Langue - just tried this as well - still only capturing the first line.