I am trying to call the CreateProcess function to execute some powershell command. The function doesnt return any errors but it doesnt execute the command (there is no file created after running the app). Here is the code.
STARTUPINFO si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si));
si.cb = sizeof(si);
ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));
// Start the child process.
if (!CreateProcess(NULL, // No module name (use command line)
const_cast<LPTSTR>(TEXT("powershell.exe -command echo Hello > D:\\out.txt")), // Command line
NULL, // Process handle not inheritable
NULL, // Thread handle not inheritable
FALSE, // Set handle inheritance to FALSE
0, // No creation flags
NULL, // Use parent's environment block
NULL, // Use parent's starting directory
&si, // Pointer to STARTUPINFO structure
&pi) // Pointer to PROCESS_INFORMATION structure
)
{
std::cout << ("CreateProcess failed (%d).\n", GetLastError());
}
WaitForSingleObject(pi.hProcess, INFINITE);
// Close process and thread handles.
CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);
CloseHandle(pi.hThread);
I have two applications (exe).
The first one (client.exe) just prints out the arguments:
#include <iostream>
int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
std::cout << "Have " << argc << " arguments:" << std::endl;
for (int i = 0; i < argc; ++i)
{
std::cout << argv[i] << std::endl;
}
return 0;
}
The second one (SandBox.exe) executes the first one with some arguments:
#include <iostream>
#include <Windows.h>
void startup(LPCTSTR lpApplicationName, LPSTR param)
{
// additional information
STARTUPINFO si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
// set the size of the structures
ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si));
si.cb = sizeof(si);
ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));
// start the program up
CreateProcess(lpApplicationName, // the path
param,//NULL,//argv[1], // Command line
NULL, // Process handle not inheritable
NULL, // Thread handle not inheritable
FALSE, // Set handle inheritance to FALSE
0, // No creation flags
NULL, // Use parent's environment block
NULL, // Use parent's starting directory
&si, // Pointer to STARTUPINFO structure
&pi // Pointer to PROCESS_INFORMATION structure
);
// Close process and thread handles.
CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);
CloseHandle(pi.hThread);
}
int main()
{
startup(TEXT("client.exe"), TEXT("client.exe thisIsMyFirstParaMeter AndTheSecond"));
return 0;
}
By executing the client.exe from the SandBox.exe, the output is very strange, and the client.exe never ends and stays in a deadlock.
What is the problem here?
I was expecting some output like (like when I run the client.exe isolated):
Thank you
Your controlling application should wait until the client exits. https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms682512(v=vs.85).aspx
// start the program up
CreateProcess(lpApplicationName, // the path
param, // Command line
NULL, // Process handle not inheritable
NULL, // Thread handle not inheritable
FALSE, // Set handle inheritance to FALSE
0, // No creation flags
NULL, // Use parent's environment block
NULL, // Use parent's starting directory
&si, // Pointer to STARTUPINFO structure
&pi // Pointer to PROCESS_INFORMATION structure
);
// Wait until child process exits.
WaitForSingleObject( pi.hProcess, INFINITE ); // <--- this
// Close process and thread handles.
CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);
CloseHandle(pi.hThread);
I use CreateProcess() to start a other programm from my C++ code.
The helppage says that it
Creates a new process and its primary thread. The new process runs in the security context of the calling process.
I would like to have it in his own thread, so the application would keep on going. Is there any simple way to do so? I am not familar with boost and Co.
My code:
bool startup(LPWSTR lpApplicationName)
{
STARTUPINFO si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
ZeroMemory( &si, sizeof(si) );
si.cb = sizeof(si);
ZeroMemory( &pi, sizeof(pi) );
// Start the child process.
if( !CreateProcess( NULL, // No module name (use command line)
lpApplicationName, // Command line
NULL, // Process handle not inheritable
NULL, // Thread handle not inheritable
FALSE, // Set handle inheritance to FALSE
0, // No creation flags
NULL, // Use parent's environment block
NULL, // Use parent's starting directory
&si, // Pointer to STARTUPINFO structure
&pi ) // Pointer to PROCESS_INFORMATION structure
)
{
printf( "CreateProcess failed (%d).\n", GetLastError() );
return false;
}
// Wait until child process exits.
WaitForSingleObject( pi.hProcess, INFINITE );
// Close process and thread handles.
CloseHandle( pi.hProcess );
CloseHandle( pi.hThread );
return true;
}
and how to call the function:
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
wchar_t path[] = L"C:\\path\\to\\paridise.exe";
startup(path);
}
Transforming the comment by ElderBug in a reply
The problem in your code is the presence of an infinite wait after the CreateProcess call:
WaitForSingleObject( pi.hProcess, INFINITE );
Just comment it and the program execution will not stop.
I also did this same error and I stumbled in this SO question; the fact is that many of us get the code from the MSDN example here (without much attention), which has in fact this infinite wait.
I just want to create a process to run a application on windows my code as below:
//init the structure
STARTUPINFOW StartupInfo;
ZeroMemory(&StartupInfo,sizeof(StartupInfo));
StartupInfo.cb = sizeof(StartupInfo);
StartupInfo.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
StartupInfo.wShowWindow = true ;
PROCESS_INFORMATION ProcessInfo;
ZeroMemory(&ProcessInfo,sizeof(ProcessInfo));
DWORD dwExitCode = 0;
LPCWSTR cmdFormat = "xxxxxx"; // this is the applocation's path
LPWSTR cmd = new wchar_t[256*sizeof(wchar_t)];
wcscpy_s(cmd, wcslen(cmdFormat)+1,cmdFormat);
int ret = CreateProcessW(cmd,
NULL,
NULL,
NULL,
false,
NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS,
NULL,
NULL,
&StartupInfo,
&ProcessInfo);
if(ret)
{
CloseHandle(ProcessInfo.hThread);
WaitForSingleObject(ProcessInfo.hProcess, INFINITE);
GetExitCodeProcess(ProcessInfo.hProcess, &dwExitCode);
CloseHandle(ProcessInfo.hProcess);
}
if(dwExitCode==0)
{
DWORD errorcode = GetLastError();
std::cout<<"ERROR: "<<errorcode<<std::endl;
}
I use this function that I can create new process to run notepad.exe and some other applications
Q1: but when I close the application the dwExitCode = 0 and the errorcode 1803
Q2: some application can not run just exit immediately
Following function always works for me:
static int createProcess(string cmdLine, bool isWait, LPDWORD pExitCode)
{
STARTUPINFOA si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
::ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si));
si.cb = sizeof(si);
::ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));
// reset last error
::SetLastError(0);
// Start the child process.
BOOL bCreateProcess = ::CreateProcessA(NULL, // No module name (use command line)
(LPSTR) cmdLine.c_str(), // Command line
NULL, // Process handle not inheritable
NULL, // Thread handle not inheritable
FALSE, // Set handle inheritance to FALSE
CREATE_NO_WINDOW, // No creation flags
NULL, // Use parent's environment block
NULL, // Use parent's starting directory
&si, // Pointer to STARTUPINFO structure
&pi); // Pointer to PROCESS_INFORMATION structure
if(!bCreateProcess)
{
// create process failed,
//Logger::trace(error, getClassName(), "createProcess", getFormattedStringA("create process failed with error:%d, Commad line:'%s',isWait:%d",GetLastError(), cmdLine.c_str(), isWait),"CreateProcess Failed");
return 0;
}
//Logger::trace(info, getClassName(), "createProcess", getFormattedStringA("created process,Commad line:'%s',isWait:%d,Result:%d", cmdLine.c_str(), isWait,bCreateProcess),"Launched Process");
// Wait until child process exits.
if(isWait)
{
::WaitForSingleObject(pi.hProcess, INFINITE);
if(pExitCode)
{
::GetExitCodeProcess(pi.hProcess, pExitCode);
}
}
::CloseHandle( pi.hProcess );
pi.hProcess = NULL;
::CloseHandle( pi.hThread );
pi.hThread = NULL;
return 1; // return non zero. function succeeded
}
Yes I find the root cause some application need some local resource ,so maybe need the parent's starting directory
Looking for an example that:
Launches an EXE
Waits for the EXE to finish.
Properly closes all the handles when the executable finishes.
Something like this:
STARTUPINFO info={sizeof(info)};
PROCESS_INFORMATION processInfo;
if (CreateProcess(path, cmd, NULL, NULL, TRUE, 0, NULL, NULL, &info, &processInfo))
{
WaitForSingleObject(processInfo.hProcess, INFINITE);
CloseHandle(processInfo.hProcess);
CloseHandle(processInfo.hThread);
}
There is an example at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms682512(VS.85).aspx
Just replace the argv[1] with your constant or variable containing the program.
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <tchar.h>
void _tmain( int argc, TCHAR *argv[] )
{
STARTUPINFO si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
ZeroMemory( &si, sizeof(si) );
si.cb = sizeof(si);
ZeroMemory( &pi, sizeof(pi) );
if( argc != 2 )
{
printf("Usage: %s [cmdline]\n", argv[0]);
return;
}
// Start the child process.
if( !CreateProcess( NULL, // No module name (use command line)
argv[1], // Command line
NULL, // Process handle not inheritable
NULL, // Thread handle not inheritable
FALSE, // Set handle inheritance to FALSE
0, // No creation flags
NULL, // Use parent's environment block
NULL, // Use parent's starting directory
&si, // Pointer to STARTUPINFO structure
&pi ) // Pointer to PROCESS_INFORMATION structure
)
{
printf( "CreateProcess failed (%d).\n", GetLastError() );
return;
}
// Wait until child process exits.
WaitForSingleObject( pi.hProcess, INFINITE );
// Close process and thread handles.
CloseHandle( pi.hProcess );
CloseHandle( pi.hThread );
}
If you application is a Windows GUI application then using the code below to do the waiting is not ideal as messages for your application will not be getting processing. To the user it will look like your application has hung.
WaitForSingleObject(&processInfo.hProcess, INFINITE)
Something like the untested code below might be better as it will keep processing the windows message queue and your application will remain responsive:
//-- wait for the process to finish
while (true)
{
//-- see if the task has terminated
DWORD dwExitCode = WaitForSingleObject(ProcessInfo.hProcess, 0);
if ( (dwExitCode == WAIT_FAILED )
|| (dwExitCode == WAIT_OBJECT_0 )
|| (dwExitCode == WAIT_ABANDONED) )
{
DWORD dwExitCode;
//-- get the process exit code
GetExitCodeProcess(ProcessInfo.hProcess, &dwExitCode);
//-- the task has ended so close the handle
CloseHandle(ProcessInfo.hThread);
CloseHandle(ProcessInfo.hProcess);
//-- save the exit code
lExitCode = dwExitCode;
return;
}
else
{
//-- see if there are any message that need to be processed
while (PeekMessage(&message.msg, 0, 0, 0, PM_NOREMOVE))
{
if (message.msg.message == WM_QUIT)
{
return;
}
//-- process the message queue
if (GetMessage(&message.msg, 0, 0, 0))
{
//-- process the message
TranslateMessage(&pMessage->msg);
DispatchMessage(&pMessage->msg);
}
}
}
}
if your exe happens to be a console app, you might be interested in reading the stdout and stderr -- for that, I'll humbly refer you to this example:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q190351
It's a bit of a mouthful of code, but I've used variations of this code to spawn and read.
On a semi-related note, if you want to start a process that has more privileges than your current process (say, launching an admin app, which requires Administrator rights, from the main app running as a normal user), you can't do so using CreateProcess() on Vista since it won't trigger the UAC dialog (assuming it is enabled). The UAC dialog is triggered when using ShellExecute(), though.
Here is a new example that works on windows 10. When using the windows10 sdk you have to use CreateProcessW instead. This example is commented and hopefully self explanatory.
#ifdef _WIN32
#include <Windows.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <tchar.h>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <string>
#include <algorithm>
class process
{
public:
static PROCESS_INFORMATION launchProcess(std::string app, std::string arg)
{
// Prepare handles.
STARTUPINFO si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi; // The function returns this
ZeroMemory( &si, sizeof(si) );
si.cb = sizeof(si);
ZeroMemory( &pi, sizeof(pi) );
//Prepare CreateProcess args
std::wstring app_w(app.length(), L' '); // Make room for characters
std::copy(app.begin(), app.end(), app_w.begin()); // Copy string to wstring.
std::wstring arg_w(arg.length(), L' '); // Make room for characters
std::copy(arg.begin(), arg.end(), arg_w.begin()); // Copy string to wstring.
std::wstring input = app_w + L" " + arg_w;
wchar_t* arg_concat = const_cast<wchar_t*>( input.c_str() );
const wchar_t* app_const = app_w.c_str();
// Start the child process.
if( !CreateProcessW(
app_const, // app path
arg_concat, // Command line (needs to include app path as first argument. args seperated by whitepace)
NULL, // Process handle not inheritable
NULL, // Thread handle not inheritable
FALSE, // Set handle inheritance to FALSE
0, // No creation flags
NULL, // Use parent's environment block
NULL, // Use parent's starting directory
&si, // Pointer to STARTUPINFO structure
&pi ) // Pointer to PROCESS_INFORMATION structure
)
{
printf( "CreateProcess failed (%d).\n", GetLastError() );
throw std::exception("Could not create child process");
}
else
{
std::cout << "[ ] Successfully launched child process" << std::endl;
}
// Return process handle
return pi;
}
static bool checkIfProcessIsActive(PROCESS_INFORMATION pi)
{
// Check if handle is closed
if ( pi.hProcess == NULL )
{
printf( "Process handle is closed or invalid (%d).\n", GetLastError());
return FALSE;
}
// If handle open, check if process is active
DWORD lpExitCode = 0;
if( GetExitCodeProcess(pi.hProcess, &lpExitCode) == 0)
{
printf( "Cannot return exit code (%d).\n", GetLastError() );
throw std::exception("Cannot return exit code");
}
else
{
if (lpExitCode == STILL_ACTIVE)
{
return TRUE;
}
else
{
return FALSE;
}
}
}
static bool stopProcess( PROCESS_INFORMATION &pi)
{
// Check if handle is invalid or has allready been closed
if ( pi.hProcess == NULL )
{
printf( "Process handle invalid. Possibly allready been closed (%d).\n");
return 0;
}
// Terminate Process
if( !TerminateProcess(pi.hProcess,1))
{
printf( "ExitProcess failed (%d).\n", GetLastError() );
return 0;
}
// Wait until child process exits.
if( WaitForSingleObject( pi.hProcess, INFINITE ) == WAIT_FAILED)
{
printf( "Wait for exit process failed(%d).\n", GetLastError() );
return 0;
}
// Close process and thread handles.
if( !CloseHandle( pi.hProcess ))
{
printf( "Cannot close process handle(%d).\n", GetLastError() );
return 0;
}
else
{
pi.hProcess = NULL;
}
if( !CloseHandle( pi.hThread ))
{
printf( "Cannot close thread handle (%d).\n", GetLastError() );
return 0;
}
else
{
pi.hProcess = NULL;
}
return 1;
}
};//class process
#endif //win32
Perhaps this is the most complete?
http://goffconcepts.com/techarticles/createprocess.html
Bear in mind that using WaitForSingleObject can get you into trouble in this scenario. The following is snipped from a tip on my website:
The problem arises because your application has a window but isn't pumping messages. If the spawned application invokes SendMessage with one of the broadcast targets (HWND_BROADCAST or HWND_TOPMOST), then the SendMessage won't return to the new application until all applications have handled the message - but your app can't handle the message because it isn't pumping messages.... so the new app locks up, so your wait never succeeds.... DEADLOCK.
If you have absolute control over the spawned application, then there are measures you can take, such as using SendMessageTimeout rather than SendMessage (e.g. for DDE initiations, if anybody is still using that). But there are situations which cause implicit SendMessage broadcasts over which you have no control, such as using the SetSysColors API for instance.
The only safe ways round this are:
split off the Wait into a separate thread, or
use a timeout on the Wait and use PeekMessage in your Wait loop to ensure that you pump messages, or
use the MsgWaitForMultipleObjects API.
Here is a solution for CreateProcessA
STARTUPINFOW initInfo = { 0 };
initInfo.cb = sizeof(initInfo);
PROCESS_INFORMATION procInfo = { 0 };
CreateProcessA(PATH_FOR_EXE, NULL, NULL, NULL, FALSE, 0, NULL, NULL, (LPSTARTUPINFOA)&initInfo, &procInfo);
#include <Windows.h>
void my_cmd()
{
STARTUPINFO si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si));
si.cb = sizeof(si);
ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));
// CMD command here
char arg[] = "cmd.exe /c E:/Softwares/program.exe";
// Convert char string to required LPWSTR string
wchar_t text[500];
mbstowcs(text, arg, strlen(arg) + 1);
LPWSTR command = text;
// Run process
CreateProcess (NULL, command, NULL, NULL, 0,
CREATE_NO_WINDOW, NULL, NULL, &si, &pi);
}
This works fine for me. No popup windows and cmd command runs as expected. Just needed to convert the CHAR pointer into WCHAR pointer and add extra "cmd.exe /c" before every command.