Launch command-line utility from DUA without showing a CMD.EXE win

[Kevin Bulgrien]

Various things needed done during a DUA update script have called for running
a console mode .exe (for example, a vendor-supplied BIOS update program).

Our Minlogon XPe image uses a custom app as the shell, so does not have
explorer or cmd.exe running. The image boots via a script configured to run
for userinit, and it manages whether or not the system boots into the
application based on if a DUA update is in progress or not... amongst other
things. It works great, except I have issues with DUA running things.

It seems frequently necessary to use DUA EXECUTEPROCESS to launch cmd.exe,
and supply arguments to it that launch a console app because it will not work
otherwise. That puts up a DOS box window... not something I like at all
though on the unit all keys you could use to mess with the system are
disabled (Ctrl/Alt,SysReq,Break, etc).

I've tried using vbscripts (WshShell.Run/Exec methods), but still seem to
need to use cmd.exe to launch cscript or wscript. Color me stymied.

Does anyone have any thoughts about how to get DUA to run stuff without
popping up a console window that screams "C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe" in the
title bar? Is there a way to make DUA run cmd.exe full-screen with no frame?

 

[Kevin Bulgrien]

The answer apparently lies in the dreaded, startupinfo field of the
EXECUTEPROCESS command. This launches the .exe without showing a cmd window.
I presume it possibly relates to the avoidance of specifying the
"WinSta0\Default" desktop name string, but I do not really know, except that
this is the first time I was able to make it work. Could it be that it with
minlogon it has to use the system account? I doubt that it has to do with
the DASTARTF_RUNFULLSCREEN or with the 0 window attribute values or
showwindows since those values are probably defaulting to 0 if missing. I
guess to know for sure, more experimentation is needed, but I'll post this in
case it helps someone else.

Windows XP Embedded Advanced book could do a whole lot better than it does
in this area. The book seems to strongly imply you need to use the
"WinSta0\Default" and there is only one small reference to use of a system
account when it is missing. Furthermore, the explanation of the startupinfo
is skimpy... not describing many of the values.

// Command : 15 EXECUTEPROCESS
// [ErrorMode] : DAERH_ABORT Abort DUA program on error
// [RebootOK] : DANO System will not reboot
// [ExpandMode] : DANO Do not expand variables in next string
// [ApplicationName] : c:\tools\my.exe
// [ExpandMode] : DANO Do not expand variables in next string
// [CommandLine] : --args
// [WaitForCompletion] : DAYES Wait for completion of command
// [Timeout] : 4294967295 Infinite time delay
// [InheritHandles] : DANO Do not inherit handles from caller
// [SecRev] : DASEC_REV ?DASEC_REV = 1?
// [InheritHandles] : DANO Do not inherit handles from caller
// [ExpandMode] : DANO Do not expand variables in next string
// [ProcSecAttrib] : >
// [SecRev] : DASEC_REV ?DASEC_REV = 1?
// [InheritHandles] : DANO Do not inherit handles from caller
// [ExpandMode] : DANO Do not expand variables in next string
// [ThreadSecAttrib] : ?
// [CreationFlags] : Do not customize process creation
// [ExpandMode] : DAYES Expand variables in next string
// [CurrentDirectory] : %APPDRIVE%\update\DUA_cmd\Files
// [StartupInfo/NewEnv] : 1 StartupInfo=1; Liming B.3.2 Pg 647-649
// [ExpandMode] : DANO Do not expand variables in next string
// [Desktop_name] : Blank = System; WinSta0\Default =
User?
// [ExpandMode] : DANO Do not expand variables in next string
// [title_string] : Do not assign a window title
// [X_loc] : 0 Window origin
// [Y_loc] : 0 " "
// [X_size] : 0 Window size
// [Y_size] : 0 " "
// [X_CountChars] : 0 Window ?Countchars?
// [Y_CountChars] : 0 " "
// [FillAttributes] : 0 Window Background/Foreground
// [StartFlags] : 32 DASTARTF_RUNFULLSCREEN
// [ShowWindows] : 0 Do not show windows?
// [ExpandMode] : DANO Do not expand variables in next string
// [StdInStream] : ?
// [ExpandMode] : DANO Do not expand variables in next string
// [StdOutStream] : ?
// [ExpandMode] : DANO Do not expand variables in next string
// [StdErrStream] : ?

EXECUTEPROCESS,DAERH_ABORT,DANO,DANO,c:\tools\my.exe,DANO,--args,DAYES,4294967295,DANO,DASEC_REV,DANO,DANO,,DASEC_REV,DANO,DANO,,,DAYES,%APPDRIVE%\update\DUA_cmd\Files,1,DANO,,DANO,,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,32,0,DANO,,DANO,,DANO,