Is it possible...

Question

Hello!

Is it possible to create a custom command (or something else) that starts a program with parameters on the executing users computer?

Like "Start RDP Session" which then starts mstsc.exe /v:%cn% on the executing users computer?

Answer 1

Hello,

Currently, there is no functionality for this in Adaxes. There is a workaround however, but it is rather tricky.

You can create a Home Page Action on your Web Interface that would allow your users to select a computer. Then, when the user selects a computer, he will be returned to the Home Page. After that, the user needs to click another Home Page Action that will create an RDP session with that computer. If you want to implement this solution, we can provide you with more details.

Comments

Ok.

Is it possible to generate a .cmd file for download? Then if you click the custom command "Start RDP Session", it generates a .cmd file for download.

If this is not possible, please provide your solution

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Hello,

I'm sorry, however the solution that I was thinking of is not currently possible. I relied on certain functionality that will be available after the new release. The thing is that starting from the new release, when you create a Home Page Action that contains a link to a specific URL, value references (like %name%, %samAccountName% or %department%) will be resolved. However, the release that is currently available on our site does not yet contain this functionality. This causes a major issue to the solution because it is impossible provide a link that will be specific for the user who launched the Home Page Action. I suggest that you wait for the new release that will be available by the end of this month to be able to implement a solution for this case.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

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Ok..

$path = "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Download\%cn%.bat"
$ip = [System.Net.Dns]::GetHostAddresses("%dNSHostName%") | foreach {echo $_.IPAddressToString }
$url = "http://adaxes:8080/%cn%.bat"

New-Item -Path $path -ItemType file -Force
Add-Content -Encoding Ascii -Path $path -value "mstsc.exe /v:$ip"

$webClient = New-Object "System.Net.WebClient"
$webClient.Headers.Add("user-agent", "PowerShell Script")
$result = $webClient.DownloadString($url)

$Context.LogMessage("$result", "Information")

This script generate the file, then retrieves it and prints it in the execution log. Is there no way to make this trigger a download of the file instead of printing it to the log?

That would be a great feature to add :)

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Well, the solution that we were thinking of to suggest was almost exactly the same thing. The thing is that mstsc.exe supports opening RDP files. An RDP contains settings for a Remote Desktop connection session, including the Remote Desktop Session Host name. So, it would be possible to generate such an RDP file with a PowerShell script and then provide a link to that file using a Home Page Action. However, the latter is currently impossible because we cannot provide a link that would be specific to the user who launched the Home Page Action. So, now we can link all users to a single RDP file that will be the same for all your users. That is going to be a mess if, for example, two or more users try to create an RDP session simultaneously or almost simultaneously.

In the next version, it will be possible to provide a link to a file with a path that includes the username of the user who launches the Home Page Action.

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Quick question about the next version, will it support Windows Server 2012 and Exchange Server 2013?

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Hello,

Yes, Adaxes 2013.1 will fully support Windows Server 2012 and Exchange Server 2013.