How to launch .exe from vbscript on windows server 2003

Question

I've got a script which needs to run on various different versions of windows server, including 2003. Yeah, I already KNOW it's "unsupported".

My script has to launch an executable, in a hidden window (though the code to do this is not shown below, because I was asked to cut it down to the bare minimum). I'm currently using win32_Process.Create as follows:

Set objProcess = GetObject("winmgmts:root\cimv2:Win32_Process")
errReturn = objProcess.Create("C:\myprog.exe", null, null, intProcessID)

This works ok on 2008 and 2012, but it is to be failing on 2003 with error code 3 "Insufficient privilege" returned in errReturn. It also works when run through cmd.exe, as an ordinary user, but the parent program is a service, check_mk_agent.exe, and so is not an "ordinary user". This script is run as one of check_mk_agent.exe's plugins.

I'm now going to work out how to use runas to try to simulate running it as the same user as the service runs as.

"but seems to be failing on 2003" - Please edit the question and elaborate some more, what happens or doesn't happen, what errors you receive etc. — user692942
Is this the absolute minimum (readable) code you can write to do this on 2008/2012? If not, please write a minimal reproducible example to illustrate the exact issue, and make sure that there are no hidden issues. — Nic

Regis Desrosiers Regis Desrosiers · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-23T17:54:29

The two most common ways to launch a .exe from vbscript is WScript.Shell Run and Exec method. The main difference between the two is that you can capture the StdIn/StdOut/StdErr with the Exec method because applications are run in a child command shell.

Exec example:

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set oExec = WshShell.Exec("calc")

Run example:

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.Run "%windir%\notepad " & WScript.ScriptFullName

How to launch .exe from vbscript on windows server 2003

1 Answers