Capture output of ktpass.exe using VBScript - objShell.Exec("ktpass /?") not working : vbscript

May 17, 2008 10:09am pdt

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05.05.2008 at 11:56AM PDT, ID: 23377325

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9.5

Capture output of ktpass.exe using VBScript - objShell.Exec("ktpass /?") not working

Zones: VB Script, Miscellaneous Programming, Visual Basic Programming

Tags: vbscript

I am trying to have a vbscript call KTPass.exe (Kerberos Keytab utility part of support tools). I would like to capture this output and save it to a log file for future reference.

While the vbscript function I use works fine for logging the output of "dir" and other commands, it does not seem to log the output of ktpass.

logExec "dir" -> Yields output in file
LogExec "cmd /c dir" -> Yields output in file
LogExec "ktpass /?" -> Yields Nothing
LogExec "cmd /c ktpass /?" -> Yields Nothing

LogExec "test.bat" (which just calls ktpass) -> Yields "ktpass /?" and thats it.

         
           
           
             Sub logExec(strCommand)
   dim objShell, objExecObject, strOutput
   Set objshell = wscript.creatobject("wscript.shell")
   Set objExecObject = objShell.Exec(strCommand)
   Do Until objExecObject.Stdout.AtEndOfStream
      strOutput = objExecObject.Stdout.ReadLine()
      wrtielog(strOutput)
      WScript.Echo strOutput
   loop
end sub
           
         

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Question Stats

Zone: Programming

Question Asked By: Amadork

Solution Provided By: RobSampson

Participating Experts: 1

Solution Grade: B

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05.05.2008 at 12:13PM PDT, ID: 21502244

Amadork:

Worth noting:
ktpass /? > output.txt

Does not redirect the ktpass output to a file, but instead outputs to the screen and creates a blank text file.

Also, ktpass can be downloaded here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=6EC50B78-8BE1-4E81-B3BE-4E7AC4F0912D&displaylang=en

05.05.2008 at 02:30PM PDT, ID: 21503187

Rank: Genius

RobSampson:

Hi, I haven't tried this (can't test it yet), but try reading from the output file that it should redirect to if you pass just
cmd /c ktpass /?
or
ktpass /?

the new sub I've created will automatically output to file, using Run instead of Exec.

Regards,

Rob.

                       
                          
                             
                             
                                Sub logExecToFile(strCommand)
   dim objShell, objExecObject, strOutput, objFSO
   Const intForReading = 1
   Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
   Set objshell = CreatObject("wscript.shell")
   strOutput = "myFile.txt"
   objShell.Run strCommand & " > " & strOutput, 1, True
   Set objFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile(strOutput, intForReading, False)
   strContents = objFile.ReadAll
   objFile.Close
   Set objFile = Nothing
   MsgBox strContents
end Sub

                             
                          

                    

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05.05.2008 at 07:09PM PDT, ID: 21504322

Amadork:

Tried it, didn't appear to work. It had the same basic issue as all the other redirect methods.

When run it appears to bypass the output that is redirected output and shows to the screen anyway. Its like instead of going to stdout that can be redirected it has something hard coded to ouput to the screen.

05.05.2008 at 09:21PM PDT, ID: 21504736

Rank: Genius

RobSampson:

I'm sorry. No matter what I've tried, I have been unable to gather the output from KTPass. There might be more sophisticated ways by using Windows APIs from Office VBA, but I'm not sure....

Rob.

05.06.2008 at 06:49PM PDT, ID: 21512576

Amadork:

Ok, backup plan then.

How about the following work around:
1) Run ktpass in another window (cmd /k ktpass /?)
2) Select the window and copy the text.
3) Past the copied text into a file
4) Close the window

or if the above can't be done the following:
1) Run ktpass in another window (cmd /k ktpass /?)
2) Screenshot the dos window.
3) Save the screenshot to file.

I know theoretically this stuff can be done with VB and sendkeys... but I've never used sendkeys before.

05.06.2008 at 07:46PM PDT, ID: 21512834

Rank: Genius

RobSampson:

OK, here's a bit of a process, but try it out....

Download the WSHExtend ActiveX control from here:
Instructions: http://freenet-homepage.de/gborn/WSHBazaar/WSHExtend.htm
Direct link: http://freenet-homepage.de/gborn/WSHBazaar/WSHExtOcx211.zip

Copy the WinExtend.ocx file to your C:\Windows\System32 folder, and register it by running
regsvr32 WinExtend.ocx

Now, create one script file, called Script2.vbs, with this code in it:

'==============
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
strKTPass = "c:\Program Files\Support Tools\ktpass.exe"
strKTPass = objFSO.GetFile(strKTPass).ShortPath
strCommand = "cmd /k " & strKTPass & " /?"
objShell.Run strCommand, 1, False
'==============

That script runs KTPass.

Then, paste the code below into another VBS file with any name you like. This is your parent file.

It will call Script2, find the CMD window's process ID, copy the text to a text file, and close the CMD window.

All this is a bit hopeful, I hate using SendKeys, but it seems our only option!

Regards,

Rob.

                       
                          
                             
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                                Set wshExt = CreateObject("WSHExtend.WinExt")
lngProcessID = wshExt.WSHShell("wscript """ & Replace(Wscript.ScriptFullName, WScript.ScriptName, "") & "Script2.vbs""", 1)
 
strComputer = "."
lngCmdProcess = 0
 
strOutputFile = Replace(Wscript.ScriptFullName, WScript.ScriptName, "") & "Result.txt"
 
Const wbemFlagReturnImmediately = &h10
Const wbemFlagForwardOnly = &h20
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\CIMV2")
Do
	Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT ProcessID FROM Win32_Process WHERE ParentProcessID=" & lngProcessID & " AND Name='cmd.exe'", "WQL", _
	                                    wbemFlagReturnImmediately + wbemFlagForwardOnly)
	For Each objItem In colItems
		lngCmdProcess = objItem.ProcessID
	Next
Loop Until lngCmdProcess > 0
'MsgBox lngProcessID
' Wait for the DOS window to become active
'intCount = 0
'Do
'	intCount = intCount + 1
'	' CHANGE THE intCount VALUE IF YOU REQUIRE MORE Time
'	If intCount = 10000 Then
'		MsgBox lngCmdProcess & " could not be found"
'		Exit Do	
'	End If
'Loop Until wshExt.WSHAppActivate(lngCmdProcess) = 0	
'wshExt.WSHSendKeys "(% )", True
wshExt.WSHWait 100
wshExt.WSHAppActivate(lngCmdProcess)
wshExt.WSHSendKeys "ES", True
wshExt.WSHAppActivate(lngCmdProcess)
wshExt.WSHSendKeys "(% )", True
wshExt.WSHAppActivate(lngCmdProcess)
wshExt.WSHSendKeys "ES", True
wshExt.WSHAppActivate(lngCmdProcess)
wshExt.WSHSendKeys "{ENTER}", True
wshExt.WSHWait 50
wshExt.WSHShell "cmd /c taskkill /F /PID " & lngCmdProcess, 0
'If wshExt.WSHAppActivate(lngCmdProcess) = 0 Then
	'wshExt.WSHSendKeys "ES{ENTER}", True
	'wshExt.WSHSendKeys "{ENTER}", True
	'wshExt.WSHSendKeys "EK", True
	'For iVal = 1 To 24 
	'    wshExt.WSHSendKeys "+{DOWN}", True 
	'Next
	'For iVal = 1 To 80 
	'    wshExt.WSHSendKeys "+{RIGHT}", True 
	'Next
	'wshExt.WSHSendKeys "{ENTER}", True 
'Else
'	MsgBox lngCmdProcess & " was lost."
'End If
 
Set objIE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
objIE.Navigate("about:blank")
strClipboardText = objIE.document.parentwindow.clipboardData.GetData("text")
objIE.Quit
 
'MsgBox strClipboardText
 
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objOutputFile = objFSO.CreateTextFile(strOutputFile, True)
objOutputFile.Write strClipboardText
objOutputFile.Close
Set objOutputFile = Nothing
Set objFSO = Nothing
 
wshExt.WSHShell "notepad " & strOutputFile, 1
 
'Msgbox "Done"
 
Sub GetWindow
	intCount = 0
	Do
		intCount = intCount + 1
		If intCount = 1000 Then
			MsgBox lngCmdProcess & " could not be found"
		End IF
	Loop Until wshExt.WSHAppActivate(lngCmdProcess) = 0	
End Sub

                             
                          

                    

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Accepted Solution

Amadork

05.15.2008 at 08:06PM PDT, ID: 21579724

I mentioned about how I was having difficulty capturing the output of ktpass to someone, and he told me about two output streams that are very common.

1) Stdout (which I had been trying to capture)
2) Stderr (Which he though maybe ktpass outputed to)

Sure enough, he was right. The following code works for ktpass.

         
           
           
             Sub logExec(strCommand)
   dim objShell, objExecObject, strOutput
   Set objshell = wscript.creatobject("wscript.shell")
   Set objExecObject = objShell.Exec(strCommand)
   Do Until objExecObject.StdErr.AtEndOfStream
      strOutput = objExecObject.StdErr.ReadLine()
      writelog(strOutput)
      WScript.Echo strOutput
   loop
end sub

           
         

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