How to execute “net use” command from Inno Setup installer on Windows 7?

Question

I'm working on an Inno Setup installer, which calls net use to connect to a shared server. The installer can connect to the server, if it's running on Windows XP, but not on Windows 7. I think it's related to UAC as I type the same command, the server is connected on Windows 7, but the setup is running with admin privileges.

I'm using the following net use command through Exec or ShellExec script functions:

/c net use \\servername password /user:username

Actually, here is a part of the script showing the net use command call:

[Code] 
var 
  ErrorCode: Integer; 
  cmdString: String; 
  intvalue: Integer; 
  str: String; 

function InitializeSetup(): Boolean; 
begin 
  cmdString := '/c net use \\servername password /USER:username'; 
  ShellExec('', ExpandConstant('{cmd}'), cmdString , '', SW_SHOWNORMAL, 
    ewWaitUntilTerminated, ErrorCode) 
  if (ErrorCode = 0) then 
  begin 
    MsgBox(ExpandConstant('{cmd}'), mbInformation, MB_OK); 
  end; 
end;

Can anybody suggest how to use net use from Inno Setup on Windows 7? We just want to connect to a server and let user input name and password.

Thank you!

Answer 1

How to connect to a remote resource invoking the credentials dialog?

Using a different view on your question, which is actually as the title of this answer says, I'd suggest you to use the WNetUseConnection function call with CONNECT_INTERACTIVE and CONNECT_PROMPT flags. That will in combination with empty user ID and password parameters invoke the credentials dialog (and that's what you wanted). In Inno Setup script it may look like this:

[Setup]
AppName=My Program
AppVersion=1.5
DefaultDirName={pf}\My Program

[Code]
#ifdef UNICODE
  #define AW "W"
#else
  #define AW "A"
#endif
const
  NO_ERROR = 0;
  ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED = 5;
  ERROR_BAD_NET_NAME = 67;
  ERROR_ALREADY_ASSIGNED = 85;
  ERROR_INVALID_PASSWORD = 86;
  ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER = 87;
  ERROR_MORE_DATA = 234;
  ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS = 259;
  ERROR_INVALID_ADDRESS = 487;
  ERROR_BAD_DEVICE = 1200;
  ERROR_NO_NET_OR_BAD_PATH = 1203;
  ERROR_BAD_PROVIDER = 1204;
  ERROR_EXTENDED_ERROR = 1208;
  ERROR_NO_NETWORK = 1222;
  ERROR_CANCELLED = 1223;
  RESOURCETYPE_ANY = $00000000;
  RESOURCETYPE_DISK = $00000001;
  RESOURCETYPE_PRINT = $00000002;
  CONNECT_UPDATE_PROFILE = $00000001;
  CONNECT_INTERACTIVE = $00000008;
  CONNECT_PROMPT = $00000010;
  CONNECT_REDIRECT = $00000080;
  CONNECT_COMMANDLINE = $00000800;
  CONNECT_CMD_SAVECRED = $00001000;
type
  TNetResource = record
    dwScope: DWORD;
    dwType: DWORD;
    dwDisplayType: DWORD;
    dwUsage: DWORD;
    lpLocalName: string;
    lpRemoteName: string;
    lpComment: string;
    lpProvider: string;
  end;
  TResourceType = (
    rtAny,
    rtDisk,
    rtPrinter
  );

function WNetUseConnection(hwndOwner: HWND; const lpNetResource: TNetResource;
  lpPassword, lpUserID: string; dwFlags: DWORD; lpAccessName: PAnsiChar;
  var lpBufferSize, lpResult: DWORD): DWORD;
  external 'WNetUseConnection{#AW}@mpr.dll stdcall';

function UseConnection(const ARemoteName: string; 
  AResourceType: TResourceType): DWORD;
var
  BufferSize: DWORD;
  ResultFlag: DWORD;
  NetResource: TNetResource;
begin
  case AResourceType of
    rtAny: NetResource.dwType := RESOURCETYPE_ANY;
    rtDisk: NetResource.dwType := RESOURCETYPE_DISK;
    rtPrinter: NetResource.dwType := RESOURCETYPE_PRINT;
  end;
  NetResource.lpLocalName := '';
  NetResource.lpRemoteName := ARemoteName;
  NetResource.lpProvider := '';  
  BufferSize := 0;
  Result := WNetUseConnection(WizardForm.Handle, NetResource,
    '', '', CONNECT_INTERACTIVE or CONNECT_PROMPT, '',
    BufferSize, ResultFlag); 
end;

procedure UseConnectionButtonClick(Sender: TObject);
var
  S: string;
  ResultCode: DWORD;
begin
  ResultCode := UseConnection('\\MySuperSecret\Place', rtDisk);
  case ResultCode of
    NO_ERROR: S := 'NO_ERROR';
    ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED: S := 'ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED';
    ERROR_ALREADY_ASSIGNED: S := 'ERROR_ALREADY_ASSIGNED';
    ERROR_BAD_DEVICE: S := 'ERROR_BAD_DEVICE';
    ERROR_BAD_NET_NAME: S := 'ERROR_BAD_NET_NAME';
    ERROR_BAD_PROVIDER: S := 'ERROR_BAD_PROVIDER';
    ERROR_CANCELLED: S := 'ERROR_CANCELLED';
    ERROR_EXTENDED_ERROR: S := 'ERROR_EXTENDED_ERROR';
    ERROR_INVALID_ADDRESS: S := 'ERROR_INVALID_ADDRESS';
    ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER: S := 'ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER';
    ERROR_MORE_DATA: S := 'ERROR_MORE_DATA';
    ERROR_INVALID_PASSWORD: S := 'ERROR_INVALID_PASSWORD';
    ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS: S := 'ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS';
    ERROR_NO_NET_OR_BAD_PATH: S := 'ERROR_NO_NET_OR_BAD_PATH';
    ERROR_NO_NETWORK: S := 'ERROR_NO_NETWORK';
  end;
  MsgBox(S, mbInformation, MB_OK);
end;

procedure InitializeWizard;
var
  UseConnectionButton: TNewButton;
begin
  UseConnectionButton := TNewButton.Create(WizardForm);
  UseConnectionButton.Parent := WizardForm;
  UseConnectionButton.Left := 8;
  UseConnectionButton.Top := WizardForm.ClientHeight - UseConnectionButton.Height - 8;
  UseConnectionButton.Width := 155;
  UseConnectionButton.Caption := 'Use connection...';
  UseConnectionButton.OnClick := @UseConnectionButtonClick;
end;