VrayDR (start/stop) utility

[dbuchhofer]

Here’s a small utility I’d written in ‘05 in HTA using mostly VBScript to replace the hordes of dos BAT files utilizing pstools that i had laying around for starting and stopping and checking services/processes/logs on remote machines on our network. Primarily it was used with managing a small farm with 3dsmax/vray.

Click to Download files, click image to view full post about it

Older versions archived: http://www.buchhofer.com/files/index...lave_utilities

* Run the .HTA once.. it will create 2 files for you
* “Computers.ini” which you will will need to edit to contain 1 slave computer per line in it (either IP address or computer Name work, use 127.0.0.1 for your local system)
* “SlaveutilsOptions.ini” which will have slots for various paths and options. read the file and edit the lines accordingly.
o (Path to your VNC client,
o whether to use alternate credentials or not,
o and what the login/password would be if you did use them.

Note: Its been brought to my attention that some virus scanners will flag this download (Understandably in my opinion) as ‘Greyware’ because it contains VBScript that uses the WMI (Windows Management Interface) to affect changes to remote computers, enclosed in an HTA (Read: Executable Webpage). the full code is in there and easily readable.

I’ve been experimenting with a few other ways to package it, either via Maxscript, or Python, but they tend to get constrained to ‘free’ time as this functions perfectly

Edit2: Some people are having problems with the pstools utilities. it would appear they don't work with the 'Simple file sharing' set to on.

Edit3: The reason an HTA application was chosen instead of a VB or Exe or Java doohicky, is because i figured that anything that requires a user/login to be entered would be something that people would like to verify in the code if they're so inclined.. (Call me paranoid.)
Cheers.

thanks Dynedain and the rest of the vray efnet chat folks for input..


Edit: Post 105: maxscript version .75

Here's a little update to the maxscript version of the tool, nothing too fancy, i just found myself wanting the vrayRTspawner service in the list, so here are the main changes:

http://www.buchhofer.com/upload/file...5_07-16-09.zip

-- .75 - added vrayRT service
-- .75 - convert to simpler doscommand style execution
-- .75 - added an optional pause to the end of the commandline based tools
-- .75 - fixed the invert button in server selection
-- .75 - prints the commandline to the listener
-- .75 - Added installer and uninstaller
-- .80 - convert to dos based loop for multiple systems
-- .85 - small bug fix to handle spaces in the path

Can't say as I've touched the hta/vb version in a long while, i know its a bit out of date in terms of which directories and services it defaults to, if anyones still using it regularly i can take a peek at it.

[plastic_]

cool...i was already considering doing a similar thing.

[trixian]

Thank you very much. I'm glad someone out there took on the job

My life is la little easier now.

[jujubee]

Thanks alot. That is awesome. I had problems accessing my machines via PSTools - does your farm require logins for all the comps? I wonder cause I turned mine off...

[trixian]

Actually, I can't seem to get this to work. I tried entering ip addresses, and when that failed, I tried entering machine names. All machines have max7 installed on c:3dsmax7.... so the other ini file should apply as default as well.

[dbuchhofer]

Interesting.. i'm using both ip's and names.. (couple machines on dhcp.. eck.) and both are working.

Could you try something out for me..

start, run, cmd.exe
in there, type:
psexec \\machine -i -d C:\3dsmax7\Vrayspawner60.exe

and whether that works or not.. as thats really all the app does.. is automate changing of the \\machine in there if you want to figure it out further, you can toss me an email, as this is the 'simple' version.. and i'd like to get the mechanics working for everyone before the more fun toys come out to the public

[trixian]

I already had a couple of bat files doing this, and they work (well actually often the vrayspawner wont start up again, but I'm running it as a service, not as a regular app). Is your tool ignoring the vrayspawner if its a service?

[silver]

i would really appreciate to get it working, would you mind to explain better? i just download the link with pstools, i have 3 files, thus i replace them into c:windows folder, when i tried to click in the exe files i just got a fast dark screem, but it come and go so fast that i dont even know what does it means

[jujubee]

so far it spooked my norton...

[timmatron]

Hmm, I tried the PSEXEC thing and it said access to my slave was denied. I thought I had all permissions turned on, but I must be missing something.

[plastic_]

Dave,
i understand now why you don't want to release the advanced version yet

Is your tool ignoring the vrayspawner if its a service?

when i tried to click in the exe files i just got a fast dark screem, but it come and go so fast that i dont even know what does it means

check this page for pstools instructions (the utility uses pstools for all remote operations)
the command to start/stop a service is different than the command to start/kill an application.

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/fr.../pstools.shtml

so far it spooked my norton...

norton alerts because the script tries to create a file, which is something a virus might also do. i can assure you that there is no virus. since it's a script you can easily check the sourcecode for suspicious behaviour. just open it with notepad.

[jujubee]

Yeah- it seems like the Norton error is nothing to be afraid of in this case. I read up on it. Just thought I'd post it for other people to see.

As for permissions, I found the following information:

"the local user account you are running psexec from cannot have a blank password. Windows wont let you run anything remotely if the account the request comes from has a blank password."

...hope this helps.

[timmatron]

"the local user account you are running psexec from cannot have a blank password. Windows wont let you run anything remotely if the account the request comes from has a blank password."

I do have a password for my server account, so I don't think thats it, unless there is a different type of password I don't know about. Thanks for the info though.

[jujubee]

Update - I wasn't able to remotely connect to my other computer's services until I just added the same passwords and the same admin accounts (duh) to all my machines (I was previously able to share/see shared directories on the network however.)

I also had to turn off 'simple file sharing.' Gotta love Windows. Further testing - looks like I may have to add the Vrayspawner as services now will post results soon...

ps. - im on windows XP pro

[dbuchhofer]

Is your tool ignoring the vrayspawner if its a service?

In short, Yes...
I didn't even know you could run spawner as a service.. the script just starts and stops the exe file remotely. its not hard to do as a service, but it wont work for you as is.. mabye a slightly different version

Hmm, I tried the PSEXEC thing and it said access to my slave was denied. I thought I had all permissions turned on, but I must be missing something.

It doesn't require shares or anything of the sort, you may be having problems in that as is, the psexec tries to start the process on the remote machine using your current local machines login credentials.

back to the cmd.exe, give a try with
psexec \\computer -i -d -u login -p password c:\3dsmax7\vrayspawner60.exe

With the login and password being a valid account on the remote machine.. (If you have a domain, the login part should be Domain\login)

Mark: Yea, that would just be waaay too much to try and explain at one time (fixed version on the site btw, can't get to irc today for some reason)