Run As

Goverlan has a powerful Run As feature which can be used to start a local process on your machine or to start a process on a remote machine using a specified set of user credentials. This is useful when you need to give temporary, extended access to a remote user or to troubleshoot a server using the Local System account. You can also use the Run As feature as a standard Run... on your local workstation.

You can access the Run As dialog by pressing the button of the toolbar or by selecting File >> Run As... from the main menu. The Run As dialog is also accessible from the Goverlan Task Manager or by using the context sensitive menu of a machine or process object.

The Run As window has a Basic and an Advanced view mode. The Basic view is very similar to the standard Windows Run feature. To modify the destination machine or the set of credentials to use for the process, you must activate the Advanced view mode.

Setting the process name (A)

Enter the process name to execute in the Open field. If appropriate, enter the argument string for the process.

You should specify the full local path and name of the process to start. If the process is located in a directory which belongs to the system variable PATH of the destination machine, you do not need to re-enter the path of the process. You can also enter any argument string the process needs.

If you specify a local path and name, the process must be located on the destination machine. You can also enter a UNC path for the process in the event this one is located on a shared resource. However, when doing so, make sure that the credentials used to start the process have access to the shared resources.

You can also specify a URL or directory path in the Open field.

Examples:

If you need to start multiple processes sequentially, enable the Stay Opened option. If the Stay Opened option is un-checked, the Run As window closes once the process has started. If checked, the Run As window stays opened.

Setting the destination machine (B)

The destination machine section allows you to specify the machine name onto which to execute the process. This section is pre-configured depending on how you started the Run As feature. If you clicked on the Run As button to the Quick Access Toolbar, Open on My Computer is selected. If you started the Run As feature using the Task Manager, the Open on Remote Machine is selected and initialized with the machine name focused on by the Task Manager.

You can modify the selection at anytime.

Setting the Credentials (C)

Select the credentials to use for the new process. The new process can run under any of the following credentials set:

a. Under the credentials of the interactive user of the destination machine. This is the same as if the remote user started the process.

b. Under the credentials of the Local System Account of the destination machine. These credentials are generally used by Services and do not have the privilege to access networked resources. However, they do have full access to the local machine's resources. Consequently, should be used with care.

c. Under the specified account. This option allows you to specify both domain and local accounts. For local accounts, enter the remote machine's name under the Domain Name field.

Warning: Using the Run As feature to initiate a process on a remote machine using high privilege credentials should be executed with care as it may provide the remote user with a means to access restricted resources.

Process Completion Options (D)

If the process is designed to execute some tasks and terminate, you can ask Goverlan to wait for the completion of the process. To do so, enable the Wait for the Process to Complete option. Enter the number of seconds to wait for the process to complete, and in the event the process fails to complete within the configured time line, specify whether Goverlan should forcefully terminate the process.

If the process writes output information to the console, you can configure Goverlan to display them back to you once the process is complete. Select Show Console Output to view the process's console output. Goverlan even accepts standard DOS commands such as IPCONFIG or NET USE and will return its output.

For example:

returns