Guest RayportingMonkey Posted August 12, 2008 Posted August 12, 2008 My basic scenario is that I have a laptop that I do "light work" from and a power-house desktop that I develop and run automated reports on. Currently, I have a series of VBS files that download source data from a web location to a local/working directory on my Desktop. Some of these files can get pretty large. The problem is that I receive notification on my laptop via Outlook that the data is available and had set a rule in Outlook to run the applicable script, which reside on my desktop. I want to run the script from the (remote) desktop and not from my laptop. Do I need to setup a service on the desktop in Windows XP or something to do this? Or is there a way to specify the name of the machine on which a script should run? This is a new approach for me, so I may not be communicating as clearly as I could - if clarification is required, let me know. I apprecaite a point in the right direction! Thanks, Ray -- "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!"
Guest 3c273 Posted August 12, 2008 Posted August 12, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? You can use PSExec from Sysinternals to run the script on the remote machine. It is available on the MS website. Louis "RayportingMonkey" <RayportingMonkey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:99ACC488-8FD2-4B93-9316-8CB0C17F3369@microsoft.com... > My basic scenario is that I have a laptop that I do "light work" from and a > power-house desktop that I develop and run automated reports on. Currently, I > have a series of VBS files that download source data from a web location to a > local/working directory on my Desktop. > > Some of these files can get pretty large. > > The problem is that I receive notification on my laptop via Outlook that the > data is available and had set a rule in Outlook to run the applicable script, > which reside on my desktop. > > I want to run the script from the (remote) desktop and not from my laptop. > > Do I need to setup a service on the desktop in Windows XP or something to do > this? Or is there a way to specify the name of the machine on which a script > should run? > > This is a new approach for me, so I may not be communicating as clearly as I > could - if clarification is required, let me know. I apprecaite a point in > the right direction! > > Thanks, > Ray > > > -- > "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!"
Guest Pegasus \(MVP\) Posted August 12, 2008 Posted August 12, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? "RayportingMonkey" <RayportingMonkey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:99ACC488-8FD2-4B93-9316-8CB0C17F3369@microsoft.com... > My basic scenario is that I have a laptop that I do "light work" from and > a > power-house desktop that I develop and run automated reports on. > Currently, I > have a series of VBS files that download source data from a web location > to a > local/working directory on my Desktop. > > Some of these files can get pretty large. > > The problem is that I receive notification on my laptop via Outlook that > the > data is available and had set a rule in Outlook to run the applicable > script, > which reside on my desktop. > > I want to run the script from the (remote) desktop and not from my laptop. > > Do I need to setup a service on the desktop in Windows XP or something to > do > this? Or is there a way to specify the name of the machine on which a > script > should run? > > This is a new approach for me, so I may not be communicating as clearly as > I > could - if clarification is required, let me know. I apprecaite a point in > the right direction! > > Thanks, > Ray > If the desktop runs Windows Professional then Remote Desktop may be another option. It would give you complete control over the desktop in a GUI environment.
Guest RayportingMonkey Posted August 12, 2008 Posted August 12, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? > If the desktop runs Windows Professional then Remote Desktop > may be another option. It would give you complete control over > the desktop in a GUI environment. Agreed - Except I am attempting to automate the process. So opening a remote session and launching the script is precisely what I am trying to avoid. I need to be able to run the script on the remote PC, but I can only seem to run the process that resides on the remote PC locally - negating the speed and power of the remote PC.
Guest RayportingMonkey Posted August 12, 2008 Posted August 12, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? > You can use PSExec from Sysinternals to run the script on the remote > machine. It is available on the MS website. I downloaded and installed PSExec and can make it do simple things, like run a DIR on the remote and such, but when I attempt to execute something like: psexec \\MyDesktopsName C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs PsExec launches and tells me, "The system cannot find the file specified". I can see that there is an instance of wscript.exe running on the remote machine, but there is a "beep" and no further information. Again, these are production scripts that work when run locally, but seem to just hang when I attempt to run them via PsExec. -- "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!"
Guest Pegasus \(MVP\) Posted August 12, 2008 Posted August 12, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? "RayportingMonkey" <RayportingMonkey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:33B91063-1543-46B8-8302-636059D04AEF@microsoft.com... >> You can use PSExec from Sysinternals to run the script on the remote >> machine. It is available on the MS website. > > I downloaded and installed PSExec and can make it do simple things, like > run > a DIR on the remote and such, but when I attempt to execute something > like: > > psexec \\MyDesktopsName C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs > > PsExec launches and tells me, "The system cannot find the file specified". > > I can see that there is an instance of wscript.exe running on the remote > machine, but there is a "beep" and no further information. > > Again, these are production scripts that work when run locally, but seem > to > just hang when I attempt to run them via PsExec. > > -- > "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!" > You should not rely on the remote machine "knowing" what to do with a .vbs file - when automating a process you should always be explicit and invoke the underlying executable in order to make it robust: psexec \\MyDesktopsName cscript.exe //nologo C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs
Guest RayportingMonkey Posted August 12, 2008 Posted August 12, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? > You should not rely on the remote machine "knowing" what to do with > a .vbs file - when automating a process you should always be explicit > and invoke the underlying executable in order to make it robust: > > psexec \\MyDesktopsName cscript.exe //nologo > C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs OK - Getting a little further I think, but not there yet... When I run that I get an error that reads: C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs(7,1) msxml3.dll: Access is denied. I am an admin on both boxes, am logged into both with the same credentials and even tried the -u / -p switches just in case, but to no avail. Thanks for your help thus far. -- "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!"
Guest Pegasus \(MVP\) Posted August 12, 2008 Posted August 12, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? "RayportingMonkey" <RayportingMonkey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:931386A6-AE6F-48C9-955C-95B4BD6A02C1@microsoft.com... >> You should not rely on the remote machine "knowing" what to do with >> a .vbs file - when automating a process you should always be explicit >> and invoke the underlying executable in order to make it robust: >> >> psexec \\MyDesktopsName cscript.exe //nologo >> C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs > > OK - Getting a little further I think, but not there yet... > > When I run that I get an error that reads: > > C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs(7,1) msxml3.dll: Access is denied. > > I am an admin on both boxes, am logged into both with the same credentials > and even tried the -u / -p switches just in case, but to no avail. > > Thanks for your help thus far. > > -- > "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!" > Can't tell - my scripts run perfectly well under psexec.exe. You need to examine the specific permissions of msxml3.dll. To prove the principle you should really start the exercise with a very basic script file, e.g. by putting the following two lines of code right on top of your script, before any other code: wscript.echo "Hello world" wscript.quit You must also remember that psexec.exe does not support any GUIs. It's console stuff only.
Guest 3c273 Posted August 12, 2008 Posted August 12, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? It looks like vbs files won't run directly and I see you've tried this but this command works on my setup. psexec -i \\machinename cscript "c:\path\test.vbs" Louis "RayportingMonkey" <RayportingMonkey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:931386A6-AE6F-48C9-955C-95B4BD6A02C1@microsoft.com... > > You should not rely on the remote machine "knowing" what to do with > > a .vbs file - when automating a process you should always be explicit > > and invoke the underlying executable in order to make it robust: > > > > psexec \\MyDesktopsName cscript.exe //nologo > > C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs > > OK - Getting a little further I think, but not there yet... > > When I run that I get an error that reads: > > C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs(7,1) msxml3.dll: Access is denied. > > I am an admin on both boxes, am logged into both with the same credentials > and even tried the -u / -p switches just in case, but to no avail. > > Thanks for your help thus far. > > -- > "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!" >
Guest RayportingMonkey Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? > It looks like vbs files won't run directly and I see you've tried this but > this command works on my setup. > psexec -i \\machinename cscript "c:\path\test.vbs" Yeah... I can run simple scripts (i.e. "Hello World"), so I guess you could say that PsExec is "working", but the scripts I need to run fail when executed via PsExec. -- "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!"
Guest RayportingMonkey Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? > To prove the principle you should really start the exercise with > a very basic script file, e.g. by putting the following two lines of > code right on top of your script, before any other code: > > wscript.echo "Hello world" > wscript.quit > > You must also remember that psexec.exe does not support > any GUIs. It's console stuff only. Just to test, I setup a sample script with just those two lines and yes, it runs as expected, so I guess you could say that PsExec is "working". But that still doesn't benefit me as the scripts I need to run are giving me the same error: C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs(7,1) msxml3.dll: Access is denied I tried looking around online and could't find anyting specific to the "(7,1)" identifier in the "msxml3.dll: Access is denied" message. There were security/trust references to IE, but my scripts stream their files without opening IE. Some related references to this error message did refer to XML and there are XML calls in my script, so I am starting to wonder if that's related... I am pasting a copy of my script here for reference : FileName = "Dispatches 2008.xls" DestFolder = "\\MyComputerName\Share\" URL = "http://serverURL/Document%20Library/Dispatches%202008.xls" Set xml = CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP") xml.Open "GET", URL, False xml.Send set oStream = createobject("Adodb.Stream") Const adTypeBinary = 1 Const adSaveCreateOverWrite = 2 Const adSaveCreateNotExist = 1 oStream.type = adTypeBinary oStream.open oStream.write xml.responseBody oStream.savetofile DestFolder & FileName, adSaveCreateOverWrite oStream.close set oStream = nothing Set xml = Nothing Again, this thread has seemed to focus on the use of psexec, but if there is another method I should try (TSR, some sort of custom Windows Service, etc...) I am open to exploring. For me, this is primarially a bandwidth issue. I don't want to be downloading 10-50MB data source files to my laptop (over shi**y 802.11b wireless) in my home office, only to have to copy them over a VPN to my office desktop where the downloaded files and the scripts that grab them reside in the first place - especially when some of the larger files come from my intranet, so access from my desktop sucks down those packets fast! Thanks for the help thus far - Any additional help is greatly appreciated! Regards, Ray -- "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!"
Guest Pegasus \(MVP\) Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? "RayportingMonkey" <RayportingMonkey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:9939BFB6-EB3D-4FD0-AAE1-60D188B67005@microsoft.com... >> To prove the principle you should really start the exercise with >> a very basic script file, e.g. by putting the following two lines of >> code right on top of your script, before any other code: >> >> wscript.echo "Hello world" >> wscript.quit >> >> You must also remember that psexec.exe does not support >> any GUIs. It's console stuff only. > > Just to test, I setup a sample script with just those two lines and yes, > it > runs as expected, so I guess you could say that PsExec is "working". > > But that still doesn't benefit me as the scripts I need to run are giving > me > the same error: C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs(7,1) msxml3.dll: Access > is > denied > > I tried looking around online and could't find anyting specific to the > "(7,1)" identifier in the "msxml3.dll: Access is denied" message. There > were > security/trust references to IE, but my scripts stream their files without > opening IE. > > Some related references to this error message did refer to XML and there > are > XML calls in my script, so I am starting to wonder if that's related... > > I am pasting a copy of my script here for reference : > > FileName = "Dispatches 2008.xls" > DestFolder = "\\MyComputerName\Share\" > URL = "http://serverURL/Document%20Library/Dispatches%202008.xls" > > Set xml = CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP") > xml.Open "GET", URL, False > xml.Send > > set oStream = createobject("Adodb.Stream") > Const adTypeBinary = 1 > Const adSaveCreateOverWrite = 2 > Const adSaveCreateNotExist = 1 > > oStream.type = adTypeBinary > oStream.open > oStream.write xml.responseBody > > oStream.savetofile DestFolder & FileName, adSaveCreateOverWrite > > oStream.close > > set oStream = nothing > Set xml = Nothing > > > Again, this thread has seemed to focus on the use of psexec, but if there > is > another method I should try (TSR, some sort of custom Windows Service, > etc...) I am open to exploring. > > For me, this is primarially a bandwidth issue. I don't want to be > downloading 10-50MB data source files to my laptop (over shi**y 802.11b > wireless) in my home office, only to have to copy them over a VPN to my > office desktop where the downloaded files and the scripts that grab them > reside in the first place - especially when some of the larger files come > from my intranet, so access from my desktop sucks down those packets fast! > > Thanks for the help thus far - Any additional help is greatly appreciated! > > Regards, > Ray > > > -- > "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!" Sorry, I've almost run out of ideas. Here is what I would do: - Start a console session on the host (by sitting in front of it), using a Domain Administrator account, then execute the command cscript //nologo C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs - Start a Command Prompt on the host with psexec.exe (while sitting in front of your laptop), then run the script: psexec \\YourHost -u DomainName\DomainAdmin cmd{Enter} cscript //nologo C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs The result ***might*** give you some pointers.
Guest RayportingMonkey Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote: > Sorry, I've almost run out of ideas. Here is what I would do: > - Start a console session on the host (by sitting in front of it), using a > Domain Administrator account, then execute the command > cscript //nologo C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs > - Start a Command Prompt on the host with psexec.exe (while > sitting in front of your laptop), then run the script: > psexec \\YourHost -u DomainName\DomainAdmin cmd{Enter} > cscript //nologo C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs > > The result ***might*** give you some pointers. Peg - That push was in the right direction! Even though I am logged in with the same credentials on both machines, this does seem to be a login/id related issue. The command that ran with succes was as follows: psexec \\MyHost -u DomainName\UserName -p UserPassword cscript //nologo C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs I had mentioned earlier in this thread that I did incorporate ID/PASS (-u / -p) variables in my attempts, but the script had failed. Since doing that I have modified my IE settings on both machines by adding the domain(s) I am downloading from as Trusted Sites and in "Custom Level" under security set the Access Data Sources Across Domains to "Enable" (from Disabled"). On the desktop pc, under Folder Options, I un-checked the "Use simple file sharing (Recommended)" option. Each of these measures were reccommended in various articles I found on-line while researching the error message, "C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs(7,1) msxml3.dll: Access is denied". The only other change I want to document is that I had NOT installed PsExec on the desktop until now, which I did to execute your recommended test from PsExec on the desktop (which made perfect sense by the way and I kick myself for not doing that before posting!). So a few changes, but I'm not sure which one(s) made the difference. I do know that you (Pegasus (MVP)) and Louis made a difference by taking the time to assist - I greatly appreciate it and hope people find this thread useful if they have a similar issue. Again, crisis averted - Thank You! Later- Ray -- "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!"
Guest Pegasus \(MVP\) Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? "RayportingMonkey" <RayportingMonkey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:69D6CDAE-4B3C-499A-BC40-15198D758C84@microsoft.com... > So a few changes, but I'm not sure which one(s) made the difference. > > I do know that you (Pegasus (MVP)) and Louis made a difference by taking > the > time to assist - I greatly appreciate it and hope people find this thread > useful if they have a similar issue. > > Again, crisis averted - Thank You! > > Later- > Ray > -- > "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!" > Glad you got it resolved, and thanks for the feedback.
Guest 3c273 Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 Re: Run VBS on a Remote? Glad you got it sorted. For future reference, there is also rcmd.exe which uses the rcmdsvc.exe service from the resource kit. I was going to suggest you try it, but no need now. Louis "RayportingMonkey" <RayportingMonkey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:69D6CDAE-4B3C-499A-BC40-15198D758C84@microsoft.com... > "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote: > > Sorry, I've almost run out of ideas. Here is what I would do: > > - Start a console session on the host (by sitting in front of it), using a > > Domain Administrator account, then execute the command > > cscript //nologo C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs > > - Start a Command Prompt on the host with psexec.exe (while > > sitting in front of your laptop), then run the script: > > psexec \\YourHost -u DomainName\DomainAdmin cmd{Enter} > > cscript //nologo C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs > > > > The result ***might*** give you some pointers. > > > Peg - That push was in the right direction! > > Even though I am logged in with the same credentials on both machines, this > does seem to be a login/id related issue. > > The command that ran with succes was as follows: > > psexec \\MyHost -u DomainName\UserName -p UserPassword cscript //nologo > C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs > > I had mentioned earlier in this thread that I did incorporate ID/PASS (-u / > -p) variables in my attempts, but the script had failed. Since doing that I > have modified my IE settings on both machines by adding the domain(s) I am > downloading from as Trusted Sites and in "Custom Level" under security set > the Access Data Sources Across Domains to "Enable" (from Disabled"). On the > desktop pc, under Folder Options, I un-checked the "Use simple file sharing > (Recommended)" option. Each of these measures were reccommended in various > articles I found on-line while researching the error message, > "C:\WorkingDirectory\FileName.vbs(7,1) msxml3.dll: Access is denied". > > The only other change I want to document is that I had NOT installed PsExec > on the desktop until now, which I did to execute your recommended test from > PsExec on the desktop (which made perfect sense by the way and I kick myself > for not doing that before posting!). > > So a few changes, but I'm not sure which one(s) made the difference. > > I do know that you (Pegasus (MVP)) and Louis made a difference by taking the > time to assist - I greatly appreciate it and hope people find this thread > useful if they have a similar issue. > > Again, crisis averted - Thank You! > > Later- > Ray > -- > "Trying to make reports so easy... even a monkey could run ''em!" >
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