The Powerful Run Executable Job Action Type of SiteRemote

An often overlooked action type of the SiteRemote job system (in your SiteRemote team choose SiteKiosk from the menu and then select the job tab) is one called Run Executable. It is a more general action type than most of the others but that is what makes it so powerful. What it allows you to do is to basically run any executable including the use of parameters.  

 

You can run Windows Powershell, batch files, (silent) installers, Windows system tools and so on. This allows you to administrate your SiteKiosk Windows machines in almost every possible way in addition to the SiteKiosk administration and monitoring the SiteRemote GUI already helps you with.

It is even possible to update SiteKiosk remotely with the help of the Run Executable job action type. Please contact our support for more information, because the exact method varies based on the SiteKiosk version in use.

This job action type runs on the client invisible with administrative privileges in the context of the Local System user or visible with the rights of the user that is logged in at the moment the job is executed.

If the executable you run provides a return value you can use that to show whether the job was successful or not on the SiteRemote job page. Not using this option will show the job as successful if starting the executable did not return an error.

A simple example that starts Notepad with the SiteKiosk license text would be this command line:

"c:\windows\notepad.exe" "c:\program files (x86)\SiteKiosk\license-en.txt"

If you then choose the option Visible execution with user rights, the job will start Notepad with the license text file on the SiteKiosk Windows machine, once the job has been assigned and ececuted on a client.

Please note that past DevBlog posts have described how to access 64-Bit system folders and registry paths (https://devblog.provisio.com/post/2015/11/03/Accessing-64-Bit-System-Folders-and-Registry-from-the-SiteRemote-Job-System.aspx) or how to unzip zip archives uploaded with a SiteRemote job step to a specific destination folder (https://devblog.provisio.com/post/2016/02/22/Distributing-the-SiteKiosk-Windows-Start-Screen-with-SiteRemote.aspx) all with the help of the Run Executable job action type.