Remote WMI connection

Question

I want to connect to remote PC running Windows 7, from another PC using ManagementScope on a local network. On remote PC I've created a new user account "Samuel" without password and set as administrator.

ConnectionOptions options = new ConnectionOptions();
options.Username = "Samuel";
options.Password = "";

ManagementScope scope = new ManagementScope("\\\\192.168.0.2\\root\\cimv2", options);          
scope.Connect();

The Error I get:

Access is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED))

Update:
After setting password for the use, I get new error:

The RPC server is unavailable. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800706BA)

Answer 1

Solution using "net view \\servername"

I know it's not very desirable to use a console command and do some string-gymnastic on the output, but on the other hand it does work and it's not very desirable either, at least for me, to have to mess around with the DCOM default settings to to get the WMI way to work (at least on Win7s).

Has been tested on Win7 and XP clients and MS- and linux server.

Function GetShares(ServerName As String) As List(Of String)
    Try
        Dim P As New Process
        Dim Read As Boolean = False
        Dim Str As String
        Dim Shares As New List(Of String)

        With P.StartInfo
            .FileName = "net"
            .Arguments = "view " & ServerName
            .RedirectStandardOutput = True
            .RedirectStandardError = True
            .CreateNoWindow = True
            .UseShellExecute = False
        End With
        P.Start()
        P.WaitForExit()

        If P.ExitCode <> 0 Then
            MsgBox(P.StandardError.ReadToEnd, MsgBoxStyle.OkOnly, "Error")
        Else
            Do Until P.StandardOutput.EndOfStream = True
                If Read = True Then
                    Str = P.StandardOutput.ReadLine
                    If Str = "The command completed successfully." Then Exit Do
                    Str = Strings.RTrim(Str) 'Removes any trailing spaces
                    Str = Strings.Mid(Str, 1, Strings.InStrRev(Str, " ")) 'remove Type
                    Str = Strings.RTrim(Str) ''Removes any trailing spaces
                    Shares.Add(Str)
                Else
                    If Strings.Left(P.StandardOutput.ReadLine, 10) = "----------" Then Read = True
                End If
            Loop
        End If
        Return Shares
    Catch ex As Exception
        MsgBox("Error in """ & System.Reflection.MethodInfo.GetCurrentMethod.Name & """: " & vbCr & ex.Message, MsgBoxStyle.OkOnly, "Runtime error")
        Debug.Print("--------------------------" & vbCr & "Error: " & ex.Message & vbCr & ex.StackTrace)
        Return Nothing
    End Try
End Function

Answer 2

I had this problem too.I was trying to write C# code to get WMI information and files from a remote PC. And ran into two Access Denied errors:

To keep a long story short, I had to make changes to the remote PC. See below:

1. 0x80070005: Access is Denied: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/6229334e-d5ef-4016-9e7e-1c8718be8d43/access-is-denied-exception-from-hresult-0x80070005-eaccessdenied-in-vbnet?forum=netfxbcl

2. System.Management: Access Denied: Section "Using System.Management and WMI": https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/317012/process-and-request-identity-in-asp.net

Answer 3

• According to the WMI FAQ on TechNet, the 0x80070005 error indicates a DCOM issue:

  0x80070005 (DCOM ACCESS_DENIED)
  This error occurs when the connected user is not recognized or is restricted in some fashion by the remote server (for example, the user might be locked out). This happens most often when accounts are in different domains. Recent changes to WMI security can also cause this error to occur:

  • Blank passwords, formerly permitted, are not allowed in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

  • WMI does not allow asynchronous callbacks to a Windows 98 client. A call like SWbemServices.ExecNotificationQueryAsync from a Windows 98 computer to a Windows XP computer will result in an Access Denied error returned to the Windows 98 machine.

  • The DCOM configuration access setting might have been changed.

  • If the target computer is running Windows XP, the Forceguest value under the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa might be set to force the Guest account off (value is zero).

  (Although Windows XP is mentioned, this may be applied to Windows 7 as well.)
  
  

• The 0x800706BA error, in its rurn, indicates a firewall issue:

  0x800706xx (DCOM RPC error)
  This often occurs when a firewall is configured on the remote computer. You will need to open the appropriate ports on the firewall to permit remote administration using DCOM.

  Try enabling the Remote administration exception in Windows Firewall on the remote computer and see if it helps. To do this from the command line, run the following command in the elevated command prompt:

  netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="remote admin" new enable=yes
  

  
  You can also find the DCOM, UAC, Windows Firewall and other settings required for remote WMI access in the Connecting to WMI Remotely Starting with Windows Vista article on MSDN.
  
  

• Also, since Samuel is a nondomain account, you need to grant this account DCOM Remote Access, Remote Launch and Remote Activation permissions on the remote computer as described here.

Answer 4

You may want to check to WMI Security Settings on the Remote Windows 7 PC. Right Click Computer > Manage > Services and Applications > WMI Control > Security Tab and make sure the user account you are using has the necc permissions.

Answer 5

Maybe it's the missing 'EnablePrivileges':

scope.Options.EnablePrivileges = true;

From MSDN (ConnectionOptions.EnablePrivileges Property):

Gets or sets a value indicating whether user privileges need to be enabled for the connection operation. This property should only be used when the operation performed requires a certain user privilege to be enabled (for example, a machine restart).

Edit: If it doesn't work, try setting the ImpersonationLevel to 'Impersonate':

scope.Options.Impersonation = System.Management.ImpersonationLevel.Impersonate;

ImpersonationLevel Impersonate: Impersonate-level COM impersonation level that allows objects to use the credentials of the caller. This is the recommended impersonation level for WMI calls.

Answer 6

You got "Access is denied." because you cannot query scope connection with username only. You have 2 options: null for username and password or enter username and password.

You got "The RPC server is unavailable." because firewall doesn't let you query that machine. You have 2 options: disable firewall or add remote administration exception to it.

You can add firewall exception like this in cmd: Older windows versions:

netsh firewall set service type = remoteadmin mode = enable

Newer windows versions:

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="Windows Remote Management" new enable=yes

If you try to login with domain user, change username to domainName\username or set connection property connection.Authority = "ntlmdomain:domainName".