RunAs A different user when debugging in Visual St

Question

I'm trying to run the program I'm debugging as a different user. Now, this can be done by running the exe and attaching from Visual Studio, but this is cumbersome.

What I've tried to do is use the "RunAs" command:

command.com /C runas /env /user:OtherUser DebugTarget.Exe 

But this is attached to command.com, Visual Studio wants an exe. Now I can create a dummy app....but anyone have a better solution for this?

Answer 1

I'm using Visual Studio 2015 and attempting to debug a website with different credentials.

(I'm currently testing a website on a development network that has a copy of the live active directory; I can "hijack" user accounts to test permissions in a safe way)

1. Begin debugging with your normal user, ensure you can get to http://localhost:8080 as normal etc
2. Give the other user "Full Control" access to your normal user's home directory, ie, C:\Users\Colin
3. Make the other user an administrator on your machine. Right click Computer > Manage > Add other user to Administrator group
4. Run Internet Explorer as the other user (Shift + Right Click Internet Explorer, Run as different user)
5. Go to your localhost URL in that IE window

Really convenient to do some quick testing. The Full Control access is probably overkill but I develop on an isolated network. If anyone adds notes about more specific settings I'll gladly edit this post in future.

Answer 2

I'm using the following method based on @Watki02's answer:

1. Shift r-click the application to debug
2. Run as different user
3. Attach the debugger to the application

That way you can keep your visual studio instance as your own user whilst debugging from the other.

Answer 3

cmd.exe is located in different locations in different versions of Windows. To avoid needing the location of cmd.exe, you can use the command moogs wrote without calling "cmd.exe /C".

Here's an example that worked for me:

1. Open Command Prompt
2. Change directory to where your application's .exe file is located.
3. Execute the following command: runas /user:domain\username Application.exe

So the final step will look something like this in Command Prompt:

C:\Projects\MyProject\bin\Debug>runas /user:domain\username Application.exe

Note: the domain name was required in my situation.

Answer 4

you can also use VSCommands 2010 to run as different user:

Answer 5

another extremely simple way to do this (as mentioned in a link above) which doesn't require any more tools:

• Hold SHIFT key and right-click to open a new instance of Visual Studio.
• Click "run as different user"
• Enter credentials of the other user in the next pop-up window
• Open the same solution you are working with

Now when you debug the solution it will be with the other user's permissions.

(Hint: if you are going to run multiple instances of Visual Studio, change the theme of it (like to "dark") so you can keep track of which one is which easily).

Answer 6

This works (I feel so idiotic):

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C runas /savecred /user:OtherUser DebugTarget.Exe

The above command will ask for your password everytime, so for less frustration, you can use /savecred. You get asked only once. (but works only for Home Edition and Starter, I think)