Run Program

The Run Program object can run any program or command on any computer in your domain in interactive or background mode.

This object uses a satellite license. See Objects that Require Satellite Licenses for more information.

How it is used

Use the Run Program object to run backup applications or a batch script that runs a set of complex commands.

Configuration

To configure the Run Program object you need to know the command line argument or program that you want to run and which computer it will run on. You must also know if a user on the target computer will need to interact with the program when it is run. The user account that will run the program or command must have administrator rights to run programs on the target computer.

Details Tab

 

Program execution	Select this mode to execute a program in the same way as a Windows shortcut or the Windows Run dialog. You can also use the ellipsis (...) button to browse for the computer.
Command execution	Select this mode to execute a command in the same way as the Windows Command Prompt.
Computer	Type the computer where this program or command will be executed. Type localhost to run the program or command on the Action Server where the Policy is being processed.
Program Path/Command	• If you selected the Program execution mode, this field appears as Program Path. Type the full path to the location of the program that you want to run. Then, to pass parameters to the program, type them in the Parameters field. • If you selected the Command execution mode, this field appears as Command. Type the path of the command that you want to run, and include the parameters that you want to pass to the command on the same line in the Command field.
Parameters	Type the parameters that will be passed to the program that you want to run. This option is only available when you select the Program execution mode.
Working folder	Type the full path of the working folder that the program or command will use. The command or program will behave as if it was executed from the working folder.

Advanced Tab

 

Execution mode	Select the mode of execution for the program: • Interactive - Select this option to display a user interface on the computer where the command or program is run. A user interface, if available, appears in a user session that is defined by the user credentials specified in the Run as fields (User name, Password) on the Advanced tab. • Background, normal priority - Select this option to run the command or program in the background with the process priority set to normal. In this mode no user interface will be displayed. • Background, low priority - Select this option to run the command or program in the background with the process priority set to low. In this mode no user interface will be displayed. Some programs may not function correctly when set to low priority. If this is the case, use the Interactive or Backgroud, normal priority settings instead.
Wait for the completion of the program	Select this option to cause the Run Program to wait for the program or command to finish executing before moving to the next object in the Policy. If you have set the Execution mode to Interactive, then the user must close the program before the Run Program object is able to move to the next object in the Policy.
Terminate after	Type the maximum number of minutes to wait for the program or command to complete. Set this value to 0 to have the Run Program object to wait indefinitely for the completion of the program or command. If the time has expired and the program or command has not completed executing, the Run Program object will shut down the program or command and report a failure.
Do not wait for the completion of the program	Select this option to cause the Run Program object to run the program or command and not wait for it to complete. When this option is selected, the Published Data items generated by the Run Program object will not be available to other objects.
User name	To use a different account name to log in to a computer and run a program, type the account number in the User name field. Note: This user name only logs in to the computer where the Run Program object is executed, and uses the “Interactive logon” type. If the program that the Run Program object launches accesses resources on other computers, the same user name is used on the remote computer, but with the “Network logon” type.
Password	Type the password associated with the user name to run the program on the remote computer.

Alternate icon

You can change the icon that appears in the workspace for this object. To change the icon, follow the instructions in Changing the object icon.

Available Published Data

 

Name	Description
Program path	The program path or command that was entered.
Program parameters	The parameters that were passed to the program. This option is only available when Program execution is selected on the Details tab.
Working folder path	The path of the working folder.
Process ID	The process ID of the application that was started when the Run Program object was executed. If you are using Command execution, this will be the process ID of the Windows Command Prompt application.
Program exit code	The return code of the application that was run by the Run Program object.
Computer	The name of the computer where the application was started.
Program output	The text that was sent to the console when the program was run.
Pure Output	The unmodified output of the program.
Program output file	The name of the local file where the program output was saved.
UNC program output file	The name of the file where the program output was saved in UNC format.

Common Published Data