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Get Information About the Currently Logged-on Users - Part 2

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17 Apr 20064 min read 1   2K  
Get information about the currently logged-on users - in remote computer
Sample Image - LoggedOnUsersPart2.jpg

Introduction

When you work in a network and you manage more users, you need to know information about the currently logged-on user, on the local computer and on the remote computer. In part 1, we get information for currently logged-on user on the local computer. In this article, we get information of all logged-on users on the remote computer

We use function NetWkstaUserEnum:

C++
NET_API_STATUS NetWkstaUserEnum(
  LPWSTR <a class="synParam" onclick="showTip(this)">servername</a>,   
  DWORD <a class="synParam" onclick="showTip(this)">level</a>,         
  LPBYTE *<a class="synParam" onclick="showTip(this)">bufptr</a>,      
  DWORD <a class="synParam" onclick="showTip(this)">prefmaxlen</a>,    
  LPDWORD <a class="synParam" onclick="showTip(this)">entriesread</a>, 
  LPDWORD <a class="synParam" onclick="showTip(this)">totalentries</a>,
  LPDWORD <a class="synParam" onclick="showTip(this)">resumehandle</a> 
);
Security Requirements

Windows NT

Only members of the Administrators local group can successfully execute the NetWkstaUserEnum function both locally and on a remote server.

Windows 2000

If you call this function on a domain controller that is running Active Directory, access is allowed or denied based on the access-control list (ACL) for the securable object. The default ACL permits all authenticated users and members of the "Pre-Windows 2000 compatible access" group to view the information. By default, the "Pre-Windows 2000 compatible access" group includes Everyone as a member. This enables anonymous access to the information if the system allows anonymous access.

If you call this function on a member server or workstation, all authenticated users can view the information. Anonymous access is also permitted if the RestrictAnonymous policy setting allows anonymous access.

Windows XP

If you call this function on a domain controller that is running Active Directory, access is allowed or denied based on the ACL for the securable object. To enable anonymous access, the user Anonymous must be a member of the "Pre-Windows 2000 compatible access" group. This is because anonymous tokens do not include the Everyone group SID by default.

If you call this function on a member server or workstation, all authenticated users can view the information. Anonymous access is also permitted if the RestrictAnonymous policy setting permits anonymous access. If the RestrictAnonymous policy setting does not permit anonymous access, only an administrator can successfully execute the function.

Parameters

  • servername
    • [in] Pointer to a Unicode string specifying the name of the remote server on which the function is to execute. The string must begin with \\. If this parameter is NULL, the local computer is used.
  • level
    • [in] Specifies the information level of the data. This parameter can be one of the following values.
      ValueMeaning
      0Return the names of users currently logged on to the workstation. The bufptr parameter points to an array of WKSTA_USER_INFO_0 structures.
      1Return the names of the current users and the domains accessed by the workstation. The bufptr parameter points to an array of WKSTA_USER_INFO_1 structures.
  • bufptr
    • [out] Pointer to the buffer that receives the data. The format of this data depends on the value of the level parameter. This buffer is allocated by the system and must be freed using the NetApiBufferFree function. Note that you must free the buffer even if the function fails with ERROR_MORE_DATA.
  • prefmaxlen
    • [in] Specifies the preferred maximum length of returned data, in bytes. If you specify MAX_PREFERRED_LENGTH, the function allocates the amount of memory required for the data. If you specify another value in this parameter, it can restrict the number of bytes that the function returns. If the buffer size is insufficient to hold all entries, the function returns ERROR_MORE_DATA.
  • entriesread
    • [out] Pointer to a DWORD value that receives the count of elements actually enumerated.
  • totalentries
    • [out] Pointer to a DWORD value that receives the total number of entries that could have been enumerated from the current resume position.
  • resumehandle
    • [in/out] Pointer to a DWORD value that contains a resume handle which is used to continue an existing search. The handle should be zero on the first call and left unchanged for subsequent calls. If resumehandle is NULL, no resume handle is stored.

Note that since the NetWkstaUserEnum function lists entries for service and batch logons, as well as for interactive logons, the function can return entries for users who have logged off a workstation. This can occur, for example, when a user calls a service that impersonates the user. In this instance, NetWkstaUserEnum returns an entry for the user until the service stops impersonating the user.

The following code sample demonstrates how to list information about all users currently logged on to a workstation using a call to the NetWkstaUserEnum function. The sample calls NetWkstaUserEnum, specifying information level 0 (WKSTA_USER_INFO_0). The sample loops through the entries and prints the names of the users logged on to a workstation

C++
void CLoggedOnUsersPart2Dlg::OnButton1()
{
 LPWKSTA_USER_INFO_0 pBuf = NULL;
 LPWKSTA_USER_INFO_0 pTmpBuf;
 DWORD dwLevel = 0;
 DWORD dwPrefMaxLen = -1;
 DWORD dwEntriesRead = 0;
 DWORD dwTotalEntries = 0;
 DWORD dwResumeHandle = 0;
 DWORD i;
 DWORD dwTotalCount = 0;
 NET_API_STATUS nStatus;
 wchar_t* pszServerName = NULL;

 // The server is not the default local computer.
 //
 BOOL bRemote = ((CButton*)GetDlgItem(IDC_RADIO2))->GetCheck();
 CString strServerName = "";
 if (bRemote == TRUE)
 {
  ((CEdit*)GetDlgItem(IDC_EDIT1))->GetWindowText(strServerName);
  pszServerName = new wchar_t[strServerName.GetLength()+1];
  if (pszServerName != NULL)
  {
   if (MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, MB_PRECOMPOSED,
	strServerName, -1, pszServerName, strServerName.GetLength()+1) == 0)
   {// error
    AfxMessageBox("Error when get wide char!", MB_ICONERROR | MB_OK);
    delete pszServerName;
    return;
   }
  }
 }
 //
 // Call the NetWkstaUserEnum function, specifying level 0.
 //
 do // begin do
 {
  nStatus = NetWkstaUserEnum((char *)pszServerName,
         dwLevel,
         (LPBYTE*)&pBuf,
         dwPrefMaxLen,
         &dwEntriesRead,
         &dwTotalEntries,
         &dwResumeHandle);
  //
  // If the call succeeds,
  //
  if ((nStatus == NERR_Success) || (nStatus == ERROR_MORE_DATA))
  {
   if ((pTmpBuf = pBuf) != NULL)
   {
    m_lstUsers.DeleteAllItems();
    //
    // Loop through the entries.
    //
    for (i = 0; (i < dwEntriesRead); i++)
    {
     //assert(pTmpBuf != NULL);

     if (pTmpBuf == NULL)
     {
      //
      // Only members of the Administrators local group
      //  can successfully execute NetWkstaUserEnum
      //  locally and on a remote server.
      //
      AfxMessageBox("An access violation has occurred", MB_OK | MB_ICONERROR);
      break;
     }
     //
     // Print the user logged on to the workstation.
     //
     char strBuffer[256];
     WideCharToMultiByte(CP_ACP, 0,
	(unsigned short *)pTmpBuf->wkui0_username, -1, strBuffer, 256, NULL, NULL);
     m_lstUsers.InsertItem(dwTotalCount, strBuffer);

     pTmpBuf++;
     dwTotalCount++;
    }
   }
  }
  //
  // Otherwise, indicate a system error.
  //
  else
  {
   CString strError = "";
   strError.Format("A system error has occurred: %d\n", nStatus);
   AfxMessageBox(strError, MB_OK | MB_ICONERROR);
  }
  //
  // Free the allocated memory.
  //
  if (pBuf != NULL)
  {
   NetApiBufferFree(pBuf);
   pBuf = NULL;
  }
 }
 //
 // Continue to call NetWkstaUserEnum while
 //  there are more entries.
 //
 while (nStatus == ERROR_MORE_DATA); // end do
 //
 // Check again for allocated memory.
 //
 if (pBuf != NULL)
  NetApiBufferFree(pBuf);
 if (pszServerName != NULL)
 {
  delete pszServerName;
 }
}

Note that we work with unicode string, so need to use WideCharToMultiByte() and MultiByteToWideChar().

Thanks Mila025, you helped me very much.

History

  • 18th April, 2006: Initial post

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