Exporting and Importing Wireless Settings Using Netsh in VB.NET (Updated)
How to export and import wireless settings using Netsh in VB.NET (updated)
I. Introduction
Wireless settings can be exported and imported using netsh. In this tip, I will refer to the wlan (wireless local area network) part of the netsh command line program for the actions explained. Besides importing and exporting profiles and their wireless information, other actions can be performed such as: deleting wireless profiles (also called networks), blocking certain networks from showing up in the wireless connections list, etc. One example is netsh wlan delete will delete a wireless network. Next, let’s see the form setup so everyone reading the tip can understand how the project was designed before I step into the code.
II. Setup Of Project
For this project, I have 2 forms in the setup of the project. For importing, I have Form1 which imports the data using an open file dialog box which can accept multiple items. For exporting profiles, the Profiles form exports specific profiles the user checks from the checked list box. Figure 1 is my design of Form1 and Figure 2 shows the design of the Profiles form. The profiles form is used to display all the wireless profiles installed on the computer. After a person checks off the profiles they want export into an XML file, netsh saves that file to the XML settings export path chosen back on Form1.
III. The Code
First, I will go over the importation code which is very simple. The import SSID and Network Profile Information button (also called BtnImport) imports the wireless information from XML information files. Below in Figure 3, I show the BtnImport_click event code that does multiple item importation in one click (by sending data to ImportProfile Function in Figure 7). In Figure 4, I show the BtnExport_Click event which opens the Profiles Form and allows the user to select the profiles to export. In Figure 5, I am loading the profiles in the Profiles_Load event which fills the checkedlistbox with items. In Figure 6, I show the code for BtnSelectProfiles_Click event (the only button in figure 2). Finally, Figure 8 shows the code for the Log Subroutine I use in my BtnImport_Click event.
Private Sub BtnImport_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles BtnImport.Click
Dim result As System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult
OpenFileDialog1.Filter = "Xml Files (*.xml)|*.xml;"
OpenFileDialog1.Multiselect = True
result = OpenFileDialog1.ShowDialog()
If result = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
If OpenFileDialog1.FileName <> "" Then
Dim importprocess As Process = New Process
importprocess.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden
'simple application logging added to provided
'error status as to whether the code completed successfully
If OpenFileDialog1.FileNames.Length >= 2 Then 'if more than one filename selected
'loop through the files selected and import them.
For j As Integer = 0 To OpenFileDialog1.FileNames.Length - 1
If ImportProfile(OpenFileDialog1.FileNames.GetValue(j)) = True Then
Log("successfully imported profile:" + OpenFileDialog1.FileName)
Else
Log("Error profile:" + OpenFileDialog1.FileName + _
" did not import properly. Please reimport!")
End If
Next j
Else
TxtOpenPath.Text = OpenFileDialog1.FileName
If ImportProfile(OpenFileDialog1.FileName) = True Then
MsgBox("successfully imported profile:" + OpenFileDialog1.FileName)
Else
MsgBox("Error profile:" + OpenFileDialog1.FileName + _
" did not import properly. Please reimport!")
End If
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(2000)
End If
End If
End If
End Sub
Private Sub BtnExport_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles BtnExport.Click
Dim result As System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult
result = FolderBrowserDialog1.ShowDialog()
If result = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
If FolderBrowserDialog1.SelectedPath <> "" Then
TxtSavePath.Text = FolderBrowserDialog1.SelectedPath
TxtSavePath.Enabled = False
Profiles.Show()
End If
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Profiles_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
' Dim Profiles As List(Of String) = New List(Of String)
Dim tempstr As String
Dim tmpstr1 As String
Dim tmpstr2 As String
Dim i As Integer
Dim wifistart As ProcessStartInfo = New ProcessStartInfo
Dim wifiprofiles As Process = New Process
Dim baddata As String
Dim profilesread As StreamReader
wifistart.CreateNoWindow = True
wifistart.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden
wifistart.FileName = "netsh"
wifistart.Arguments = "wlan show profiles"
wifistart.UseShellExecute = False
wifistart.RedirectStandardOutput = True
wifiprofiles = Process.Start(wifistart)
Dim profilefile As StreamReader = wifiprofiles.StandardOutput
If File.Exists(Application.StartupPath + "\Profiles.wpro") Then
File.Delete(Application.StartupPath + "\Profiles.wpro")
End If
Dim profilewrite As StreamWriter = _
New StreamWriter(Application.StartupPath + "\Profiles.wpro", False)
Do Until wifiprofiles.StandardOutput.EndOfStream
profilewrite.WriteLine(profilefile.ReadLine)
Loop
profilewrite.Close()
wifiprofiles.StandardOutput.Close()
profilesread = New StreamReader(Application.StartupPath + "\Profiles.wpro")
Do While Not profilesread.EndOfStream
If i >= 9 Then
tempstr = profilesread.ReadLine
If tempstr.IndexOf("All User Profile") <> -1 Then
tmpstr2 = tempstr.Remove(tempstr.IndexOf("All"), 22)
' MsgBox("All user profile replace:" + tmpstr2)
lstNetworkProfiles.Items.Add(tmpstr2)
End If
If tempstr.IndexOf("Current User Profile") <> -1 Then
tmpstr1 = tempstr.Remove(tempstr.IndexOf("Current"), 22)
lstNetworkProfiles.Items.Add(tmpstr1)
' MsgBox("current user profile replace:" + tmpstr1)
End If
Else
baddata = Nothing
baddata = profilesread.ReadLine()
End If
i = i + 1
Loop
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(3000)
End Sub
Private Sub BtnSelectProfiles_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles BtnSelectProfiles.Click
Dim importprocess As Process = Process.Start("c:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe")
importprocess.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal
'importprocess.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = False
' importprocess.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = True
'importprocess()
Dim i As Integer
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(2000)
For i = 0 To lstNetworkProfiles.Items.Count - 1
If lstNetworkProfiles.GetItemChecked(i) = True Then
My.Computer.Keyboard.SendKeys("netsh wlan export profile name=" + _
Chr(34) + Trim(lstNetworkProfiles.Items.Item(i).ToString) + Chr(34) + _
" folder=" + Chr(34) + Form1.TxtSavePath.Text + Chr(34))
My.Computer.Keyboard.SendKeys("{Enter}")
Else
' importprocess = Process.Start("netsh", _
' "wlan export profile name=" + Chr(34) + _
' lstNetworkProfiles.Items.Item(i).ToString + Chr(34) + _
' " folder=" + Chr(34) + Form1.TxtSavePath.Text + Chr(34))
End If
Next
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(2000)
End Sub
Function ImportProfile(filename As String) As Boolean
Dim importprocess As Process = New Process
importprocess.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden
importprocess = Process.Start("c:\Windows\System32\netsh.exe", _
"wlan add profile file=" + Chr(34) + _
filename + Chr(34) + " user=current")
importprocess.Close()
Return True
End Function
Sub Log(text As String)
Dim logfile As IO.StreamWriter = New IO.StreamWriter(Application.StartupPath, True)
logfile.WriteLine(text)
logfile.Close()
End Sub
History
- Add a subroutine to change up Import process and avoid extra code. In addition, I added a logging function (can be removed from the source code or changed as necessary).