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A small C# Class for impersonating a User

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11 Apr 2005CPOL3 min read 1.3M   52.3K   243   192
Introduced a class that simplifies Windows Impersonation in C#.

Introduction

The term "Impersonation" in a programming context refers to a technique that executes the code under another user context than the user who originally started an application, i.e. the user context is temporarily changed once or multiple times during the execution of an application.

The reason for doing this is to perform tasks that the current user context of an application is not allowed to do. Of course you could grant the user executing an application more privileges, but usually this is a bad idea (due to security constraints) or impossible (e.g. if you don't have full administrative access to a machine to do so).

This article presents an easy-to-use class to impersonate a user. While writing this, I found out that Marc Merrit had written an article ("Windows Impersonation using C#") that uses the same Microsoft knowledge base code (from Q306158) that I have used. The code presented in my article differs in the fact that you could use it inside a using-block to safely release resources and that I use slightly more exceptions to report errors. But from a first look, both his and my article do the same job, so it's up to you to decide what to do.

(For the latest changes, please see the History section below).

Background

I wrote the Impersonator class because of a need to write a web page with ASP.NET to make a server reboot. In order to do this, I needed to impersonate the part of my code that does the actual reboot.

The constructor of the class internally calls the Windows function LogonUser through P/Invoke. Please see the MSDN documentation of the function for a full description of all three parameters (username, domain, password) to the constructor.

Please note: The user context that initiates the impersonation (i.e. not the user context to which it is switched to) needs to have the "Act as part of operating system" privilege set.

Using the code

To use the code, you simply construct the Impersonator class and pass the username, the domain and the password to the constructor. If you place an instance of the class inside a using-block, you need no further steps.

The following is a schematic example of how to use the class:

C#
... 
using ( new Impersonator( "myUsername", "myDomainname", "myPassword" ) )
{
   ...
   
   <code that executes under the new context>
  
   ...
}
  
...

An example project demonstrating the technique is included in the download of this article (please look at the "Program.cs" for the main demonstration source file). Also the complete source code of the class is included inside the source file "Impersonator.cs".

To include the Impersonator class into your project, simply copy and add the source file "Impersonator.cs" to your project, so that it gets compiled with your project.

Conclusion

In this article, I've shown you a small class to quickly and easily impersonate a part of your code to run under another user context. Hopefully you'll find this class useful.

For questions, comments and remarks, please use the commenting section at the bottom of this article.

References

In addition to the links in the article, the following references might be of interest:

  1. Google search for "Windows Impersonation"

History

  • 2005-04-11: Created first version of article.

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Chief Technology Officer Zeta Software GmbH
Germany Germany
Uwe does programming since 1989 with experiences in Assembler, C++, MFC and lots of web- and database stuff and now uses ASP.NET and C# extensively, too. He has also teached programming to students at the local university.

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In his free time, he does climbing, running and mountain biking. In 2012 he became a father of a cute boy and in 2014 of an awesome girl.

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Comments and Discussions

 
PraiseThank you! Pin
Matthias Wirth4-Aug-16 3:33
Matthias Wirth4-Aug-16 3:33 
QuestionLOGON32_LOGON_INTERACTIVE, NetworkCredential Pin
EricBDev29-Jul-16 5:19
EricBDev29-Jul-16 5:19 
PraiseRe: LOGON32_LOGON_INTERACTIVE, NetworkCredential Pin
jivanchuk7-May-19 9:46
jivanchuk7-May-19 9:46 
AnswerRe: LOGON32_LOGON_INTERACTIVE, NetworkCredential Pin
Samuel Fales8-Jun-21 3:04
Samuel Fales8-Jun-21 3:04 
QuestionFileInfo.CopyTo won't work due to insufficient access rights Pin
helelark12319-Apr-16 20:57
helelark12319-Apr-16 20:57 
AnswerRe: FileInfo.CopyTo won't work due to insufficient access rights Pin
Uwe Keim27-Jun-16 1:52
sitebuilderUwe Keim27-Jun-16 1:52 
QuestionFirmenwebseite Pin
Member 1241760026-Mar-16 0:41
Member 1241760026-Mar-16 0:41 
QuestionLogon failure: the user has not been granted the requested logon type at this computer' Pin
thund3rstruck2-Nov-15 10:44
thund3rstruck2-Nov-15 10:44 
QuestionIts helped me a lot and saved my time !!!! Pin
Rajeshrec27628-Aug-15 0:56
Rajeshrec27628-Aug-15 0:56 
QuestionThanks vote 5! Pin
Member 1011648027-Aug-15 22:20
Member 1011648027-Aug-15 22:20 
QuestionAdding support for local (non-domain) user impersonation Pin
daniel zucker1-Jan-15 7:41
daniel zucker1-Jan-15 7:41 
AnswerRe: Adding support for local (non-domain) user impersonation Pin
Uwe Keim1-Jan-15 7:51
sitebuilderUwe Keim1-Jan-15 7:51 
GeneralRe: Adding support for local (non-domain) user impersonation Pin
Member 117366362-Jun-15 9:25
Member 117366362-Jun-15 9:25 
AnswerThank you buddy Pin
aravinth santosh20-Dec-14 9:35
aravinth santosh20-Dec-14 9:35 
QuestionThanks! Pin
Emil F.18-Nov-14 11:28
Emil F.18-Nov-14 11:28 
GeneralThank you for posting Pin
Tyler Kalosza25-Jul-14 10:19
Tyler Kalosza25-Jul-14 10:19 
QuestionGetting “Invalid token for impersonation - it cannot be duplicated” Pin
daniel zucker21-May-14 1:47
daniel zucker21-May-14 1:47 
AnswerRe: Getting “Invalid token for impersonation - it cannot be duplicated” Pin
daniel zucker6-Jul-14 3:07
daniel zucker6-Jul-14 3:07 
QuestionGreat Class - where is the best location for this class? Pin
Member 942814419-May-14 4:49
Member 942814419-May-14 4:49 
Bug64 Bit / Desktop Window Manager Pin
Roryap24-Apr-14 3:33
Roryap24-Apr-14 3:33 
QuestionThanks!!!! Pin
Member 1071915427-Mar-14 8:09
Member 1071915427-Mar-14 8:09 
QuestionThanks!! Pin
Member 867365126-Jan-14 22:55
Member 867365126-Jan-14 22:55 
GeneralThanks! Pin
Member 863079324-Jan-14 2:02
Member 863079324-Jan-14 2:02 
GeneralThanks Pin
Ankit Mishra9-Jan-14 22:01
Ankit Mishra9-Jan-14 22:01 
Questionhi, how can i use this class in workgroup network Pin
mutlu6424-Dec-13 0:56
mutlu6424-Dec-13 0:56 

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