Windows sysinternals

Chapter 6 Pstools 181
If the target is a multiprocessor system, you can specify that the threads of the target
process be scheduled only on specific CPUs. Add the –a option followed by the list of logical
CPUs separated by commas (where 1 is the lowest-numbered CPU). For example, to run the
process only on CPU 3, use the following:
psexec -a 3 app.exe
To run the target process on CPUs 2, 3 and 4, use this command line:
psexec -a 2,3,4 app.exe
Remote Connectivity Options
If the program you want to run on a remote system is not installed on that system, PsExec
can copy it from the local file system to the remote computer’s system32 folder, run it from
that location, and then delete the program after it has finished execution. You can make the
copy conditional on a newer version not already being present on the remote system. When
you specify the –c option, the “program” on the PsExec command line specifies a file path
relative to the local computer; that file is copied to the system32 folder of the remote system.
Note, though, that this option copies only that one file; it does not copy any dependent DLLs
or other files.
Using the –c option by itself, PsExec does not perform the file copy if the file already exists in
the target location. Adding the –f option forces the file copy, even overwriting a file marked
as read-only, hidden, or system. The –v option checks the file versions and time stamps,
copying only if the local copy has a higher version and a newer time stamp, but starting the
remote process in either case.
When trying to establish a connection with a remote system that is offline, is very busy, or
has some other connectivity problems, PsExec uses the default system timeouts for each
of the network operations required. To select a shorter timeout period, use the –n option
followed by the maximum number of seconds that PsExec should allow for each remote
connection. For example, to limit the amount of time spent trying to connect to a series of
remote systems to 10 seconds each, use the following:
psexec @computers.txt -n 10 app.exe
Runtime Environment Options
PsExec offers several command-line options to control the runtime environment of the
target process. These options include the ability to run the process in the System account or
in a reduced-privileged mode, whether to run interactively and in which interactive session,
whether to load the account’s profile on the target system, and the ability to set the initial
working directory of the target process.
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