How can I programmatically cause a new Windows user's profile to be created?












19















I'm creating a (local) user for a Windows service to run as. I've got good reasons for not wanting to use NETWORK SERVICE, LOCAL SERVICE, or LOCAL SYSTEM.



I create the user via net user foobar "Abcd123!" /add - this works fine.



At this point, c:usersfoobar does not exist.



If I create the user's home directory, before the user either logs on (or, more pertinently) or the service that the user is for starts up, Windows creates a user-profile next-door called c:usersfoobar-{gibberish/SID/whatever} - this is not a predictable name.



I need the user's home directory to contain things like a .ssh directory, a .gitconfig - tools like that (not limited to those tools) that make assumptions that it'll be a person using them, and so user-configuration goes inside ~/.... Usually, tools from a Unix heritage.



Actual question



So - is there a programmatic (preferably, PowerShell, or out-of-the-box command-line) way to tell Windows to create the user-profile for a local user?



Or, any other workarounds?



Things I've yet to try:




  • An NSSM start/pre hook that copies files from elsewhere into the user-profile directory that hopefully exists at this point by virtue of Windows starting the service, creating the user-profile then handing control to the NSSM wrapper running the hook before startup.

  • Setting the USERPROFILE environment variable for the service to be somewhere other than the actual user-profile directory. This strikes me as dangerously off-piste but also might work fine.


Other context:




  • Windows Server 2016, desktop experience.


    • Can't use Core/Nano.



  • There is no active directory in play. There won't be.

  • These are local users.

  • I'm doing this via Ansible, which is using PowerShell under the hood for Windows things. Specifically the win_user module, with Ansible 2.7.5.

  • I don't want to create a C:usersdefault (the equivalent of /etc/skel), because there are a few different service-users and one size won't fit all. This also doesn't affect when the user-profile is created, just what will be in it when it is.

  • I'm using NSSM to manage the services.


Things I've tried




  • starting the service and allowing Windows to create the directory


    • I don't want to do this, because the service requires secrets before starting up, and so if I do this inside my image-baking process I'll then need to clean them up, and also make sure my service doesn't do any work during the baking phase. I want to avoid both of those fiddly bits.












share|improve this question




















  • 1





    Have you checked the options net user has (e.g. /HOMEDIR or /PROFILEPATH)? . See net user /help. From my (untested) understanding, you can create a directory for the user, and set this as homedir with the /HOMEDIR switch.

    – Sven
    Dec 28 '18 at 14:37











  • May I ask what use case do you have that avoids Active Directory? Things would be much easier with AD. Just curious.

    – Ondrej Tucny
    Dec 28 '18 at 17:15













  • I'm avoiding AD because the machines are ephemeral; lifetimes are measured in hours, not days. The machines are hosting clean-room build-environments. Juggling machines in and out of an AD as they come and go is simply not worth it (see also medium.com/palantir/active-directory-as-code-e9666a2e548d if you're interested to do it).

    – Peter Mounce
    Jan 1 at 14:51











  • @Sven yes - sadly neither of those cause the profile itself to be created, even if they set the path.

    – Peter Mounce
    Jan 1 at 14:54
















19















I'm creating a (local) user for a Windows service to run as. I've got good reasons for not wanting to use NETWORK SERVICE, LOCAL SERVICE, or LOCAL SYSTEM.



I create the user via net user foobar "Abcd123!" /add - this works fine.



At this point, c:usersfoobar does not exist.



If I create the user's home directory, before the user either logs on (or, more pertinently) or the service that the user is for starts up, Windows creates a user-profile next-door called c:usersfoobar-{gibberish/SID/whatever} - this is not a predictable name.



I need the user's home directory to contain things like a .ssh directory, a .gitconfig - tools like that (not limited to those tools) that make assumptions that it'll be a person using them, and so user-configuration goes inside ~/.... Usually, tools from a Unix heritage.



Actual question



So - is there a programmatic (preferably, PowerShell, or out-of-the-box command-line) way to tell Windows to create the user-profile for a local user?



Or, any other workarounds?



Things I've yet to try:




  • An NSSM start/pre hook that copies files from elsewhere into the user-profile directory that hopefully exists at this point by virtue of Windows starting the service, creating the user-profile then handing control to the NSSM wrapper running the hook before startup.

  • Setting the USERPROFILE environment variable for the service to be somewhere other than the actual user-profile directory. This strikes me as dangerously off-piste but also might work fine.


Other context:




  • Windows Server 2016, desktop experience.


    • Can't use Core/Nano.



  • There is no active directory in play. There won't be.

  • These are local users.

  • I'm doing this via Ansible, which is using PowerShell under the hood for Windows things. Specifically the win_user module, with Ansible 2.7.5.

  • I don't want to create a C:usersdefault (the equivalent of /etc/skel), because there are a few different service-users and one size won't fit all. This also doesn't affect when the user-profile is created, just what will be in it when it is.

  • I'm using NSSM to manage the services.


Things I've tried




  • starting the service and allowing Windows to create the directory


    • I don't want to do this, because the service requires secrets before starting up, and so if I do this inside my image-baking process I'll then need to clean them up, and also make sure my service doesn't do any work during the baking phase. I want to avoid both of those fiddly bits.












share|improve this question




















  • 1





    Have you checked the options net user has (e.g. /HOMEDIR or /PROFILEPATH)? . See net user /help. From my (untested) understanding, you can create a directory for the user, and set this as homedir with the /HOMEDIR switch.

    – Sven
    Dec 28 '18 at 14:37











  • May I ask what use case do you have that avoids Active Directory? Things would be much easier with AD. Just curious.

    – Ondrej Tucny
    Dec 28 '18 at 17:15













  • I'm avoiding AD because the machines are ephemeral; lifetimes are measured in hours, not days. The machines are hosting clean-room build-environments. Juggling machines in and out of an AD as they come and go is simply not worth it (see also medium.com/palantir/active-directory-as-code-e9666a2e548d if you're interested to do it).

    – Peter Mounce
    Jan 1 at 14:51











  • @Sven yes - sadly neither of those cause the profile itself to be created, even if they set the path.

    – Peter Mounce
    Jan 1 at 14:54














19












19








19


3






I'm creating a (local) user for a Windows service to run as. I've got good reasons for not wanting to use NETWORK SERVICE, LOCAL SERVICE, or LOCAL SYSTEM.



I create the user via net user foobar "Abcd123!" /add - this works fine.



At this point, c:usersfoobar does not exist.



If I create the user's home directory, before the user either logs on (or, more pertinently) or the service that the user is for starts up, Windows creates a user-profile next-door called c:usersfoobar-{gibberish/SID/whatever} - this is not a predictable name.



I need the user's home directory to contain things like a .ssh directory, a .gitconfig - tools like that (not limited to those tools) that make assumptions that it'll be a person using them, and so user-configuration goes inside ~/.... Usually, tools from a Unix heritage.



Actual question



So - is there a programmatic (preferably, PowerShell, or out-of-the-box command-line) way to tell Windows to create the user-profile for a local user?



Or, any other workarounds?



Things I've yet to try:




  • An NSSM start/pre hook that copies files from elsewhere into the user-profile directory that hopefully exists at this point by virtue of Windows starting the service, creating the user-profile then handing control to the NSSM wrapper running the hook before startup.

  • Setting the USERPROFILE environment variable for the service to be somewhere other than the actual user-profile directory. This strikes me as dangerously off-piste but also might work fine.


Other context:




  • Windows Server 2016, desktop experience.


    • Can't use Core/Nano.



  • There is no active directory in play. There won't be.

  • These are local users.

  • I'm doing this via Ansible, which is using PowerShell under the hood for Windows things. Specifically the win_user module, with Ansible 2.7.5.

  • I don't want to create a C:usersdefault (the equivalent of /etc/skel), because there are a few different service-users and one size won't fit all. This also doesn't affect when the user-profile is created, just what will be in it when it is.

  • I'm using NSSM to manage the services.


Things I've tried




  • starting the service and allowing Windows to create the directory


    • I don't want to do this, because the service requires secrets before starting up, and so if I do this inside my image-baking process I'll then need to clean them up, and also make sure my service doesn't do any work during the baking phase. I want to avoid both of those fiddly bits.












share|improve this question
















I'm creating a (local) user for a Windows service to run as. I've got good reasons for not wanting to use NETWORK SERVICE, LOCAL SERVICE, or LOCAL SYSTEM.



I create the user via net user foobar "Abcd123!" /add - this works fine.



At this point, c:usersfoobar does not exist.



If I create the user's home directory, before the user either logs on (or, more pertinently) or the service that the user is for starts up, Windows creates a user-profile next-door called c:usersfoobar-{gibberish/SID/whatever} - this is not a predictable name.



I need the user's home directory to contain things like a .ssh directory, a .gitconfig - tools like that (not limited to those tools) that make assumptions that it'll be a person using them, and so user-configuration goes inside ~/.... Usually, tools from a Unix heritage.



Actual question



So - is there a programmatic (preferably, PowerShell, or out-of-the-box command-line) way to tell Windows to create the user-profile for a local user?



Or, any other workarounds?



Things I've yet to try:




  • An NSSM start/pre hook that copies files from elsewhere into the user-profile directory that hopefully exists at this point by virtue of Windows starting the service, creating the user-profile then handing control to the NSSM wrapper running the hook before startup.

  • Setting the USERPROFILE environment variable for the service to be somewhere other than the actual user-profile directory. This strikes me as dangerously off-piste but also might work fine.


Other context:




  • Windows Server 2016, desktop experience.


    • Can't use Core/Nano.



  • There is no active directory in play. There won't be.

  • These are local users.

  • I'm doing this via Ansible, which is using PowerShell under the hood for Windows things. Specifically the win_user module, with Ansible 2.7.5.

  • I don't want to create a C:usersdefault (the equivalent of /etc/skel), because there are a few different service-users and one size won't fit all. This also doesn't affect when the user-profile is created, just what will be in it when it is.

  • I'm using NSSM to manage the services.


Things I've tried




  • starting the service and allowing Windows to create the directory


    • I don't want to do this, because the service requires secrets before starting up, and so if I do this inside my image-baking process I'll then need to clean them up, and also make sure my service doesn't do any work during the baking phase. I want to avoid both of those fiddly bits.









windows powershell windows-service






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Dec 28 '18 at 22:46









Peter Mortensen

2,09742124




2,09742124










asked Dec 28 '18 at 14:07









Peter MouncePeter Mounce

73141126




73141126








  • 1





    Have you checked the options net user has (e.g. /HOMEDIR or /PROFILEPATH)? . See net user /help. From my (untested) understanding, you can create a directory for the user, and set this as homedir with the /HOMEDIR switch.

    – Sven
    Dec 28 '18 at 14:37











  • May I ask what use case do you have that avoids Active Directory? Things would be much easier with AD. Just curious.

    – Ondrej Tucny
    Dec 28 '18 at 17:15













  • I'm avoiding AD because the machines are ephemeral; lifetimes are measured in hours, not days. The machines are hosting clean-room build-environments. Juggling machines in and out of an AD as they come and go is simply not worth it (see also medium.com/palantir/active-directory-as-code-e9666a2e548d if you're interested to do it).

    – Peter Mounce
    Jan 1 at 14:51











  • @Sven yes - sadly neither of those cause the profile itself to be created, even if they set the path.

    – Peter Mounce
    Jan 1 at 14:54














  • 1





    Have you checked the options net user has (e.g. /HOMEDIR or /PROFILEPATH)? . See net user /help. From my (untested) understanding, you can create a directory for the user, and set this as homedir with the /HOMEDIR switch.

    – Sven
    Dec 28 '18 at 14:37











  • May I ask what use case do you have that avoids Active Directory? Things would be much easier with AD. Just curious.

    – Ondrej Tucny
    Dec 28 '18 at 17:15













  • I'm avoiding AD because the machines are ephemeral; lifetimes are measured in hours, not days. The machines are hosting clean-room build-environments. Juggling machines in and out of an AD as they come and go is simply not worth it (see also medium.com/palantir/active-directory-as-code-e9666a2e548d if you're interested to do it).

    – Peter Mounce
    Jan 1 at 14:51











  • @Sven yes - sadly neither of those cause the profile itself to be created, even if they set the path.

    – Peter Mounce
    Jan 1 at 14:54








1




1





Have you checked the options net user has (e.g. /HOMEDIR or /PROFILEPATH)? . See net user /help. From my (untested) understanding, you can create a directory for the user, and set this as homedir with the /HOMEDIR switch.

– Sven
Dec 28 '18 at 14:37





Have you checked the options net user has (e.g. /HOMEDIR or /PROFILEPATH)? . See net user /help. From my (untested) understanding, you can create a directory for the user, and set this as homedir with the /HOMEDIR switch.

– Sven
Dec 28 '18 at 14:37













May I ask what use case do you have that avoids Active Directory? Things would be much easier with AD. Just curious.

– Ondrej Tucny
Dec 28 '18 at 17:15







May I ask what use case do you have that avoids Active Directory? Things would be much easier with AD. Just curious.

– Ondrej Tucny
Dec 28 '18 at 17:15















I'm avoiding AD because the machines are ephemeral; lifetimes are measured in hours, not days. The machines are hosting clean-room build-environments. Juggling machines in and out of an AD as they come and go is simply not worth it (see also medium.com/palantir/active-directory-as-code-e9666a2e548d if you're interested to do it).

– Peter Mounce
Jan 1 at 14:51





I'm avoiding AD because the machines are ephemeral; lifetimes are measured in hours, not days. The machines are hosting clean-room build-environments. Juggling machines in and out of an AD as they come and go is simply not worth it (see also medium.com/palantir/active-directory-as-code-e9666a2e548d if you're interested to do it).

– Peter Mounce
Jan 1 at 14:51













@Sven yes - sadly neither of those cause the profile itself to be created, even if they set the path.

– Peter Mounce
Jan 1 at 14:54





@Sven yes - sadly neither of those cause the profile itself to be created, even if they set the path.

– Peter Mounce
Jan 1 at 14:54










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















21














Windows can create a user-profile on-demand, using the CreateProfile API



However, if don't want to create an executable to perform this operation, you can call the API in PowerShell. Others have already done it: example on github.



Relevant part of the code:



$methodName = 'UserEnvCP'
$script:nativeMethods = @();

Register-NativeMethod "userenv.dll" "int CreateProfile([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string pszUserSid,`
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string pszUserName,`
[Out][MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] StringBuilder pszProfilePath, uint cchProfilePath)";

Add-NativeMethods -typeName $MethodName;

$localUser = New-Object System.Security.Principal.NTAccount("$UserName");
$userSID = $localUser.Translate([System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier]);
$sb = new-object System.Text.StringBuilder(260);
$pathLen = $sb.Capacity;

Write-Verbose "Creating user profile for $Username";
try
{
[UserEnvCP]::CreateProfile($userSID.Value, $Username, $sb, $pathLen) | Out-Null;
}
catch
{
Write-Error $_.Exception.Message;
break;
}





share|improve this answer































    16














    All you need to do is run a command as that user, Windows will create the profile:



    psexec.exe -u foobar -p Abcd123! cmd.exe /c exit



    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/psexec






    share|improve this answer



















    • 1





      So what's happening here is psexec supposed to connect to localhost under username and password specified with -u and -p and launch cmd just to exit immediately. Did I miss anything ? This sounds somewhat counterintuitive - connecting to system with nonexistent username and password should be an error. How does that work ?

      – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
      Dec 29 '18 at 1:13






    • 1





      @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Why do you think that's a nonexistent username and password? It's the same one used in the question, obviously as an example...

      – Ben Voigt
      Dec 29 '18 at 3:41








    • 1





      @BenVoigt Well, I've missed the top part of the question. I thought OP wanted to create the user as well and that's what this answer was supposed to do. So that last part of the comment is a misunderstanding.

      – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
      Dec 29 '18 at 4:09











    • @BenVoigt Though I do still have a question. OP mentioned " I don't want to create C:usersdefault". So where would the user's profile come from when this method is used and how would Windows know to create specific pre-configured directories if not from C:usersdefaults ?

      – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
      Dec 29 '18 at 4:11






    • 1





      @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Pretty sure OP means he doesn't want to customize C:UsersDefault ... not that it will be entirely missing. Windows will create the home directory C:Usersfoobar by copying from the plain vanilla C:Usersdefault, then once it exists OP can apply his special sauce to C:Usersfoobar where it won't affect any other users.

      – Ben Voigt
      Dec 29 '18 at 5:40











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    2 Answers
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    2 Answers
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    21














    Windows can create a user-profile on-demand, using the CreateProfile API



    However, if don't want to create an executable to perform this operation, you can call the API in PowerShell. Others have already done it: example on github.



    Relevant part of the code:



    $methodName = 'UserEnvCP'
    $script:nativeMethods = @();

    Register-NativeMethod "userenv.dll" "int CreateProfile([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string pszUserSid,`
    [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string pszUserName,`
    [Out][MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] StringBuilder pszProfilePath, uint cchProfilePath)";

    Add-NativeMethods -typeName $MethodName;

    $localUser = New-Object System.Security.Principal.NTAccount("$UserName");
    $userSID = $localUser.Translate([System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier]);
    $sb = new-object System.Text.StringBuilder(260);
    $pathLen = $sb.Capacity;

    Write-Verbose "Creating user profile for $Username";
    try
    {
    [UserEnvCP]::CreateProfile($userSID.Value, $Username, $sb, $pathLen) | Out-Null;
    }
    catch
    {
    Write-Error $_.Exception.Message;
    break;
    }





    share|improve this answer




























      21














      Windows can create a user-profile on-demand, using the CreateProfile API



      However, if don't want to create an executable to perform this operation, you can call the API in PowerShell. Others have already done it: example on github.



      Relevant part of the code:



      $methodName = 'UserEnvCP'
      $script:nativeMethods = @();

      Register-NativeMethod "userenv.dll" "int CreateProfile([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string pszUserSid,`
      [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string pszUserName,`
      [Out][MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] StringBuilder pszProfilePath, uint cchProfilePath)";

      Add-NativeMethods -typeName $MethodName;

      $localUser = New-Object System.Security.Principal.NTAccount("$UserName");
      $userSID = $localUser.Translate([System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier]);
      $sb = new-object System.Text.StringBuilder(260);
      $pathLen = $sb.Capacity;

      Write-Verbose "Creating user profile for $Username";
      try
      {
      [UserEnvCP]::CreateProfile($userSID.Value, $Username, $sb, $pathLen) | Out-Null;
      }
      catch
      {
      Write-Error $_.Exception.Message;
      break;
      }





      share|improve this answer


























        21












        21








        21







        Windows can create a user-profile on-demand, using the CreateProfile API



        However, if don't want to create an executable to perform this operation, you can call the API in PowerShell. Others have already done it: example on github.



        Relevant part of the code:



        $methodName = 'UserEnvCP'
        $script:nativeMethods = @();

        Register-NativeMethod "userenv.dll" "int CreateProfile([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string pszUserSid,`
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string pszUserName,`
        [Out][MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] StringBuilder pszProfilePath, uint cchProfilePath)";

        Add-NativeMethods -typeName $MethodName;

        $localUser = New-Object System.Security.Principal.NTAccount("$UserName");
        $userSID = $localUser.Translate([System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier]);
        $sb = new-object System.Text.StringBuilder(260);
        $pathLen = $sb.Capacity;

        Write-Verbose "Creating user profile for $Username";
        try
        {
        [UserEnvCP]::CreateProfile($userSID.Value, $Username, $sb, $pathLen) | Out-Null;
        }
        catch
        {
        Write-Error $_.Exception.Message;
        break;
        }





        share|improve this answer













        Windows can create a user-profile on-demand, using the CreateProfile API



        However, if don't want to create an executable to perform this operation, you can call the API in PowerShell. Others have already done it: example on github.



        Relevant part of the code:



        $methodName = 'UserEnvCP'
        $script:nativeMethods = @();

        Register-NativeMethod "userenv.dll" "int CreateProfile([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string pszUserSid,`
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string pszUserName,`
        [Out][MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] StringBuilder pszProfilePath, uint cchProfilePath)";

        Add-NativeMethods -typeName $MethodName;

        $localUser = New-Object System.Security.Principal.NTAccount("$UserName");
        $userSID = $localUser.Translate([System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier]);
        $sb = new-object System.Text.StringBuilder(260);
        $pathLen = $sb.Capacity;

        Write-Verbose "Creating user profile for $Username";
        try
        {
        [UserEnvCP]::CreateProfile($userSID.Value, $Username, $sb, $pathLen) | Out-Null;
        }
        catch
        {
        Write-Error $_.Exception.Message;
        break;
        }






        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered Dec 28 '18 at 14:52









        SwisstoneSwisstone

        1,7711817




        1,7711817

























            16














            All you need to do is run a command as that user, Windows will create the profile:



            psexec.exe -u foobar -p Abcd123! cmd.exe /c exit



            https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/psexec






            share|improve this answer



















            • 1





              So what's happening here is psexec supposed to connect to localhost under username and password specified with -u and -p and launch cmd just to exit immediately. Did I miss anything ? This sounds somewhat counterintuitive - connecting to system with nonexistent username and password should be an error. How does that work ?

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Dec 29 '18 at 1:13






            • 1





              @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Why do you think that's a nonexistent username and password? It's the same one used in the question, obviously as an example...

              – Ben Voigt
              Dec 29 '18 at 3:41








            • 1





              @BenVoigt Well, I've missed the top part of the question. I thought OP wanted to create the user as well and that's what this answer was supposed to do. So that last part of the comment is a misunderstanding.

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Dec 29 '18 at 4:09











            • @BenVoigt Though I do still have a question. OP mentioned " I don't want to create C:usersdefault". So where would the user's profile come from when this method is used and how would Windows know to create specific pre-configured directories if not from C:usersdefaults ?

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Dec 29 '18 at 4:11






            • 1





              @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Pretty sure OP means he doesn't want to customize C:UsersDefault ... not that it will be entirely missing. Windows will create the home directory C:Usersfoobar by copying from the plain vanilla C:Usersdefault, then once it exists OP can apply his special sauce to C:Usersfoobar where it won't affect any other users.

              – Ben Voigt
              Dec 29 '18 at 5:40
















            16














            All you need to do is run a command as that user, Windows will create the profile:



            psexec.exe -u foobar -p Abcd123! cmd.exe /c exit



            https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/psexec






            share|improve this answer



















            • 1





              So what's happening here is psexec supposed to connect to localhost under username and password specified with -u and -p and launch cmd just to exit immediately. Did I miss anything ? This sounds somewhat counterintuitive - connecting to system with nonexistent username and password should be an error. How does that work ?

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Dec 29 '18 at 1:13






            • 1





              @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Why do you think that's a nonexistent username and password? It's the same one used in the question, obviously as an example...

              – Ben Voigt
              Dec 29 '18 at 3:41








            • 1





              @BenVoigt Well, I've missed the top part of the question. I thought OP wanted to create the user as well and that's what this answer was supposed to do. So that last part of the comment is a misunderstanding.

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Dec 29 '18 at 4:09











            • @BenVoigt Though I do still have a question. OP mentioned " I don't want to create C:usersdefault". So where would the user's profile come from when this method is used and how would Windows know to create specific pre-configured directories if not from C:usersdefaults ?

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Dec 29 '18 at 4:11






            • 1





              @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Pretty sure OP means he doesn't want to customize C:UsersDefault ... not that it will be entirely missing. Windows will create the home directory C:Usersfoobar by copying from the plain vanilla C:Usersdefault, then once it exists OP can apply his special sauce to C:Usersfoobar where it won't affect any other users.

              – Ben Voigt
              Dec 29 '18 at 5:40














            16












            16








            16







            All you need to do is run a command as that user, Windows will create the profile:



            psexec.exe -u foobar -p Abcd123! cmd.exe /c exit



            https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/psexec






            share|improve this answer













            All you need to do is run a command as that user, Windows will create the profile:



            psexec.exe -u foobar -p Abcd123! cmd.exe /c exit



            https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/psexec







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered Dec 28 '18 at 15:05









            Greg AskewGreg Askew

            28.4k33668




            28.4k33668








            • 1





              So what's happening here is psexec supposed to connect to localhost under username and password specified with -u and -p and launch cmd just to exit immediately. Did I miss anything ? This sounds somewhat counterintuitive - connecting to system with nonexistent username and password should be an error. How does that work ?

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Dec 29 '18 at 1:13






            • 1





              @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Why do you think that's a nonexistent username and password? It's the same one used in the question, obviously as an example...

              – Ben Voigt
              Dec 29 '18 at 3:41








            • 1





              @BenVoigt Well, I've missed the top part of the question. I thought OP wanted to create the user as well and that's what this answer was supposed to do. So that last part of the comment is a misunderstanding.

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Dec 29 '18 at 4:09











            • @BenVoigt Though I do still have a question. OP mentioned " I don't want to create C:usersdefault". So where would the user's profile come from when this method is used and how would Windows know to create specific pre-configured directories if not from C:usersdefaults ?

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Dec 29 '18 at 4:11






            • 1





              @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Pretty sure OP means he doesn't want to customize C:UsersDefault ... not that it will be entirely missing. Windows will create the home directory C:Usersfoobar by copying from the plain vanilla C:Usersdefault, then once it exists OP can apply his special sauce to C:Usersfoobar where it won't affect any other users.

              – Ben Voigt
              Dec 29 '18 at 5:40














            • 1





              So what's happening here is psexec supposed to connect to localhost under username and password specified with -u and -p and launch cmd just to exit immediately. Did I miss anything ? This sounds somewhat counterintuitive - connecting to system with nonexistent username and password should be an error. How does that work ?

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Dec 29 '18 at 1:13






            • 1





              @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Why do you think that's a nonexistent username and password? It's the same one used in the question, obviously as an example...

              – Ben Voigt
              Dec 29 '18 at 3:41








            • 1





              @BenVoigt Well, I've missed the top part of the question. I thought OP wanted to create the user as well and that's what this answer was supposed to do. So that last part of the comment is a misunderstanding.

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Dec 29 '18 at 4:09











            • @BenVoigt Though I do still have a question. OP mentioned " I don't want to create C:usersdefault". So where would the user's profile come from when this method is used and how would Windows know to create specific pre-configured directories if not from C:usersdefaults ?

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Dec 29 '18 at 4:11






            • 1





              @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Pretty sure OP means he doesn't want to customize C:UsersDefault ... not that it will be entirely missing. Windows will create the home directory C:Usersfoobar by copying from the plain vanilla C:Usersdefault, then once it exists OP can apply his special sauce to C:Usersfoobar where it won't affect any other users.

              – Ben Voigt
              Dec 29 '18 at 5:40








            1




            1





            So what's happening here is psexec supposed to connect to localhost under username and password specified with -u and -p and launch cmd just to exit immediately. Did I miss anything ? This sounds somewhat counterintuitive - connecting to system with nonexistent username and password should be an error. How does that work ?

            – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
            Dec 29 '18 at 1:13





            So what's happening here is psexec supposed to connect to localhost under username and password specified with -u and -p and launch cmd just to exit immediately. Did I miss anything ? This sounds somewhat counterintuitive - connecting to system with nonexistent username and password should be an error. How does that work ?

            – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
            Dec 29 '18 at 1:13




            1




            1





            @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Why do you think that's a nonexistent username and password? It's the same one used in the question, obviously as an example...

            – Ben Voigt
            Dec 29 '18 at 3:41







            @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Why do you think that's a nonexistent username and password? It's the same one used in the question, obviously as an example...

            – Ben Voigt
            Dec 29 '18 at 3:41






            1




            1





            @BenVoigt Well, I've missed the top part of the question. I thought OP wanted to create the user as well and that's what this answer was supposed to do. So that last part of the comment is a misunderstanding.

            – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
            Dec 29 '18 at 4:09





            @BenVoigt Well, I've missed the top part of the question. I thought OP wanted to create the user as well and that's what this answer was supposed to do. So that last part of the comment is a misunderstanding.

            – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
            Dec 29 '18 at 4:09













            @BenVoigt Though I do still have a question. OP mentioned " I don't want to create C:usersdefault". So where would the user's profile come from when this method is used and how would Windows know to create specific pre-configured directories if not from C:usersdefaults ?

            – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
            Dec 29 '18 at 4:11





            @BenVoigt Though I do still have a question. OP mentioned " I don't want to create C:usersdefault". So where would the user's profile come from when this method is used and how would Windows know to create specific pre-configured directories if not from C:usersdefaults ?

            – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
            Dec 29 '18 at 4:11




            1




            1





            @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Pretty sure OP means he doesn't want to customize C:UsersDefault ... not that it will be entirely missing. Windows will create the home directory C:Usersfoobar by copying from the plain vanilla C:Usersdefault, then once it exists OP can apply his special sauce to C:Usersfoobar where it won't affect any other users.

            – Ben Voigt
            Dec 29 '18 at 5:40





            @SergiyKolodyazhnyy: Pretty sure OP means he doesn't want to customize C:UsersDefault ... not that it will be entirely missing. Windows will create the home directory C:Usersfoobar by copying from the plain vanilla C:Usersdefault, then once it exists OP can apply his special sauce to C:Usersfoobar where it won't affect any other users.

            – Ben Voigt
            Dec 29 '18 at 5:40


















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