How to provide user name and password when connecting to a network share

Question

I liked Mark Brackett's answer so much that I did my own quick implementation. Here it is if anyone else needs it in a hurry:

public class NetworkConnection : IDisposable
{
    string _networkName;

    public NetworkConnection(string networkName, 
        NetworkCredential credentials)
    {
        _networkName = networkName;

        var netResource = new NetResource()
        {
            Scope = ResourceScope.GlobalNetwork,
            ResourceType = ResourceType.Disk,
            DisplayType = ResourceDisplaytype.Share,
            RemoteName = networkName
        };

        var userName = string.IsNullOrEmpty(credentials.Domain)
            ? credentials.UserName
            : string.Format(@"{0}\{1}", credentials.Domain, credentials.UserName);

        var result = WNetAddConnection2(
            netResource, 
            credentials.Password,
            userName,
            0);

        if (result != 0)
        {
            throw new Win32Exception(result);
        }   
    }

    ~NetworkConnection()
    {
        Dispose(false);
    }

    public void Dispose()
    {
        Dispose(true);
        GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
    }

    protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing)
    {
        WNetCancelConnection2(_networkName, 0, true);
    }

    [DllImport("mpr.dll")]
    private static extern int WNetAddConnection2(NetResource netResource, 
        string password, string username, int flags);

    [DllImport("mpr.dll")]
    private static extern int WNetCancelConnection2(string name, int flags,
        bool force);
}

[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public class NetResource
{
    public ResourceScope Scope;
    public ResourceType ResourceType;
    public ResourceDisplaytype DisplayType;
    public int Usage;
    public string LocalName;
    public string RemoteName;
    public string Comment;
    public string Provider;
}

public enum ResourceScope : int
{
    Connected = 1,
    GlobalNetwork,
    Remembered,
    Recent,
    Context
};

public enum ResourceType : int
{
    Any = 0,
    Disk = 1,
    Print = 2,
    Reserved = 8,
}

public enum ResourceDisplaytype : int
{
    Generic = 0x0,
    Domain = 0x01,
    Server = 0x02,
    Share = 0x03,
    File = 0x04,
    Group = 0x05,
    Network = 0x06,
    Root = 0x07,
    Shareadmin = 0x08,
    Directory = 0x09,
    Tree = 0x0a,
    Ndscontainer = 0x0b
}

You can either change the thread identity, or P/Invoke WNetAddConnection2. I prefer the latter, as I sometimes need to maintain multiple credentials for different locations. I wrap it into an IDisposable and call WNetCancelConnection2 to remove the creds afterwards (avoiding the multiple usernames error):

using (new NetworkConnection(@"\\server\read", readCredentials))
using (new NetworkConnection(@"\\server2\write", writeCredentials)) {
   File.Copy(@"\\server\read\file", @"\\server2\write\file");
}

Today 7 years later I'm facing the same issue and I'd like to share my version of the solution.

It is copy & paste ready :-) Here it is:

Step 1

In your code (whenever you need to do something with permissions)

ImpersonationHelper.Impersonate(domain, userName, userPassword, delegate
                            {
                                //Your code here 
                                //Let's say file copy:
                                if (!File.Exists(to))
                                {
                                    File.Copy(from, to);
                                }
                            });

Step 2

The Helper file which does a magic

using System;
using System.Runtime.ConstrainedExecution;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Security;
using System.Security.Permissions;
using System.Security.Principal;    
using Microsoft.Win32.SafeHandles;


namespace BlaBla
{
    public sealed class SafeTokenHandle : SafeHandleZeroOrMinusOneIsInvalid
    {
        private SafeTokenHandle()
            : base(true)
        {
        }

        [DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
        [ReliabilityContract(Consistency.WillNotCorruptState, Cer.Success)]
        [SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
        [return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
        private static extern bool CloseHandle(IntPtr handle);

        protected override bool ReleaseHandle()
        {
            return CloseHandle(handle);
        }
    }

    public class ImpersonationHelper
    {
        [DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true, CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
        private static extern bool LogonUser(String lpszUsername, String lpszDomain, String lpszPassword,
        int dwLogonType, int dwLogonProvider, out SafeTokenHandle phToken);

        [DllImport("kernel32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
        private extern static bool CloseHandle(IntPtr handle);

        [PermissionSet(SecurityAction.Demand, Name = "FullTrust")]
        public static void Impersonate(string domainName, string userName, string userPassword, Action actionToExecute)
        {
            SafeTokenHandle safeTokenHandle;
            try
            {

                const int LOGON32_PROVIDER_DEFAULT = 0;
                //This parameter causes LogonUser to create a primary token.
                const int LOGON32_LOGON_INTERACTIVE = 2;

                // Call LogonUser to obtain a handle to an access token.
                bool returnValue = LogonUser(userName, domainName, userPassword,
                    LOGON32_LOGON_INTERACTIVE, LOGON32_PROVIDER_DEFAULT,
                    out safeTokenHandle);
                //Facade.Instance.Trace("LogonUser called.");

                if (returnValue == false)
                {
                    int ret = Marshal.GetLastWin32Error();
                    //Facade.Instance.Trace($"LogonUser failed with error code : {ret}");

                    throw new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception(ret);
                }

                using (safeTokenHandle)
                {
                    //Facade.Instance.Trace($"Value of Windows NT token: {safeTokenHandle}");
                    //Facade.Instance.Trace($"Before impersonation: {WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name}");

                    // Use the token handle returned by LogonUser.
                    using (WindowsIdentity newId = new WindowsIdentity(safeTokenHandle.DangerousGetHandle()))
                    {
                        using (WindowsImpersonationContext impersonatedUser = newId.Impersonate())
                        {
                            //Facade.Instance.Trace($"After impersonation: {WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name}");
                            //Facade.Instance.Trace("Start executing an action");

                            actionToExecute();

                            //Facade.Instance.Trace("Finished executing an action");
                        }
                    }
                    //Facade.Instance.Trace($"After closing the context: {WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name}");
                }

            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                //Facade.Instance.Trace("Oh no! Impersonate method failed.");
                //ex.HandleException();
                //On purpose: we want to notify a caller about the issue /Pavel Kovalev 9/16/2016 2:15:23 PM)/
                throw;
            }
        }
    }
}

I searched lots of methods and i did it my own way. You have to open a connection between two machine via command prompt NET USE command and after finishing your work clear the connection with command prompt NET USE "myconnection" /delete.

You must use Command Prompt process from code behind like this:

var savePath = @"\\servername\foldername\myfilename.jpg";
var filePath = @"C:\\temp\myfileTosave.jpg";

Usage is simple:

SaveACopyfileToServer(filePath, savePath);

Here is functions:

using System.IO
using System.Diagnostics;


public static void SaveACopyfileToServer(string filePath, string savePath)
    {
        var directory = Path.GetDirectoryName(savePath).Trim();
        var username = "loginusername";
        var password = "loginpassword";
        var filenameToSave = Path.GetFileName(savePath);

        if (!directory.EndsWith("\\"))
            filenameToSave = "\\" + filenameToSave;

        var command = "NET USE " + directory + " /delete";
        ExecuteCommand(command, 5000);

        command = "NET USE " + directory + " /user:" + username + " " + password;
        ExecuteCommand(command, 5000);

        command = " copy \"" + filePath + "\"  \"" + directory + filenameToSave + "\"";

        ExecuteCommand(command, 5000);


        command = "NET USE " + directory + " /delete";
        ExecuteCommand(command, 5000);
    }

And also ExecuteCommand function is:

public static int ExecuteCommand(string command, int timeout)
    {
        var processInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("cmd.exe", "/C " + command)
                              {
                                  CreateNoWindow = true, 
                                  UseShellExecute = false, 
                                  WorkingDirectory = "C:\\",
                              };

        var process = Process.Start(processInfo);
        process.WaitForExit(timeout);
        var exitCode = process.ExitCode;
        process.Close();
        return exitCode;
    } 

This functions worked very fast and stable for me.

The Luke Quinane solution looks good, but did work only partially in my ASP.NET MVC application. Having two shares on the same server with different credentials I could use the impersonation only for the first one.

The problem with WNetAddConnection2 is also that it behaves differently on different windows versions. That is why I looked for alternatives and found the LogonUser function. Here is my code which also works in ASP.NET:

public sealed class WrappedImpersonationContext
{
    public enum LogonType : int
    {
        Interactive = 2,
        Network = 3,
        Batch = 4,
        Service = 5,
        Unlock = 7,
        NetworkClearText = 8,
        NewCredentials = 9
    }

    public enum LogonProvider : int
    {
        Default = 0,  // LOGON32_PROVIDER_DEFAULT
        WinNT35 = 1,
        WinNT40 = 2,  // Use the NTLM logon provider.
        WinNT50 = 3   // Use the negotiate logon provider.
    }

    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", EntryPoint = "LogonUserW", SetLastError = true, CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
    public static extern bool LogonUser(String lpszUsername, String lpszDomain,
        String lpszPassword, LogonType dwLogonType, LogonProvider dwLogonProvider, ref IntPtr phToken);

    [DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
    public extern static bool CloseHandle(IntPtr handle);

    private string _domain, _password, _username;
    private IntPtr _token;
    private WindowsImpersonationContext _context;

    private bool IsInContext
    {
        get { return _context != null; }
    }

    public WrappedImpersonationContext(string domain, string username, string password)
    {
        _domain = String.IsNullOrEmpty(domain) ? "." : domain;
        _username = username;
        _password = password;
    }

    // Changes the Windows identity of this thread. Make sure to always call Leave() at the end.
    [PermissionSetAttribute(SecurityAction.Demand, Name = "FullTrust")]
    public void Enter()
    {
        if (IsInContext)
            return;

        _token = IntPtr.Zero;
        bool logonSuccessfull = LogonUser(_username, _domain, _password, LogonType.NewCredentials, LogonProvider.WinNT50, ref _token);
        if (!logonSuccessfull)
        {
            throw new Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error());
        }
        WindowsIdentity identity = new WindowsIdentity(_token);
        _context = identity.Impersonate();

        Debug.WriteLine(WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name);
    }

    [PermissionSetAttribute(SecurityAction.Demand, Name = "FullTrust")]
    public void Leave()
    {
        if (!IsInContext)
            return;

        _context.Undo();

        if (_token != IntPtr.Zero)
        {
            CloseHandle(_token);
        }
        _context = null;
    }
}

Usage:

var impersonationContext = new WrappedImpersonationContext(Domain, Username, Password);
impersonationContext.Enter();

//do your stuff here

impersonationContext.Leave();

For VB.lovers the VB.NET equivalent of Luke Quinane's code (thanks Luke!)

Imports System
Imports System.Net
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.ComponentModel

Public Class NetworkConnection
    Implements IDisposable

    Private _networkName As String

    Public Sub New(networkName As String, credentials As NetworkCredential)
        _networkName = networkName

        Dim netResource = New NetResource() With {
             .Scope = ResourceScope.GlobalNetwork,
             .ResourceType = ResourceType.Disk,
             .DisplayType = ResourceDisplaytype.Share,
             .RemoteName = networkName
        }

        Dim userName = If(String.IsNullOrEmpty(credentials.Domain), credentials.UserName, String.Format("{0}\{1}", credentials.Domain, credentials.UserName))

        Dim result = WNetAddConnection2(NetResource, credentials.Password, userName, 0)

        If result <> 0 Then
            Throw New Win32Exception(result, "Error connecting to remote share")
        End If
    End Sub

    Protected Overrides Sub Finalize()
        Try
            Dispose (False)
        Finally
            MyBase.Finalize()
        End Try
    End Sub

    Public Sub Dispose() Implements IDisposable.Dispose
        Dispose (True)
        GC.SuppressFinalize (Me)
    End Sub

    Protected Overridable Sub Dispose(disposing As Boolean)
        WNetCancelConnection2(_networkName, 0, True)
    End Sub

    <DllImport("mpr.dll")> _
    Private Shared Function WNetAddConnection2(netResource As NetResource, password As String, username As String, flags As Integer) As Integer
    End Function

    <DllImport("mpr.dll")> _
    Private Shared Function WNetCancelConnection2(name As String, flags As Integer, force As Boolean) As Integer
    End Function

End Class

<StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> _
Public Class NetResource
    Public Scope As ResourceScope
    Public ResourceType As ResourceType
    Public DisplayType As ResourceDisplaytype
    Public Usage As Integer
    Public LocalName As String
    Public RemoteName As String
    Public Comment As String
    Public Provider As String
End Class

Public Enum ResourceScope As Integer
    Connected = 1
    GlobalNetwork
    Remembered
    Recent
    Context
End Enum

Public Enum ResourceType As Integer
    Any = 0
    Disk = 1
    Print = 2
    Reserved = 8
End Enum

Public Enum ResourceDisplaytype As Integer
    Generic = &H0
    Domain = &H1
    Server = &H2
    Share = &H3
    File = &H4
    Group = &H5
    Network = &H6
    Root = &H7
    Shareadmin = &H8
    Directory = &H9
    Tree = &HA
    Ndscontainer = &HB
End Enum

One option that might work is using WindowsIdentity.Impersonate (and change the thread principal) to become the desired user, like so. Back to p/invoke, though, I'm afraid...

Another cheeky (and equally far from ideal) option might be to spawn a process to do the work... ProcessStartInfo accepts a .UserName, .Password and .Domain.

Finally - perhaps run the service in a dedicated account that has access? (removed as you have clarified that this isn't an option).