How to send CTRL+BREAK signal to detached command-line process

1.GenerateConsoleCtrlEvent function

Sends a specified signal to a console process group that shares the console associated with the calling process.

for detail: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms683155(v=vs.85).aspx

2.Send signal

Browsing though MSDN showed that GenerateConsoleCtrlEvent should be perfect for the job. Just write a little wrapper and we're done, right? If only. When I tried to use it, it always failed with ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER unless I was trying to signal myself.

The next thing I tried was injecting a thread into the target process to call GenerateConsoleCtrlEvent. I had all the code to do this from SaveConsole. Well, that worked so long as the target process was a console process. Our IDE started Java as a windowed process (javaw.exe instead of java.exe), so the call would fail with ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE.

After much digging around in the debugger I discovered that the entry point that actually does the behavior associated with a signal like ctrl-break is kernel32!CtrlRoutine. The function had the same prototype as ThreadProc, so it can be used with CreateRemoteThread directly, without having to inject code. However, that's not an exported symbol! It's at different addresses (and even has different names) on different versions of Windows. What to do?

Here is the solution I finally came up with. I install a console ctrl handler for my app, then generate a ctrl-break signal for my app. When my handler gets called, I look back at the top of the stack to find out the parameters passed to kernel32!BaseThreadStart. I grab the first param, which is the desired start address of the thread, which is the address of kernel32!CtrlRoutine. Then I return from my handler, indicating that I have handled the signal and my app should not be terminated. Back in the main thread, I wait until the address of kernel32!CtrlRoutine has been retrieved. Once I've got it, I create a remote thread in the target process with the discovered start address. This causes the ctrl handlers in the target process to be evaluated as if ctrl-break had been pressed!

The nice thing is that only the target process is affected, and any process (even a windowed process) can be targeted. One downside is that my little app can't be used in a batch file, since it will kill it when it sends the ctrl-break event in order to discover the address of kernel32!CtrlRoutine.

Small update: I ended up needing to use it in a script, so now I know what happens. If called directly, it will work but it will hang the script because cmd.exe will pause with a Terminate batch job (Y/N)? prompt. Not good for something that's supposed to run unattended. :) However, you can use start to run it in a separate console. You won't be able to redirect the output, but at least you won't get a mysterious prompt. :)

reprinted:http://www.latenighthacking.com/projects/2003/sendSignal/

sourcecode: http://www.latenighthacking.com/projects/2003/sendSignal/SendSignalSrc.zip

3.Sample for call in console app

/*full_path = "sendsignal 9527" 9527 is a pid which process need to be signal up*/
int CTDMaintainManager::CreateProcess(const char * full_path)
{
    //Create process
    STARTUPINFO info;
    PROCESS_INFORMATION pinfo;
    memset(&info,,sizeof(info));
    info.cb = sizeof(info);
    //info.wShowWindow = SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE;
    info.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
    info.wShowWindow = ; //TRUE表示显示创建的进程的窗口

    if(!::CreateProcess(NULL,(LPSTR) full_path, NULL,NULL,FALSE,,NULL,NULL,&info,&pinfo))
    {
        CT_LOG_ERR("CTDMaintainManager::CreateProcess program %s failed %d.\n", full_path, GetLastError());
        return -;
    }

    CT_LOG_CRITICAL(NULL, "CTDMaintainManager::CreateProcess \"%s\" [%d] ok .\n", full_path, pinfo.dwProcessId);

    return ;
}