[TC11.55RC5] tcmadm64.exe Unknown Publisher on a system directory copy

[andry81]

OS: Windows XP x64 Pro SP2
VM: VirtualBox 7.0.16 r162802 (Qt5.15.2)

Steps:
1. Run in VM
2. Create VM read-only shared folder with auto mount on drive "Z:"
3. Start copy "%WINDIR%\wbem" directory to "Z:\"
4. TC requests Administrator privileges, select "All as Administrator"
5. TC shows error with the "Unknown Publisher" dialog
6. TC shows "Error executing program!" dialog
7. TC shows "Error: Directory [wbem] not created" dialog

The steps on Windows 7 does not show "Unknown Publisher" and "Error executing program!" dialogs (step 5 and 6).
The "wbem" directory can be copied to a not read-only shared folder.

[ghisler(Author)]

Sadly, "run as" can no longer be provided on Windows XP. It only supports signatures with the SHA1 hash, and you can no longer get file signing certificates with SHA1, only SHA256. Therefore it isn't possible to fix this problem. It wouldn't help in this specific case either because the read only limitation is for all users, not just for the current user.

[Dalai]

2andry81
Maybe you can use the tcmadm64.exe/tcmadmin.exe from an older TC release on older OS versions, one that uses a SHA1 based signature. The last one seems to be in TC 11.51.

2ghisler(Author)
It sounds like TC verifies the signature of tcmadm64.exe/tcmadmin.exe before executing it. Is that a correct assumption?

[ghisler(Author)]

I will revert to tcmadmin/tcmadm64 from TC 11.51. The new version only supports the copying of sparse files to protected folders. So far no one has shown any interest at all in copying sparse files, not even the person who requested it. Therefore I will remove this function altogether from TC 11.55.

[white]

So far no one has shown any interest at all in copying sparse files, not even the person who requested it. Therefore I will remove this function altogether from TC 11.55.

I certainly did notice the descriptions of it having been added and it seemed like a useful addition to me. I'm sure that applies to others as well.

I think you only asked for user feedback once, in this post you posted in the Suggestions forum. That seems like an odd place, since you already implemented it. I think you are not being fair by suggesting users have no interest in this. It seems you did not do much to ask for user feedback.

Many times you have used the argument that removing something would be confusing for users, even for things newly added to this version. This is something that up till now has been announced 5 times as the first item in the What's new list, in the help and in the newsletter. Information about this is spread over the internet. Removing it now, after announcing it 5 times, is sure to create confusion.

[Horst.Epp]

I will revert to tcmadmin/tcmadm64 from TC 11.51. The new version only supports the copying of sparse files to protected folders. So far no one has shown any interest at all in copying sparse files, not even the person who requested it. Therefore I will remove this function altogether from TC 11.55.

I find it unfair to remove a useful function just to get compatibility with an old, antiquated and unsupported OS.
Why not adding an optional tcmadmin for running in XP.

[ghisler(Author)]

By reverting to the older admin version, I'm only removing the function Copyfile2 from tcmadmin/tcmadm64. This function can be used to copy sparse files natively on Windows 11 22H2 or newer. On older versions, I already use my own function, which I also use when the user checks "Verify". So with this removed from tcmadmin, I will just use my own function to copy sparse files to protected folders.

[ghisler(Author)]

I found a better solution: I can keep the new tcmadmin by checking myself the sha256 hash of the file instead of relying on the signature. The only downside is that I have to add new hashes every time I create a new version. I will still check the signature if the hashes mismatch, so users can use older versions.

[ghisler(Author)]

This should be fixed in RC6, please test it!

10.06.25 Fixed: Verify SHA256 hash of tcmdadmin.exe/tcmadm64.exe on Windows XP or earlier instead of signature, because XP cannot verify signatures with SHA256 hash (32/64)

[andry81]

This should be fixed in RC6, please test it!

10.06.25 Fixed: Verify SHA256 hash of tcmdadmin.exe/tcmadm64.exe on Windows XP or earlier instead of signature, because XP cannot verify signatures with SHA256 hash (32/64)

Now a `Run As` dialog appears, asks the user/password. Then shows`Error executing program!` and ` "Error: Directory [wbem] not created"` dialogs.

A bit confusing, while the destination is the read only directory.

[Dalai]

I don't get the message "Error executing program!". On my XP (32-bit) VM tcmadmin.exe runs normally in RC6. Do you use an empty password?

Is the share you created in step 2 really read-only? If so, I don't think you can expect anything can be written to it. Furthermore, network drive mappings are user-specific, which means that tcmadmin.exe won't be able to see the mapping (drive Z:) created as user. IIRC TC tries to find out the share and work with that.

[ghisler(Author)]

Now a `Run As` dialog appears, asks the user/password.

Make sure you have set a password for user Administrator, and then enter the correct password.

Then shows`Error executing program!` and ` "Error: Directory [wbem] not created"` dialogs.

This is expected when the share is read only.