I recently deployed a WPF app on a server that allowed the user to stop and start some application-related services. The purpose of the app was to allow users with administrative rights an easy way to manage the services that they needed to manage. Granted, they could manage the services through the services MMC, but the little WPF app was a requirement, and it’s our job as developers to make things easier for our clients – right?

All went well until a change of requirements meant that a user without administrative rights needed to use the program to stop and start the required services. When I tried to use the app, I got an exception – quite rightly, stopping and starting the services required admin rights. We needed the restricted user to be able to log on and use the app, but still needed to restrict their permissions.

So – step in programmatic impersonation in C# – a way to give restricted users the power that that’s required, all within the confines of your application. Continue reading →