{"id":11656,"date":"2022-12-19T20:33:25","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T04:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/?p=11656"},"modified":"2022-12-19T20:33:25","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T04:33:25","slug":"multiple-automatic-logons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/alwaysup\/multiple-automatic-logons\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: Does AlwaysUp Support Multiple Automatic Logons?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Does<\/div>\n
\n   We’ve written utilities that control Microsoft Word<\/a> to produce automated documents and, for various reasons, these have to be run visible in a “real desktop session” on a server, logged in as a real user, not hidden on session 0.<\/p>\n

When we only need one logged-in user on a server to achieve this, we can use AlwaysUp with the “Autologon” feature. However, on some servers, we run our tool more than once, each copy running under a different user account, and so we can\u2019t use that feature. <\/p>\n

Do you have any suggestions in the current or new version of AlwaysUp please? LogonExpert<\/a> looks like it can start multiple sessions under different real accounts. Perhaps some combination of this tool and AlwaysUp might work?<\/p>\n

Thanks in advance!<\/p>\n

— Robin<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Hi Robin, good to hear from you.<\/p>\n

Yes. If LogonExpert works as advertised, you should be able to use it in conjunction with AlwaysUp (and the Windows Task Scheduler) to solve your problem.<\/p>\n

If I’m following, you want to:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Setup multiple instances of Word, each to run as a service with AlwaysUp;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Automatically log in multiple users when the computer boots;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Have each account in (2) start one of the services created in (1) at logon.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Let’s review how you can achieve each step.<\/p>\n

    1. Setup multiple instances of Microsoft Word with AlwaysUp<\/h2>\n

    This step is easy. AlwaysUp will let you create as many services as you like — even if each service runs the same application.<\/p>\n

    In your case, you should set a different account for each application on the Logon tab:<\/p>\n

    \"Specify<\/a><\/div>\n

    Then each instance of Word will run as a different user.<\/p>\n

    No doubt you’ve already found our tutorial showing how to setup Microsoft Word with AlwaysUp<\/a>. Despite the focus on Word 2010 there, the same instructions apply to all installed versions of Word, including Word 365<\/b>.<\/p>\n

    2. Automatically log in multiple users at boot<\/h2>\n

    Here’s where LogonExpert comes in. <\/p>\n

    Indeed, the product’s home page<\/a> prominently states:<\/p>\n

    \n

      Multi-user logon<\/h3>\n

    Add and log on any number of users to one computer simultaneously using the application\u2019s interface, command line, scripts or scheduling tools.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

    Hopefully it will be easy to set up all your accounts. We suggest taking advantage of the free 10 day trial to make sure that LogonExpert works as you expect.<\/p>\n

    3. Automatically start a copy of Word in each account at boot<\/h2>\n

    Next, let’s ensure that each user’s instance of Word starts whenever the computer boots. We’ll need the help of the Windows Task Scheduler<\/a> to do that.<\/p>\n

    If you’ve used Task Scheduler before, you know that it provides a convenient way to run a command at a specific time. But do you know that it can run a command whenever a specific user logs in too? That turns out to be a surprisingly useful capability!<\/p>\n

    Please review our step-by-step tutorial, How to Start your AlwaysUp Application “In Session” at Logon<\/a>. Follow those instructions to create a scheduled task for each user you want to automatically log in<\/b> and start Word:<\/p>\n

    \"Create<\/a><\/div>\n

    4. One last change: Don’t start Word automatically from AlwaysUp<\/h2>\n

    Finally, now that your AlwaysUp service and Word are set to start automatically at logon, you should change your AlwaysUp entry to start Manually<\/b>. That’s because AlwaysUp no longer needs to start at boot as everything is triggered by the autologon and the subsequent scheduled task.<\/p>\n

    Make the change on the General<\/b> tab:<\/p>\n

    \"Set<\/a><\/div>\n

    Putting it all together<\/h2>\n

    With all this in place, here’s what should happen when your computer boots:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      LogonExpert logs in each of your users<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    2. \n

      For each user:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. \n

        Windows runs the scheduled task as they log on<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      2. \n

        The scheduled task starts the AlwaysUp service in your logon session<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      3. \n

        AlwaysUp starts Word, visibly on the desktop<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/ol>\n

        \nThat’s it. Best of luck wiring everything together!<\/p>\n

        And please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our support team<\/a> if you run into any obstacles.<\/p>\n