c# - Calling an asp.net console application from my asp.net mvc web application

Question

I have created an asp.net console application using visual studio 2012, the console application is a sync job between our ERP system and our custom Database. now i need this sync job to run on timely basis , so i created a new task under our windows task scheduler , which calls the console application each hour, which works well.

but i need to have the ability to run the console application manually by end users,, mainly users can login to our web application (asp.net mvc) and from there they can click on "Sync" button , where this "Sync" button will mainly calls the console application... so is this possible ? i mean can i have my web application calls the console application , the same way the Task Schuler calls the console application ?

second question, if I manage to call the console application from my asp.net mvc web application,, will this force the console application to run under IIS ? or the web application can call the console application outside the IIS scope ? similar to calling the console application from Task scheduler ?

Answer 1

Question 1: Yes you can.

public ActionResult Index()
{
    Process.Start(@"c:WindowsSystem32cmd.exe");
    return View();
}

Question2: The process will run under the IIS account, which may not have the privileges your process needs. You can impersonate another user before calling Process.Start(). See this example:

Change user for running windows forms program