CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#.netwindowssecurityservice
c00000fd
c00000fd

Reputation: 22275

Where to store data securely from a Windows service?

I'm writing a service using C# that is supposed to run on a Windows platform as the "local system". I can store small amounts of data in the registry, but if I want to store more data in a file, where do I place such file in? And also how to protect that data from a modification by users with lower access rights?

Upvotes: 4

Views: 3520

Answers (2)

dupop
dupop

Reputation: 11

Update to previous answer that may save some troubleshooting time to people using this solution (as I don't have enough reputation to comment):

For Local System Windows service account, Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData may also be resolved to C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local instead of C:\Windows\System32\Config\SystemProfile\AppData\Local.

Using the already mentioned CommonApplicationData instead of LocalApplicationData does not bring this issue.

Information source: https://www.jamescrowley.net/2014/02/24/appdata-location-when-running-under-system-user-account/

Upvotes: 1

Eugene Mayevski 'Callback
Eugene Mayevski 'Callback

Reputation: 46050

General approach is to use ProtectedData class to encrypt the data, then store them anywhere on the disk where the application can (eg in a subfolder of LocalApplicationData special folder, whose location you can obtain using Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData call).

Upvotes: 6

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