WoL Turn Off PC?

Durahl · Aug 12, 2023

Greetings!

I'm using HomeKit to turn ON and OFF my Microsoft Windows 11 Professional PC via a roundabout method using Homebridge to have a Logitech Harmony HUB send IR-Signals to a fancy FAN Controller mounted into the Optical Drive Bay of my HTPC.

This solution usually works but I wouldn't exactly call it a future proof one because if at any point one of the Links fails then it is back to turning On the PC like a Caveman using a button instead of screaming across the Room

Now... The obvious solution is to use WoL instead ditching the liability of the Logitech HUB and/or the IR-Enabled FAN Controller which I've managed to get to work to the point where I can turn ON the PC - For this I'm using Homebridge again but with now a WoL Plugin.

The issue is now that turning the PC OFF isn't working - Most likely due to me not using the right credentials:
( My understanding is also the ON / OFF State supposedly being reflected on the HomeKit App Screen which also doesn't seem to work )

Code:

   {
     "accessory": "NetworkDevice",
     "name": "My Windows Gaming Rig",
     "mac": "<mac-address>",
     "host": "192.168.1.151",
     "shutdownCommand": "net rpc shutdown --ipaddress 192.168.1.151 --user username%password"
   },

The Question may sound stupid but what is my Username and Password?

Is it my Name ( Given Name / Surname ) displayed under Start > Settings > Accounts next to the Account Image / above the Email Address?
Is the Password the Microsoft Account one I'd use when logging into login.live.com? I tried using those but that didn't work - The PC won't shut down

( on this PC I'm logging in either via Biometrics or a PIN Code - No Password is being used or offered to be entered )

The WoL Plugin Readme also mentions the Username and Passwords being stored in plaintext discouraging its use and going for a different solution but doesn't mention one - Any suggestions?

iko22 · Aug 12, 2023

Username must be the credentials of an administrator account on the Windows machine.

What error message are you receiving?

hsehestedt · Aug 12, 2023

I can help you with this. I do this every day with my own PCs. I just need to get in front of my Desktop PC where I have all the info. I'll respond back later with all the details.

In the meantime, I can teel you this: You will need a simple utility called "PSSHUTDOWN" from Microsoft Sysinternals. No software needs to be installed on the systems that you want to shutdown. You only need this on the system that you want to use to shutdown other systems.

garlin · Aug 13, 2023

This answers all your questions:
Running on Synology Docker and turn Windows 10 on off using SSH and Samba

hsehestedt · Aug 13, 2023

PsShutdown - Sysinternals

Shuts down and optionally reboots a computer.

learn.microsoft.com

Here are some examples of how I run it.

The line below will shut down a single PC called "Desktop" immediately (timeout of zero seconds) using the username 'WinUser" and a password of "MyPassword" to connect:

psshutdown64 -s -t 0 -u WinUser -p MyPassword \\Desktop

The line below does the same thing but shuts down 3 machines called "Desktop", "Laptop", and "Server":

psshutdown64 -s -t 0 -u WinUser -p MyPassword \\Desktop,Laptop,Server

By putting both of the lines below into a batch file, this will do the same thing as above, shutting down "Desktop", "Laptop", and "Server". It then runs the second command to shut down the local machine on which the command is being run.

psshutdown64 -s -t 0 -u WinUser -p MyPassword \\Desktop,Laptop,Server
psshutdown64 -s -t 0

Note that if you are going to shutdown multiple machines in a single command, the username and password that you specify will apply to all machines in that command. If you need to connect with a different user name or password, use multiple commands.

I hope that this helps!