I also realize this question is old, but I found the answers to be most relevant to my situation.
Like Jared's answer, I also could not use the win32com module. So Jared's use of the binary structure from MS-SHLLINK got me part of the way there. I needed read shortcuts on both Windows and Linux, where the shortcuts are created on a samba share by Windows. Jared's implementation didn't quite work for me, I think only because I encountered some different variations on the shortcut format. But, it gave me the start I needed (thanks Jared).
So, here is a class named MSShortcut which expands on Jared's approach. However, the implementation is only Python3.4 and above, due to using some pathlib features added in Python3.4
#!/usr/bin/python3
# Link Format from MS: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd871305.aspx
# Need to be able to read shortcut target from .lnk file on linux or windows.
# Original inspiration from: https://mcmap.net/q/342611/-reading-the-target-of-a-lnk-file-in-python
from pathlib import Path, PureWindowsPath
import struct, sys, warnings
if sys.hexversion < 0x03040000:
warnings.warn("'{}' module requires python3.4 version or above".format(__file__), ImportWarning)
# doc says class id =
# 00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046
# requiredCLSID = b'\x00\x02\x14\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\xC0\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x46'
# Actually Getting:
requiredCLSID = b'\x01\x14\x02\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\xC0\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x46' # puzzling
class ShortCutError(RuntimeError):
pass
class MSShortcut():
"""
interface to Microsoft Shortcut Objects. Purpose:
- I need to be able to get the target from a samba shared on a linux machine
- Also need to get access from a Windows machine.
- Need to support several forms of the shortcut, as they seem be created differently depending on the
creating machine.
- Included some 'flag' types in external interface to help test differences in shortcut types
Args:
scPath (str): path to shortcut
Limitations:
- There are some omitted object properties in the implementation.
Only implemented / tested enough to recover the shortcut target information. Recognized omissions:
- LinkTargetIDList
- VolumeId structure (if captured later, should be a separate class object to hold info)
- Only captured environment block from extra data
- I don't know how or when some of the shortcut information is used, only captured what I recognized,
so there may be bugs related to use of the information
- NO shortcut update support (though might be nice)
- Implementation requires python 3.4 or greater
- Tested only with Unicode data on a 64bit little endian machine, did not consider potential endian issues
Not Debugged:
- localBasePath - didn't check if parsed correctly or not.
- commonPathSuffix
- commonNetworkRelativeLink
"""
def __init__(self, scPath):
"""
Parse and keep shortcut properties on creation
"""
self.scPath = Path(scPath)
self._clsid = None
self._lnkFlags = None
self._lnkInfoFlags = None
self._localBasePath = None
self._commonPathSuffix = None
self._commonNetworkRelativeLink = None
self._name = None
self._relativePath = None
self._workingDir = None
self._commandLineArgs = None
self._iconLocation = None
self._envTarget = None
self._ParseLnkFile(self.scPath)
@property
def clsid(self):
return self._clsid
@property
def lnkFlags(self):
return self._lnkFlags
@property
def lnkInfoFlags(self):
return self._lnkInfoFlags
@property
def localBasePath(self):
return self._localBasePath
@property
def commonPathSuffix(self):
return self._commonPathSuffix
@property
def commonNetworkRelativeLink(self):
return self._commonNetworkRelativeLink
@property
def name(self):
return self._name
@property
def relativePath(self):
return self._relativePath
@property
def workingDir(self):
return self._workingDir
@property
def commandLineArgs(self):
return self._commandLineArgs
@property
def iconLocation(self):
return self._iconLocation
@property
def envTarget(self):
return self._envTarget
@property
def targetPath(self):
"""
Args:
woAnchor (bool): remove the anchor (\\server\path or drive:) from returned path.
Returns:
a libpath PureWindowsPath object for combined workingDir/relative path
or the envTarget
Raises:
ShortCutError when no target path found in Shortcut
"""
target = None
if self.workingDir:
target = PureWindowsPath(self.workingDir)
if self.relativePath:
target = target / PureWindowsPath(self.relativePath)
else: target = None
if not target and self.envTarget:
target = PureWindowsPath(self.envTarget)
if not target:
raise ShortCutError("Unable to retrieve target path from MS Shortcut: shortcut = {}"
.format(str(self.scPath)))
return target
@property
def targetPathWOAnchor(self):
tp = self.targetPath
return tp.relative_to(tp.anchor)
def _ParseLnkFile(self, lnkPath):
with lnkPath.open('rb') as f:
content = f.read()
# verify size (4 bytes)
hdrSize = struct.unpack('I', content[0x00:0x04])[0]
if hdrSize != 0x4C:
raise ShortCutError("MS Shortcut HeaderSize = {}, but required to be = {}: shortcut = {}"
.format(hdrSize, 0x4C, str(lnkPath)))
# verify LinkCLSID id (16 bytes)
self._clsid = bytes(struct.unpack('B'*16, content[0x04:0x14]))
if self._clsid != requiredCLSID:
raise ShortCutError("MS Shortcut ClassID = {}, but required to be = {}: shortcut = {}"
.format(self._clsid, requiredCLSID, str(lnkPath)))
# read the LinkFlags structure (4 bytes)
self._lnkFlags = struct.unpack('I', content[0x14:0x18])[0]
#logger.debug("lnkFlags=0x%0.8x" % self._lnkFlags)
position = 0x4C
# if HasLinkTargetIDList bit, then position to skip the stored IDList structure and header
if (self._lnkFlags & 0x01):
idListSize = struct.unpack('H', content[position:position+0x02])[0]
position += idListSize + 2
# if HasLinkInfo, then process the linkinfo structure
if (self._lnkFlags & 0x02):
(linkInfoSize, linkInfoHdrSize, self._linkInfoFlags,
volIdOffset, localBasePathOffset,
cmnNetRelativeLinkOffset, cmnPathSuffixOffset) = struct.unpack('IIIIIII', content[position:position+28])
# check for optional offsets
localBasePathOffsetUnicode = None
cmnPathSuffixOffsetUnicode = None
if linkInfoHdrSize >= 0x24:
(localBasePathOffsetUnicode, cmnPathSuffixOffsetUnicode) = struct.unpack('II', content[position+28:position+36])
#logger.debug("0x%0.8X" % linkInfoSize)
#logger.debug("0x%0.8X" % linkInfoHdrSize)
#logger.debug("0x%0.8X" % self._linkInfoFlags)
#logger.debug("0x%0.8X" % volIdOffset)
#logger.debug("0x%0.8X" % localBasePathOffset)
#logger.debug("0x%0.8X" % cmnNetRelativeLinkOffset)
#logger.debug("0x%0.8X" % cmnPathSuffixOffset)
#logger.debug("0x%0.8X" % localBasePathOffsetUnicode)
#logger.debug("0x%0.8X" % cmnPathSuffixOffsetUnicode)
# if info has a localBasePath
if (self._linkInfoFlags & 0x01):
bpPosition = position + localBasePathOffset
# not debugged - don't know if this works or not
self._localBasePath = UnpackZ('z', content[bpPosition:])[0].decode('ascii')
#logger.debug("localBasePath: {}".format(self._localBasePath))
if localBasePathOffsetUnicode:
bpPosition = position + localBasePathOffsetUnicode
self._localBasePath = UnpackUnicodeZ('z', content[bpPosition:])[0]
self._localBasePath = self._localBasePath.decode('utf-16')
#logger.debug("localBasePathUnicode: {}".format(self._localBasePath))
# get common Path Suffix
cmnSuffixPosition = position + cmnPathSuffixOffset
self._commonPathSuffix = UnpackZ('z', content[cmnSuffixPosition:])[0].decode('ascii')
#logger.debug("commonPathSuffix: {}".format(self._commonPathSuffix))
if cmnPathSuffixOffsetUnicode:
cmnSuffixPosition = position + cmnPathSuffixOffsetUnicode
self._commonPathSuffix = UnpackUnicodeZ('z', content[cmnSuffixPosition:])[0]
self._commonPathSuffix = self._commonPathSuffix.decode('utf-16')
#logger.debug("commonPathSuffix: {}".format(self._commonPathSuffix))
# check for CommonNetworkRelativeLink
if (self._linkInfoFlags & 0x02):
relPosition = position + cmnNetRelativeLinkOffset
self._commonNetworkRelativeLink = CommonNetworkRelativeLink(content, relPosition)
position += linkInfoSize
# If HasName
if (self._lnkFlags & 0x04):
(position, self._name) = self.readStringObj(content, position)
#logger.debug("name: {}".format(self._name))
# get relative path string
if (self._lnkFlags & 0x08):
(position, self._relativePath) = self.readStringObj(content, position)
#logger.debug("relPath='{}'".format(self._relativePath))
# get working dir string
if (self._lnkFlags & 0x10):
(position, self._workingDir) = self.readStringObj(content, position)
#logger.debug("workingDir='{}'".format(self._workingDir))
# get command line arguments
if (self._lnkFlags & 0x20):
(position, self._commandLineArgs) = self.readStringObj(content, position)
#logger.debug("commandLineArgs='{}'".format(self._commandLineArgs))
# get icon location
if (self._lnkFlags & 0x40):
(position, self._iconLocation) = self.readStringObj(content, position)
#logger.debug("iconLocation='{}'".format(self._iconLocation))
# look for environment properties
if (self._lnkFlags & 0x200):
while True:
size = struct.unpack('I', content[position:position+4])[0]
#logger.debug("blksize=%d" % size)
if size==0: break
signature = struct.unpack('I', content[position+4:position+8])[0]
#logger.debug("signature=0x%0.8x" % signature)
# EnvironmentVariableDataBlock
if signature == 0xA0000001:
if (self._lnkFlags & 0x80): # unicode
self._envTarget = UnpackUnicodeZ('z', content[position+268:])[0]
self._envTarget = self._envTarget.decode('utf-16')
else:
self._envTarget = UnpackZ('z', content[position+8:])[0].decode('ascii')
#logger.debug("envTarget='{}'".format(self._envTarget))
position += size
def readStringObj(self, scContent, position):
"""
returns:
tuple: (newPosition, string)
"""
strg = ''
size = struct.unpack('H', scContent[position:position+2])[0]
#logger.debug("workingDirSize={}".format(size))
if (self._lnkFlags & 0x80): # unicode
size *= 2
strg = struct.unpack(str(size)+'s', scContent[position+2:position+2+size])[0]
strg = strg.decode('utf-16')
else:
strg = struct.unpack(str(size)+'s', scContent[position+2:position+2+size])[0].decode('ascii')
#logger.debug("strg='{}'".format(strg))
position += size + 2 # 2 bytes to account for CountCharacters field
return (position, strg)
class CommonNetworkRelativeLink():
def __init__(self, scContent, linkContentPos):
self._networkProviderType = None
self._deviceName = None
self._netName = None
(linkSize, flags, netNameOffset,
devNameOffset, self._networkProviderType) = struct.unpack('IIIII', scContent[linkContentPos:linkContentPos+20])
#logger.debug("netnameOffset = {}".format(netNameOffset))
if netNameOffset > 0x014:
(netNameOffsetUnicode, devNameOffsetUnicode) = struct.unpack('II', scContent[linkContentPos+20:linkContentPos+28])
#logger.debug("netnameOffsetUnicode = {}".format(netNameOffsetUnicode))
self._netName = UnpackUnicodeZ('z', scContent[linkContentPos+netNameOffsetUnicode:])[0]
self._netName = self._netName.decode('utf-16')
self._deviceName = UnpackUnicodeZ('z', scContent[linkContentPos+devNameOffsetUnicode:])[0]
self._deviceName = self._deviceName.decode('utf-16')
else:
self._netName = UnpackZ('z', scContent[linkContentPos+netNameOffset:])[0].decode('ascii')
self._deviceName = UnpackZ('z', scContent[linkContentPos+devNameOffset:])[0].decode('ascii')
@property
def deviceName(self):
return self._deviceName
@property
def netName(self):
return self._netName
@property
def networkProviderType(self):
return self._networkProviderType
def UnpackZ (fmt, buf) :
"""
Unpack Null Terminated String
"""
#logger.debug(bytes(buf))
while True :
pos = fmt.find ('z')
if pos < 0 :
break
z_start = struct.calcsize (fmt[:pos])
z_len = buf[z_start:].find(b'\0')
#logger.debug(z_len)
fmt = '%s%dsx%s' % (fmt[:pos], z_len, fmt[pos+1:])
#logger.debug("fmt='{}', len={}".format(fmt, z_len))
fmtlen = struct.calcsize(fmt)
return struct.unpack (fmt, buf[0:fmtlen])
def UnpackUnicodeZ (fmt, buf) :
"""
Unpack Null Terminated String
"""
#logger.debug(bytes(buf))
while True :
pos = fmt.find ('z')
if pos < 0 :
break
z_start = struct.calcsize (fmt[:pos])
# look for null bytes by pairs
z_len = 0
for i in range(z_start,len(buf),2):
if buf[i:i+2] == b'\0\0':
z_len = i-z_start
break
fmt = '%s%dsxx%s' % (fmt[:pos], z_len, fmt[pos+1:])
# logger.debug("fmt='{}', len={}".format(fmt, z_len))
fmtlen = struct.calcsize(fmt)
return struct.unpack (fmt, buf[0:fmtlen])
I hope this helps others as well.
Thanks
