What is a good pattern for using a Global Mutex in C#?

Question

The Mutex class is very misunderstood, and Global mutexes even more so.

What is good, safe pattern to use when creating Global mutexes?

One that will work

• Regardless of the locale my machine is in
• Is guaranteed to release the mutex properly
• Optionally does not hang forever if the mutex is not acquired
• Deals with cases where other processes abandon the mutex

Answer 1

I want to make sure this is out there, because it's so hard to get right:

using System.Runtime.InteropServices;   //GuidAttribute
using System.Reflection;                //Assembly
using System.Threading;                 //Mutex
using System.Security.AccessControl;    //MutexAccessRule
using System.Security.Principal;        //SecurityIdentifier

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    // get application GUID as defined in AssemblyInfo.cs
    string appGuid =
        ((GuidAttribute)Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().
            GetCustomAttributes(typeof(GuidAttribute), false).
                GetValue(0)).Value.ToString();

    // unique id for global mutex - Global prefix means it is global to the machine
    string mutexId = string.Format( "Global\\{{{0}}}", appGuid );

    // Need a place to store a return value in Mutex() constructor call
    bool createdNew;

    // edited by Jeremy Wiebe to add example of setting up security for multi-user usage
    // edited by 'Marc' to work also on localized systems (don't use just "Everyone") 
    var allowEveryoneRule =
        new MutexAccessRule( new SecurityIdentifier( WellKnownSidType.WorldSid
                                                   , null)
                           , MutexRights.FullControl
                           , AccessControlType.Allow
                           );
    var securitySettings = new MutexSecurity();
    securitySettings.AddAccessRule(allowEveryoneRule);

   // edited by MasonGZhwiti to prevent race condition on security settings via VanNguyen
    using (var mutex = new Mutex(false, mutexId, out createdNew, securitySettings))
    {
        // edited by acidzombie24
        var hasHandle = false;
        try
        {
            try
            {
                // note, you may want to time out here instead of waiting forever
                // edited by acidzombie24
                // mutex.WaitOne(Timeout.Infinite, false);
                hasHandle = mutex.WaitOne(5000, false);
                if (hasHandle == false)
                    throw new TimeoutException("Timeout waiting for exclusive access");
            }
            catch (AbandonedMutexException)
            {
                // Log the fact that the mutex was abandoned in another process,
                // it will still get acquired
                hasHandle = true;
            }

            // Perform your work here.
        }
        finally
        {
            // edited by acidzombie24, added if statement
            if(hasHandle)
                mutex.ReleaseMutex();
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

Using the accepted answer I create a helper class so you could use it in a similar way you would use the Lock statement. Just thought I'd share.

Use:

using (new SingleGlobalInstance(1000)) //1000ms timeout on global lock
{
    //Only 1 of these runs at a time
    RunSomeStuff();
}

And the helper class:

class SingleGlobalInstance : IDisposable
{
    //edit by user "jitbit" - renamed private fields to "_"
    public bool _hasHandle = false;
    Mutex _mutex;

    private void InitMutex()
    {
        string appGuid = ((GuidAttribute)Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetCustomAttributes(typeof(GuidAttribute), false).GetValue(0)).Value;
        string mutexId = string.Format("Global\\{{{0}}}", appGuid);
        _mutex = new Mutex(false, mutexId);

        var allowEveryoneRule = new MutexAccessRule(new SecurityIdentifier(WellKnownSidType.WorldSid, null), MutexRights.FullControl, AccessControlType.Allow);
        var securitySettings = new MutexSecurity();
        securitySettings.AddAccessRule(allowEveryoneRule);
        _mutex.SetAccessControl(securitySettings);
    }

    public SingleGlobalInstance(int timeOut)
    {
        InitMutex();
        try
        {
            if(timeOut < 0)
                _hasHandle = _mutex.WaitOne(Timeout.Infinite, false);
            else
                _hasHandle = _mutex.WaitOne(timeOut, false);

            if (_hasHandle == false)
                throw new TimeoutException("Timeout waiting for exclusive access on SingleInstance");
        }
        catch (AbandonedMutexException)
        {
            _hasHandle = true;
        }
    }


    public void Dispose()
    {
        if (_mutex != null)
        {
            if (_hasHandle)
                _mutex.ReleaseMutex();
            _mutex.Close();
        }
    }
}

Answer 3

This example will exit after 5 seconds if another instance is already running.

// unique id for global mutex - Global prefix means it is global to the machine
const string mutex_id = "Global\\{B1E7934A-F688-417f-8FCB-65C3985E9E27}";

static void Main(string[] args)
{

    using (var mutex = new Mutex(false, mutex_id))
    {
        try
        {
            try
            {
                if (!mutex.WaitOne(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5), false))
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Another instance of this program is running");
                    Environment.Exit(0);
                }
            }
            catch (AbandonedMutexException)
            {
                // Log the fact the mutex was abandoned in another process, it will still get aquired
            }

            // Perform your work here.
        }
        finally
        {
            mutex.ReleaseMutex();
        }
    }
}

Answer 4

There is a race condition in the accepted answer when 2 processes running under 2 different users trying to initialize the mutex at the same time. After the first process initializes the mutex, if the second process tries to initialize the mutex before the first process sets the access rule to everyone, an unauthorized exception will be thrown by the second process.

See below for corrected answer:

using System.Runtime.InteropServices;   //GuidAttribute
using System.Reflection;                //Assembly
using System.Threading;                 //Mutex
using System.Security.AccessControl;    //MutexAccessRule
using System.Security.Principal;        //SecurityIdentifier

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    // get application GUID as defined in AssemblyInfo.cs
    string appGuid = ((GuidAttribute)Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetCustomAttributes(typeof(GuidAttribute), false).GetValue(0)).Value.ToString();

    // unique id for global mutex - Global prefix means it is global to the machine
    string mutexId = string.Format( "Global\\{{{0}}}", appGuid );

    bool createdNew;
        // edited by Jeremy Wiebe to add example of setting up security for multi-user usage
        // edited by 'Marc' to work also on localized systems (don't use just "Everyone") 
        var allowEveryoneRule = new MutexAccessRule(new SecurityIdentifier(WellKnownSidType.WorldSid, null), MutexRights.FullControl, AccessControlType.Allow);
        var securitySettings = new MutexSecurity();
        securitySettings.AddAccessRule(allowEveryoneRule);

        using (var mutex = new Mutex(false, mutexId, out createdNew, securitySettings))
        {

        // edited by acidzombie24
        var hasHandle = false;
        try
        {
            try
            {
                // note, you may want to time out here instead of waiting forever
                // edited by acidzombie24
                // mutex.WaitOne(Timeout.Infinite, false);
                hasHandle = mutex.WaitOne(5000, false);
                if (hasHandle == false)
                    throw new TimeoutException("Timeout waiting for exclusive access");
            }
            catch (AbandonedMutexException)
            {
                // Log the fact the mutex was abandoned in another process, it will still get aquired
                hasHandle = true;
            }

            // Perform your work here.
        }
        finally
        {
            // edited by acidzombie24, added if statemnet
            if(hasHandle)
                mutex.ReleaseMutex();
        }
    }
}

Answer 5

Neither Mutex nor WinApi CreateMutex() works for me.

An alternate solution:

static class Program
{
    [STAThread]
    static void Main()
    {
        if (SingleApplicationDetector.IsRunning()) {
            return;
        }

        Application.Run(new MainForm());

        SingleApplicationDetector.Close();
    }
}

And the SingleApplicationDetector:

using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Security.AccessControl;
using System.Threading;

public static class SingleApplicationDetector
{
    public static bool IsRunning()
    {
        string guid = ((GuidAttribute)Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetCustomAttributes(typeof(GuidAttribute), false).GetValue(0)).Value.ToString();
        var semaphoreName = @"Global\" + guid;
        try {
            __semaphore = Semaphore.OpenExisting(semaphoreName, SemaphoreRights.Synchronize);

            Close();
            return true;
        }
        catch (Exception ex) {
            __semaphore = new Semaphore(0, 1, semaphoreName);
            return false;
        }
    }

    public static void Close()
    {
        if (__semaphore != null) {
            __semaphore.Close();
            __semaphore = null;
        }
    }

    private static Semaphore __semaphore;
}

Reason to use Semaphore instead of Mutex:

The Mutex class enforces thread identity, so a mutex can be released only by the thread that acquired it. By contrast, the Semaphore class does not enforce thread identity.

<< System.Threading.Mutex

Ref: Semaphore.OpenExisting()

Answer 6

Sometimes learning by example helps the most. Run this console application in three different console windows. You'll see that the application you ran first acquires the mutex first, while the other two are waiting their turn. Then press enter in the first application, you'll see that application 2 now continues running by acquiring the mutex, however application 3 is waiting its turn. After you press enter in application 2 you'll see that application 3 continues. This illustrates the concept of a mutex protecting a section of code to be executed only by one thread (in this case a process) like writing to a file as an example.

using System;
using System.Threading;

namespace MutexExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static Mutex m = new Mutex(false, "myMutex");//create a new NAMED mutex, DO NOT OWN IT
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Waiting to acquire Mutex");
            m.WaitOne(); //ask to own the mutex, you'll be queued until it is released
            Console.WriteLine("Mutex acquired.\nPress enter to release Mutex");
            Console.ReadLine();
            m.ReleaseMutex();//release the mutex so other processes can use it
        }
    }
}