Improve stability of msfdb initialization on windows environments

[adfoster-r7]

closes #17237
closes #15980
Relates to #10805

Improve stability of msfdb initialization on windows environments. Previously the msfdb init script would hang indefinitely on Windows environments, as well as there being false negatives on detecting if the database was running or not.

Verification

• Install the nightly windows installer https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/d427d64f6ee6e7d066c01f7d1c37b6cf50f89b7f/docs/metasploit-framework.wiki/Nightly-Installers.md#installing-metasploit-on-windows
• See that it hangs indefinitely when running msfdb init
• Now apply this patch manually to C:\metasploit-framework\embedded\framework\lib/msfdb_helpers/pg_ctl.rb
• Verify that the Metasploit database is created as expected - remember to use reinit to ensure the database.yml file is created

cmd > msfdb reinit
...
Database initialization successful

• Verify that msfconsole works and connects to the database, i.e. msfconsole and the creds command

msf6 > creds
Credentials
===========

host  origin  service  public  private  realm  private_type  JtR Format
----  ------  -------  ------  -------  -----  ------------  ----------

msf6 >

[cgranleese-r7]

Everything seems to be working as expected.

Before

After

msfconsole

[cgranleese-r7]

Release Notes

Improves stability of msfdb initialization on windows environments. Previously the msfdb init script would hang indefinitely on Windows environments, as well as there being false negatives on detecting if the database was running or not.

[Dinamitrii]

AT LAST!Will try on first run on Windows machine!Is it been tested on Windows 11 already?

[adfoster-r7]

It should work, but if it doesn't - let us know and we'll try to replicate and fix 👍

Alternatively - it should work as expected on Linux/Kali environments

[pmorgenrood]

Not working on Windows 11
OS Name: Microsoft Windows 11 Home Single Language
OS Version: 10.0.22621 N/A Build 22621
I tried on existing installation and downloaded the latest installer msi, then manually downloaded and replaced the pg_ctl.rb file then ran .\msfd.bat reinit and it hangs here:

PS C:\metasploit-framework\bin> .\msfd.bat reinit
C:/metasploit-framework/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/3.0.0/gems/rex-core-0.1.31/lib/rex/compat.rb:381: warning: Win32API is deprecated after Ruby 1.9.1; use fiddle directly instead
[*] Initializing msfd...
[*] Running msfd...
[-] Background mode is not available on this platform

After waiting a while, I sent an interrupt using Ctrl+C

C:/metasploit-framework/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/3.0.0/gems/rex-socket-0.1.54/lib/rex/socket/tcp_server.rb:46:in `accept': Interrupt
        from C:/metasploit-framework/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/3.0.0/gems/rex-socket-0.1.54/lib/rex/socket/tcp_server.rb:46:in `accept'
        from C:/metasploit-framework/embedded/framework/plugins/msfd.rb:97:in `block in run'
        from C:/metasploit-framework/embedded/framework/plugins/msfd.rb:96:in `loop'
        from C:/metasploit-framework/embedded/framework/plugins/msfd.rb:96:in `run'
        from C:/metasploit-framework/bin/../embedded/framework/msfd:100:in `<main>'

Has anyone managed to get this working on Win 11?

[adfoster-r7]

@pmorgenrood It looks like you've made a typo, I believe you want to use msfdb not msfd