reboot.cpp

A tiny cross-platform command-line utility to immediately reboot, power off, or halt the local machine.

Origin

• This project was created because Windows does not include reboot, poweroff, or halt commands by default in PowerShell/CMD. This tool provides lightweight single-file binaries named reboot, poweroff, and halt (or .exe on Windows) for quick use from the shell, compatible with Linux halt(8) options.

What it does

• Supports reboot, poweroff, and halt operations with various options.
• On Windows it adjusts process token privileges and calls the OS shutdown/reboot APIs.
• On Linux it calls the reboot(2) syscall with appropriate flags (requires root).
• On macOS it sends Apple Events for restart or shutdown (requires root or appropriate privileges).

Security and privileges

• Rebooting a system requires administrator/root privileges. The tool will fail with an error if run without sufficient rights.
• Copying binaries into %WINDIR%\System32 or %WINDIR%\SysWOW64 requires elevation. The included install.bat will try to elevate itself when run.
• Always review binaries and scripts before running them with elevated rights.

Build / compile

Windows (MinGW or Visual Studio)

# Using MinGW (cross-compile or on Windows host with MinGW):
x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++ -o reboot-x64.exe reboot.cpp -ladvapi32
i686-w64-mingw32-g++ -o reboot-x86.exe reboot.cpp -ladvapi32

# Then create hard links for poweroff and halt binaries
mklink /H poweroff-x64.exe reboot-x64.exe
mklink /H halt-x64.exe reboot-x64.exe
mklink /H poweroff-x86.exe reboot-x86.exe
mklink /H halt-x86.exe reboot-x86.exe

Linux

g++ -o reboot reboot.cpp
ln -s reboot poweroff
ln -s reboot halt

macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel)

clang++ -o reboot reboot.cpp -framework CoreFoundation -framework ApplicationServices
ln -s reboot poweroff
ln -s reboot halt

Repository artifacts produced by CI

• Windows artifact: reboot-windows contains reboot-x64.exe, reboot-x86.exe, and install.bat (one-click installer script).
• Linux artifact: reboot-linux (containing reboot).
• macOS artifact: reboot-macos (containing reboot).

Windows installer script

• install.bat tries to elevate (using PowerShell) if not run as Administrator.
• Installs reboot.exe, poweroff.exe, and halt.exe into %WINDIR%\System32 and %WINDIR%\SysWOW64 as appropriate.
• When elevated it detects host architecture and copies the appropriate binaries:
  • On 64-bit Windows: installs reboot-x64.exe -> %WINDIR%\System32\reboot.exe and reboot-x86.exe -> %WINDIR%\SysWOW64\reboot.exe.
  • On 32-bit Windows: installs reboot-x86.exe -> %WINDIR%\System32\reboot.exe.

CI / GitHub Actions

• The included workflow (.github/workflows/build.yml) builds for Windows (both x86 and x64 via MSYS2), Linux, and macOS, then uploads platform-specific artifacts.

Usage

• After building or downloading the right binary:
  • Linux/macOS: run sudo ./reboot (or just ./reboot if you are root)
  • Windows: open an elevated CMD/PowerShell and run reboot.exe (or after installation simply reboot from any elevated shell)

Notes

• This is a low-level, immediate reboot tool. It does not attempt a graceful shutdown sequence beyond what the platform APIs provide when forcing a reboot.
• Use carefully on machines with unsaved work.