Run PulseAudio for a user session in Windows

pulseaudio-windows-session-steps.md

Steps

1. Install cygwin - include pulseaudio
2. Configure /etc/pulse/* as required for use case (load-module module-native-protocol-tcp for example)
3. Copy auth cookie to /home/SYSTEM/.config/pulse/cookie
4. Open PulseAudio port (4713) in Windows Firewall as appropriate (local network, for example)
5. Create vbs scripts to prevent window from appearing:
   1. pulseaudio-on.vbs:

Dim WShell
Set WShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WShell.Run """C:\Program Files\cygwin64\bin\pulseaudio.exe"" --realtime --no-cpu-limit --disallow-exit=on --exit-idle-time=999999999999 --daemonize", 0
Set WShell = Nothing

2. pulseaudio-off.vbs:

Dim WShell
Set WShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WShell.Run """C:\Program Files\cygwin64\bin\pulseaudio.exe"" -k", 0
Set WShell = Nothing

6. Create tasks in Task Manager
   1. Create logon task that runs wscript pulseaudio-on.vbs
   2. Create logoff task (Log: Security, Event ID 4647) that runs wscript pulseaudio-off.vbs
7. Test!

References

1. https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/94893-play-sound-logoff-sign-out-windows-10-a.html
2. https://winaero.com/blog/run-a-program-hidden-in-windows-10/
3. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15770599/about-using-double-quotes-in-vbscript