Best way to get 12 V from 28 V or 5 V ?

magagna:
The specs are a little weird, they say "100mA or 350mA".

I suggest you measure its resistance to determine the steady-state current. It might possibly mean 350mA peak while the solenoid is moving and 150mA when it is stationary. If this is the case, running it from 28v through a series resistor of 100 ohms should still work, although the solenoid may open slightly more slowly then when driven from a constant 12v.

You don't need a darlington to drive that solenoid, a transistor with a good hfe at that sort of current will be adequate, e.g. BC337.