SCHTASKS

By | 2007-04-24

Schtasks.exe is a command-line utility in Windows that enables administrators to manage scheduled tasks.

Schtasks allows you to create, delete, query, change, run, and end scheduled tasks on both local and remote computers. Running Schtasks.exe without arguments displays the status and next run time for each registered task.

Syntax:

   SCHTASKS /Create create_options

   SCHTASKS /Delete [/S system [/U username [/P password]]] /TN taskname [/F]

   SCHTASKS /Query  [/S system [/U username [/P password]]] [/FO format] [/NH] [/V]

   SCHTASKS /Run [/S system [/U username [/P password]]] /TN taskname

   SCHTASKS /End [/S system [/U username [/P password]]] /TN taskname

   SCHTASKS /Change [/S system [/U username [/P password]]] {[/RU username] [/RP password] [/TR taskrun]} /TN taskname

create_options:

    [/S system                      #remote system (default is local)

    [/U username [/P password]]]    #submit job under this name

    [/RU username [/RP password]]   #run job under this name

    /SC schedule [/MO modifier]     #When to run, see below

    [/D day]                        #day = MON,TUE,WED,THU,FRI,SAT,SUN

    [/M months]                     #month=JAN,FEB,MAR,APR,MAY,JUN,JUL,AUG,SEP,OCT,NOV,DEC.

    [/I idletime]                   #1 - 999 minutes (ONIDLE task only)

    /TN taskname /TR taskrun        #Name and pathname for task

    /ST starttime                   #HH:MM:SS (24 hour)

    [/SD startdate] [/ED enddate]   # start and end date "dd/mm/yyyy"

query_del_options:

    /F    Force delete, ignore warnings even if the task is currently runnning.

    /FO format  Output format: TABLE, LIST, CSV

    /NH   No header

    /V    Verbose outputNotes:

For MONTHLY schedules give the DAY as a number 1 - 31 (default=1)

To prompt for the password, specify /RP * or /RP none

The User Account under which the Schedule service runs may require specific file access permissions, user permissions and drive mappings.

For the system account, /RU username can be written as "", "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" or "SYSTEM", a Password is not required.

/SC schedule  The schedule frequency.

Valid schedules: MINUTE,HOURLY,DAILY,WEEKLY,MONTHLY, ONCE,ONSTART,ONLOGON,ONIDLE.

/MO modifiers allow finer control:

    MINUTE:  1 - 1439 minutes.
    HOURLY:  1 - 23 hours.
    DAILY:   1 - 365 days.
    WEEKLY:  weeks 1 - 52.
    ONCE:    No modifiers.
    ONSTART: No modifiers.
    ONLOGON: No modifiers.
    ONIDLE:  No modifiers.
    MONTHLY: 1 - 12, or FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH, LAST, LASTDAY.

Task Scheduler options are stored in the registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SchedulingAgent\

Examples:

Create a daily task to run at 11 pm

SCHTASKS /Create /SC weekly /D MON,TUE,WED,THU,FRI /TN MyDailyBackup /ST 23:00:00 /TR c:\backup.cmd /RU MyDomain\MyLogin /RP MyPassword

Delete the task above

SCHTASKS /Delete /TN "MyDailyBackup" /f

Author: dwirch

Derek Wirch is a seasoned IT professional with an impressive career dating back to 1986. He brings a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience that is invaluable to those embarking on their journey in the tech industry.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.