A Scheduled Job is a background job that can be started automatically on a one-time or recurring schedule.
Enable-ScheduledJob Enable a scheduled job
Disable-ScheduledJob Disable a scheduled job
Get-ScheduledJob Get scheduled jobs on the local computer
Set-ScheduledJob Change the properties of a scheduled job.
Register-ScheduledJob Create a new scheduled job
Unregister-ScheduledJob Delete a scheduled job
Get-ScheduledJobOption Get the options of scheduled job
New-ScheduledJobOption Create new options for a scheduled job
Set-ScheduledJobOption Change the options of a scheduled job
Disable-ScheduledTask Disable a scheduled task.
Enable-ScheduledTask Enable a scheduled task.
Export-ScheduledTask Export a scheduled task as an XML string.
Get-ScheduledTask Get the task definition object for a registered task.
New-ScheduledTask Create a scheduled task instance.
Set-ScheduledTask Modify a scheduled task.
Start-ScheduledTask Start one or more instances of a scheduled task.
Stop-ScheduledTask Stop all running instances of a task.
Register-ScheduledTask Register a scheduled task.
Unregister-ScheduledTask Unregister a scheduled task.
New-ScheduledTaskPrincipal Create an object containing a scheduled task principal.
New-ScheduledTaskAction Create a scheduled task action.
New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet Create a new scheduled task settings object.
Get-ScheduledTaskInfo Get run-time information for a scheduled task.
New-ScheduledTaskTrigger Create a scheduled task trigger object.
Get-ClusteredScheduledTask Get clustered scheduled tasks for a failover cluster.
Register-ClusteredScheduledTask Register a scheduled task on a failover cluster.
Set-ClusteredScheduledTask Change settings for a clustered scheduled task.
Unregister-ClusteredScheduledTask Remove a scheduled task from a failover cluster.
Add-JobTrigger Add a job trigger to a scheduled job
Get-JobTrigger Get the job triggers of scheduled jobs
New-JobTrigger Create a new job trigger
Set-JobTrigger Change the job trigger of a scheduled job
The cmdlets on this page are available in PowerShell 3.0 and greater.
When scheduling a single job you may find it easier to just call the old school SCHTASKS command, for multiple jobs on multiple machines the PowerShell cmdlets will start to show their advantages.
Whichever method is used, the same Scheduled Job will result.
A Scheduled Job can be exported from one computer as an .XML file and imported to a different machine, this can be a good option if you want consistent job settings on multiple machines without having to write any scripts.
There are two main ways to run a scheduled job:
For a group - the scheduled job will run as the logged in user if they are a member of the named group.
Most often this is the group BUILTIN/USERS, every domain user is a member of USERS, so the job will run for the currently logged in user. The scheduled job will thus have access to the same resources as that User Account (file permissions, network access etc.) If no-one is logged in the job will not run.For a named user, either a local account or a Domain Account - the scheduled job will have access to the same resources as that Account (file permissions, network access etc)
If it is possible to run a job as the already logged-in user, or a local account this will avoid the network traffic of a domain login, which can be significant if hundreds or thousands of workstations all run a scheduled job at the same time.
The LocalSystem account (NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM + BUILTIN\Administrators) is a highly privileged account with access to the network and Active Directory. It does not have a user profile and does not allow interactive logins (interacting with the desktop.) While the SYSTEM account was used to run System Services and Scheduled jobs in early versions of Windows NT, this is no longer recommended.
The LocalService account (NT_AUTHORITY\LocalService), is a limited service account that is meant to run standard least-privileged services, it has no ability to access the network as the machine.
The NetworkService account (NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService) is meant to run standard least-privileged services. but still has the right to access the network as the machine.
Both LocalService and NetworkService have minimal authority on the local computer, basically the same authority as an unprivileged user account plus the Logon as a service right, which any service account requires. Because these built-in accounts run multiple services, any additional rights granted to them would pass on to those processes too.
To avoid this, use a dedicated user account (or Managed Service Account) with the desired permissions.
When this option is chosen the running job may be visible to the user, if the same job is set to Run whether user is logged on or not, it will be invisible to any user who happens to be logged on to the machine.
To wake up, Windows must talk to the BIOS to schedule a wake up. For this to work, you must enable the"Allow wake timers" setting on the current power policy ( Control Panel ➞ Power Options ). Support for this is limited, for example a BIOS written to ACPI v4 will not accept a wake schedule more than 30 days into the future.
This property is essential if you need the task to run on a machine that has PowerSaving enabled.
See also Powercfg.exe -WakeTimers
This option does not run a missed job immediately, which you might reasonably expect. There is a 10-minute delay. So if a job was missed because the PC was off, it will run exactly 10 minutes after the computer is powered back on.
If multiple jobs are missed, they will all start at the same time: exactly 10 minutes after the computer is powered back on.
This delayed start is not shown in under 'Next Run Time', but will appear under 'Last Run Time' once the job has run.
This option is ignored completely if the job has a "ONE Time" trigger.
When a scheduled job is running, the environment variable %SESSIONNAME% is not populated:
if ($env:SessionName -eq $null) {Echo 'This is a scheduled job'}If a Scheduled Job has multiple 'Actions' they will run in order, if one stalls, it will block later tasks from running. If you need tasks to run asynchronously, set them up as separate jobs.
The options described on this page are for the Windows Scheduler 2.0 available in Windows Vista and greater.
The two actions: showMessage and sendEmail are deprecated (use IExecAction with Send-MailMessage as a workaround).
“In order to plan your future wisely, it is necessary that you understand and appreciate your past” ~ Jo Coudert
Related
Task Scheduler error codes
SCHTASKS - Create /Edit a Scheduled Job.
Run with elevated permissions