I was trying to test a simple powershell script with task scheduler, the status showed running but the powershell console never showed up.
My ps1 script just contains two simple commands:
dir
pause
Here is my setup:
General
Run whether user is logged on or not (check)
Run with highest privileges (check)
Actions
Action: Start a program
Program/Script: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
Add arguments (optional): -file E:\iQ_Schedule\Untitled1.ps1
This setup works on other computer (Windows 10) but just won't on this one (Windows Server 2012 R2). I am not sure why.
Welcome to Session 0 isolation mode.
When you run your task with "Run whether user logged in or not", it runs in so called session 0. You can check this with your task manager.
Tasks running is Session 0 has restrictions on showing the user interface
This could be due to the user account which is running the script. When the script is running with the SYSTEM account, the script will run in the background.
Try to change the option 'When running the task, use the following user account' to the account you are currently logged on with. Then the PowerShell console should pop up.
It sounds like the Windows Server 2012 R2 could have PSversion 2. The Pause function doesn't exist until PSversion 3.
Could you give the value of this command to us?
$PSVersionTable.PSVersion
Run whether user is logged on or not, will still give you the prompt. If the Hidden option is checked, you will not see the prompt.
I have also seen that the user that is trying to run the PowerShell script inside Task Scheduler doesn't have access to the folder strucutre. Make sure the user that is running the Task Scheduler has access to E:\iQ_Schedule\.
Make sure the user that is running the task scheduler has read access to the file structure you are trying to look up.
You can run as SYSTEM user, but then use the executionpolicy bypass argument
Powershell -ep Bypass 'e:\myPSFile.ps1' -myArg1 'arg1' -myArg2 'arg2'
Related
I am using PowerShell for downloading data from email.
I want to run this process by PowerShell. When I run script like this:
D:\script.ps1
in powershell.exe it works fine.
When I schedule it in Task Scheduler nothing happens.
I tried it to Set it like Program/script:
powershell
Powershell.exe
powershell.exe
Add arguments:
-executionpolicy bypass -file D:\script.ps1
-file D:\script.ps1
-file "D:\script.ps1"
And nothing works. I'm using Windows 2008 R2.
Troubleshooting scheduled tasks is a pain in the rear, because you can't really see what's going on. These are some things you may want to check:
Check that your commandline works in principle, e.g. by running it from CMD (in your case try running powershell.exe -File "D:\script.ps1"). If that gives you any errors you need to fix those first.
If you intend to run the task as a particular user, start CMD as that user and run the same commandline to check if the user has all the permissions required for whatever the script is doing.
Check if your task actually terminated or if the process is still running (via Process Explorer, Get-Process, Task Manager, …).
Check the Last Run Result for the exit code of the command.
Enable the history for your scheduled tasks (Action → Enable All Tasks History). That will give you at least some information about what the task is doing, whether it starts at all, and if/which errors occurred. You need administrative rights to enable the task history.
Check the eventlog for errors/warnings correlating with the task run.
Add logging statements to the script you're running to record progress information. Personally I prefer logging to the eventlog, because that avoids filesystem permissions issues.
Write-EventLog -LogName Application -Source EventSystem -EventID 100 -EntryType Information -Message 'Your log message.'
If you have admin privileges on the system you can register an event source of your own and use that in the above log statement instead of abusing an existing source like EventSystem:
New-EventLog -Source MyEventSource -LogName Application
Further help will depend heavily on the findings you got following these steps as well as your actual script code.
I found this site that was quite useful:
http://www.microsoftpro.nl/2011/07/07/how-to-schedule-a-powershell-script-using-scheduled-tasks-in-windows-server-2008-r2/
I also changed Secure option property and it helped.
I didnt check: Do not store password and now it runs without me being logged into network.
Peace
Few major observations which I had faced:
Instead of giving only powershell.exe , try giving the full PS path C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe.
Permission is one more concern. The user through which you are running the task might not have the permission to run that.
Execution Policy: Make sure you are bypassing the execution policy using -ExecutionPolicy Bypass.
Make sure you are running the task with Highest Privileges.
Finally, through analysis of logs.
I know this has been asked a 1000 times and I think I looked through all of them.
I have scheduled tasks running PowerShell Scripts on other servers already, but not on this server. Which has me scratching my head as to why I can't get it to work on this server.
I have a powershell script on a Windows 2008 R2 server. I can run it manually and it all works perfectly, but when I try to run it from a scheduled task the History says it was run, but the PowerShell script does not execute.
PSRemoting is enabled
The server ExecutionPolicy is "RemoteSigned"
I get two entries in the History
Action completed
Task Scheduler successfully completed task "\Processing" , instance "{dbbd4924-42d6-4024-a8ed-77494c7f84cf}" , action "C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\PowerShell.EXE" with return code 0.
Task complted
Task Scheduler successfully finished "{dbbd4924-42d6-4024-a8ed-77494c7f84cf}" instance of the "\Processing" task for user "domain\user".
The Scheduled Task looks like this:
I set to run under my account while I'm logged on. (since I can run the script manually as myself already)
checked Run with highest privileges.
trigger is to run every 10 minutes
Start a program Action.... Powershell.exe
Arguments: -executionpolicy remotesigned -File D:\abc\def\powershell\Processing.ps1
Conditions & Settings default settings.
Ensure that you're not being blocked by a permission issue with the task:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2012/04/18/task-scheduler-error-a-specified-logon-session-does-not-exist.aspx
The above GPO prevents credentials from being saved. Other User Rights Assignment settings can prevent things being run as batch/script/task/etc.
As a workaround, you can also set the task to run a .bat file with the powershell task. Adding an echo or pipe parameter may give you some clues to the issue.
I would recommend that you should add some diagnostic logging to this script to find out a place that causes this issue or redirect output of this script to a file. E.g. change your string with arguments this way:
-executionpolicy remotesigned -File D:\abc\def\powershell\Processing.ps1 2>&1 d:\output.log
Looks like that the script is executed, but something goes wrong. There are too many reasons for such behavior and it is difficult to find the root cause without a code.
I have 2 displays attached to my PC (one is my TV) running Windows 7 and I want to switch between them using a script. I know about the "displayswitch.exe" and its parameters (like /clone, /internal, etc). However, I need the script to work while the PC is locked.
Pressing Windows+P works fine, while the system is locked, which also invokes displayswitch. However running a batch script with "displayswitch.exe /clone" does not work while the PC is locked.
To execute the script, I want to use the Remote Launcher Application on my phone. The Remote Launcher works just fine with a script to shutdown my PC while it is locked, so it is in general able to execute scripts on the locked machine.
Is there any other way, to switch between my displays while the system is locked?
That's not a trivial task.
What displayswitch internally does is to call SetDisplayConfig function. this function must be invoked from a process which lives in a interactive console, otherwise it will return ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED
One may think that he can then invoke displayswitch from psexec using the -i option and indicating the currently active user session; usually powershell
(ps winlogon).si
returns all the interactive user sessions
but launched from psexec, displayswitch.exe doesn't works anyway.
I suppose it is because in any case a command line application doesn't need the "graphical" infrastructure to run, and maybe some internal optimization happens in psexec to save to create a proper graphical environment (at least it doesn't work on my machine, i had no luck with the -x option either)
What you can do it is to write a very simple windows form program, it doesn't even need to create the actual form, it could simply invoke SetDisplayConfig and die. But being a windows form application magically do the trick.
This way you can create a script that find the currently active interactive console id, and then use psexec like this (assuming 1 is the id of the interactive session)
psexec -accepteula -nobanner -i 1 C:\path-to-your-exe\your-exe.exe
i had a powershell module loaded in my profile which i can call it from ssh or any remote connection and it switch my display even if my session is locked, or even if there is no user session logged at all.
obviously the user who runs the script must have the required grant to run psexec -i (mine is machine administrator, so it works, but i don't know which exact grant is required, you can create a functional machine administrator and invoke psexec passing these credential with -u -p parameters)
Try this:
create a job in your windows scheduler executing the desired command (linke "displayswitch.exe /clone")
set a user that has the permission to perform this command and save the password inside your new job
don't set a trigger for the job but enable the option to start it manually
use schtasks /Run /S system /U username /P password /TN taskname to trigger the job
This should execute the desired command no matter in which state your windows is as long as it is running and has network connection.
I'd like to run a windows application in the context of another user. I have an administrator and several user accounts in one machine and I would like to have the administrator start certain applications for each user account (preferably using shell commands).
I tried the runas command but that appears to run in the administrator session as the specified user. I want to run the application as the user session in the user context (hope that makes sense).
For example, using user administrator I would like to start notepad.exe so that user1 (logged in) can see it appear onscreen. Is that possible?
You can use PsExec for this : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897553.aspx
use with argument : -i Run the program so that it interacts with the desktop of the specified session on the remote system. If no session is specified the process runs in the console session.
ex. This will start IE on other computer
psexec \client -i "c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe"
/René
I am running a small executable created by a third party that needs to run at regular intervals on a Windows 2008 server. This executable effectively ETLs information from one system to another and needs to run every hour or so around the clock. As part of its processing the executable launches a small Windows Forms type UI.
I have set up a scheduled task to call the file and this works ONLY if the user under which the task is configured to run is logged onto the machine (either locally or via Remote Desktop). If I set the task to run as another user, or set the task to run when the user is not logged, on the scheduled task executes and errors. I have tried running as different users including Administrator user and System user. Is there any possible workarounds (without changing the third party code which I have no access to) which would allow this code to be run without a specific user logged in.
The GUI app needs a desktop and you only get one of those for a logged in user.
This article shows how to create a task that does not require any login: https://www.scriptjunkie.us/2013/01/running-code-from-a-non-elevated-account-at-any-time/
The described procedure is as follows:
First, create a scheduled task to run your command with default options as the current user (this will by default create a scheduled task that only runs when you are logged in):
schtasks /create /tn mytask /SC HOURLY /TR "calc"
Then export the task as XML:
schtasks /query /XML /tn mytask > temp.xml
and delete the task:
schtasks /delete /tn mytask /f
Then open the xml file, and replace the line
<LogonType>InteractiveToken</LogonType>
with
<LogonType>S4U</LogonType>
This can be done with the following commands assuming powershell is on the system:
powershell -Command "Get-Content '.\temp.xml' | foreach {$_ -replace 'InteractiveToken', 'S4U' }" > new.xml
move /y new.xml temp.xml
Now recreate the task from the modified XML file:
schtasks /create /xml temp.xml /tn mytasks
and remove your temp file:
del /f /q temp.xml
It would seem that from the research I have done (and David Heffernan's answer), without affecting the source code, this is not possible.
There are some useful thoughts on How can I run a Windows GUI application on as a service? which relate to this but none give a viable workaround to this problem.
I think I have found a solution for this situation. You need to have two user accounts on the server (User1 and User2). RMD into the server under User1. Within this RMD, create your scheduled task, and set it to run under User2 account. Then, from within this RMD, you need to RMD into the server itself using User2 credentials (kind of like Inception's dream within a dream). It's important not to minimize this new RMD window; you can make it small, but it must be open. You are then free to close the original RMD session and the task will run under the User2 account, because User2 has an open desktop from your 2nd RMD session.
Protip - don't unpin the RMD window handles at the top of the RMD window - it can be a pain to close the correct RMD then. If you do, you'll need to use the Start > Log Out option all the way out of your RMDs.
I might be late in replying, but can't we use at command, without /interactive...
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/313565
As per microsoft: /interactive: Use this parameter to allow the task to interact with the desktop of the user who is logged on at the time the task runs.
There is a simple solution.
Change group to local group "users" and you will not be prompted for a password.
(Scheduled Task - General - Security Options - Change User or Group).
This looks to be an old thread, but I recently ran in to this in my organization due to UAC requirements they were not using. I am still testing this, but I believe you can still enable interactive mode on a scheduled task by using the /Change command on the task and adding the /IT flag to make it interactive. Referenced here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/taskschd/schtasks
schtasks /Change /tn "Task A" /IT /RP "password of user if used"
My initial tests show this to be working, however I cannot noticeably see a difference to the task in task scheduler when I do this. So, I am not sure of how to verify if it is set to do this.
I had a similar issue. My VB app would not run properly on my server unless I had "Run only when user is logged on" enabled. I forget where I found this info, but doing it allowed my VB app to run perfectly with a set user, without needing to be logged in. It allows it to interact with the Desktop.
On a Windows 2008 (or greater) server, you need to do the following:
For x64, just create this folder:
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\Desktop
For x86, just create this folder:
C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\Desktop