I'm using an AutoIt script to start and automate a GUI application. I need to activate the script each hour.
Will AutoIt scripts (which perform actions on a GUI) work when used as a service? The script will be run as a service (not scheduled task).
You can easily make an autoit script run as a service using service.au3 written by archer of the autoit forums. Unfortunately or fortunately since it is a security measure. A service needs to start independent of the current user session (before login). It cant access send APIs for input manipulation of the current user session from there. It does sound much more like you need a scheduled task and not a service.
As mentioned above, a scheduled task is what you're looking for. To run a script as a service read this:
Q4. How can I run my script as a service?
This is also a question with multiple answers, and none of them are the only way to do it. The first question to ask yourself is whether or not you wish to install the service on other computers besides your own.
A1. If you only wish to install the service on your own computer, The easiest way to do this is to use Pirmasoft RunAsSvc. This program makes services easy to install and easy to remove when necessary.
A2. If you wish to make the service available to anyone running your script, you can use SRVANY.EXE and ServiceControl.au3. You can then use this code to install your script as a service:
#include "ServiceControl.au3"
$servicename = "MyServiceName"
_CreateService("", $servicename, "My AutoIt Script", "C:\Path_to_srvany.exe", "LocalSystem", "", 0x110)
RegWrite("HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\" & $servicename & "\Parameters", "Application", "REG_SZ", #ScriptFullPath)
or use the following code to delete this service:
#include "ServiceControl.au3"
$servicename = "MyServiceName"
_DeleteService("", $servicename)
There is one caveat to setting up AutoIt as a service. If the service is not installed using the above code, it must have the "allow service to interact with the desktop" setting or else automation functions such as Control* or Win* functions will not function. To assure the service does indeed have this setting, use the following code:
RegWrite("HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services[ServiceName]", "Type", "REG_DWORD", 0x110)
Taken from the FAQ topic on the AutoIt Forums. www.autoitscript.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=37289)
It sounds like you're want to use a scheduled task instead of a service. Scheduled tasks can execute every hour, while you're logged in, and should also be able to interact with your desktop. Just remember that a task run as a normal user can not interact (send input) to a elevated program if you're using Vista/Windows Server 2008 with User Account Control enabled.
Related
I have a .sh script in Google Cloud Shell that automates my instance shutdown, backup, restart sequence.
How can I run a .sh script on Schedule (i.e. daily) in a simplest possible way?
I am not a professional and I've read all documentation about cron jobs, Cloud Scheduler, Cloud Tasks... but none of the examples in the documentation appear to detail a simple task that I need, and I do not have enough knowledge yet to understand these multiple services in details.... I just need a simple direction pointer to understand how to connect my Google Cloud Shell .sh script with any form of scheduler, as in:
Run a .sh script that I have in my virtual 5gb Cloud Sell Storage on schedule (daily at specific time), instead of manually opening Google Cloud Console and using a terminal to run the same script with "bash" command?
I just need to know what I need to learn/do to make this happen.
Thank you for your input.
That's not going to be possible. The Cloud Shell will turn off shortly after you close the tab. For this you'll need to use an actual VM. You can run one for free using the e2 micro instance.
https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/gcp-free-tier/#compute
Once you got this setup you can learn crontab to run your script on a schedule.
I want to know if it is possible to configure a service to call a batch/powershell script when I stop it from services.msc.
While in Linux init.d services are fully programmable and even systemd services can have additional procedures I've yet to find a way to accomplish this on Windows.
Thanks in advance
You can configure services to run a program on failure, but if you are stopping the service via services.msc then that likely wouldn't count as a failure.
The only other option I can think of would be to set up a PowerShell script running as a scheduled task that either periodically checks the services running status, or (for a more foolproof option) looks at the event log for events indicating that the service has been stopped (since the last time the script checked) and then performs whatever actions you require.
Per the comment from montonero, you wouldn't need to run the scheduled task periodically as it could be configured to run when the event itself occurs. This is described here: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/wincat/2011/08/25/trigger-a-powershell-script-from-a-windows-event/
Use the Event Viewer “Attach Task to This Event…” feature to
create the task.
Launch "Event Viewer" and find the event. Once found, right-click on the event and select "Attach Task to
This Event...".
Until we can implement our new HEAT SM system i am needing to create some workflows to ease our currently manual user administration processes.
I intend to use Powershell to execute the actual tasks but need to use VBS to send an argument to PS from an app.
My main question on this project is, Can an argument be sent to an already running Powershell process?
Example:
We have a PS menu app that we will launch in the AM and leave running all day.
I would love for there to be a way to allow PS to listen for commands/args and take action on them as they come in.
The reason I am wanting to do it this way is because one of the tasks needs to disable exchange features and the script will need to establish a connection a remote PSsession which, in our environment, can take between 10-45 seconds. If i were to invoke the command directly from HEAT (call-logging software) it would lock up while also preventing the tech from moving on to another case until the script terminates.
I have searched all over for similar functionality but i fear that this is not possible with PS.
Any suggestions?
I had already setup a script to follow this recommendation but i was curious to see if there was a more seamless approach
As suggested by one of the comments by #Tony Hinkle
I would have the PS script watch for a file, and then have the VBScript script create a file with the arguments. You would either need to start it on another thread (since the menu is waiting for user input), or just use a separate script that in turn starts another instance of the existing PS script with a param used to specify the needed action
I need to run an offsite backup .cmd script (batch file) on a Windows 7/8 PC, daily, whether a user is logged on or not. Naturally, Task Scheduler's feature "run if user is logged or not" doesn't work (sarcasm .. thanks M$) because the user has to be logged on at some time then signed out. Moreover, because of the urgency of the task, it must run no matter what. For example, if the power goes out and upon restoration the computer reboots, there will be nobody logged on. So, I need to convert the batch file to a service.
I've used NSSM to convert the batch file into a service, but I don't know how to make the service run on a schedule, because, by definition, it's not meant to run that way - I should be using a scheduled task. So, I'm not sure what to do and all the tutorials I've seen on Google imply that I know VB script and/or C#. Unfortunately, I don't and don't plan to ... I just need a quick fix to work like a Linux cron job.
Thanks!
Task Scheduler's feature "run if user is logged or not" doesn't work (sarcasm .. thanks M$) because the user has to be logged on at some time then signed out.
Are you sure? Because "run if user is logged or not" is an option, not a trigger. It should be combined with trigger "At startup" to achieve desired result:
If everything else fails, you can use nncron to schedule tasks and install it as service.
I am debugging a lotus script agent using debug a lotus script. Agent is debugging fine but I have another lotus script agent inside that and my debugger is not going to that code line by line.Please help me how to do this.
Thanks in advance.
An agent, that is called in script from another agent runs in the background. These agents can not be debugged easily. If the called agent runs on the server, you can use the remote debugger, to debug that agent: you have to enable it in the server document, start the remote debug task, and enable remote debugging in the properties of the called agent. Then you have to be fast. You define a delay that each agent waits for the debugger to attach, before it really starts with its code. During this time, you have to start the remote debugger, open the database and select the agent to debug... Quite painful. And the normal Debugger has to be off and the agent you startet has to run in client background mode, otherwise you will not be able to switch to remote debugger...
If both agents are LotusScript and it is not needed, that they:
Run with different rights or
Run on different servers,
then there normally is no need for an agent calling another agent.
Use script- libraries and subs / functions instead, then you do not need two agents...
I recommend to you use a simple log in the second agent. You can use NotesLog (look at Domino Developer's Help), or you can write your own class as you need it.
In my apps, I use a LotusScript framework, written by me. In that framework, I have a CS_Log class, who connects to a LogAgents.nsf database and writes all in simple documents. Also, I have a CS_Document class, with a Dump method, who writes the full content of a document, for example.
The most times, debugging it's the best option. But in cases like this, I prefer to write all in a log.