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XP Syntax

SCHTASKS

Create, delete, edit, list, start or stop a scheduled task.
Works on local or remote computers.

Syntax:

   SCHTASKS /Create [Connect_Options] create_options

   SCHTASKS /Delete [Connect_Options] /TN taskname [/F]

   SCHTASKS /Query  [Connect_Options] [/FO format] [/NH] [/V]

   SCHTASKS /Run [Connect_Options] /TN taskname
   SCHTASKS /End [Connect_Options] /TN taskname

   SCHTASKS /Change [Connect_Options] {[/RU username] [/RP password] [/TR taskrun]} /TN taskname

 Connect_Options:
    /S system                      #remote system (default is local)
       [/U username [/P password]] #submit job under this name

 create_options:
    [/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"

 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 output

Notes:
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

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

Now delete the task:

SCHTASKS /Delete /TN "MyDailyBackup" /f

"We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day" - Linda Evangelista

Equivalent bash commands:

cron - Daemon to execute scheduled commands
crontab
- Schedule a command to run at a later time



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Simon Sheppard
SS64.com