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