How to schedule a task for multiple days of a month using schtasks.exe?

Question

Since task scheduler API has been changed after Vista & Server 2008, scheduling a task with schtasks is (as much as I know) the only way that works on both Windows 2003 Server and Windows 2008 Server.

I need to create a task that will run every on 5th and 20th of each month. Is this possible with schtasks.exe?

Creating a scheduled task that will run on every sunday and monday of a week is possible with:

schtasks /create /tn test /tr "cmd.exe" /sc weekly /d mon,sun

But with the same aspect, any of the following is not working.

schtasks /create /tn test /tr "cmd.exe" /sc monthly /d 5,15

schtasks /create /tn test /tr "cmd.exe" /sc monthly /d "5 15"

Any ideas?

Having a non-English locale settings may cause this, I believe. — dereli, Sep 27 '14 at 21:32

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 21 '10 at 15:11

3

Schedule two monthly tasks. One for the 5th and one for the 15th.

answered Jan 21 '10 at 15:11

Dennis Williamson

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+1. Simple and ingenious. – joeqwerty Jan 21 '10 at 15:15
1

Actually, I don't like this, but this seems to be the only solution. – dereli Jan 26 '10 at 18:43

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 21 '10 at 12:32

You could create a task using an XML file:

schtasks /Create /XML xmlfile

(see documentation).

The XML should contain a <ScheduleByMonth> section:

<ScheduleByMonth>
    <DaysOfMonth>
        <Day>5</Day>
        <Day>15</Day>
    </DaysOfMonth>
    ...

You can create the XML file using the GUI version of the Task Scheduler. Use the "Export" function. Here is an example file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<Task version="1.2" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/2004/02/mit/task">
  <RegistrationInfo>
    <Date>2010-01-21T13:24:17.7449831</Date>
    <Author>DOMAIN\Username</Author>
  </RegistrationInfo>
  <Triggers>
    <CalendarTrigger>
      <StartBoundary>2010-01-21T13:23:34.4046495</StartBoundary>
      <Enabled>true</Enabled>
      <ScheduleByMonth>
        <DaysOfMonth>
          <Day>5</Day>
          <Day>15</Day>
        </DaysOfMonth>
        <Months>
          <January />
          <February />
          <March />
          <April />
          <May />
          <June />
          <July />
          <August />
          <September />
          <October />
          <November />
          <December />
        </Months>
      </ScheduleByMonth>
    </CalendarTrigger>
  </Triggers>
  <Principals>
    <Principal id="Author">
      <UserId>DOMAIN\Username</UserId>
      <LogonType>InteractiveToken</LogonType>
      <RunLevel>LeastPrivilege</RunLevel>
    </Principal>
  </Principals>
  <Settings>
    <IdleSettings>
      <Duration>PT10M</Duration>
      <WaitTimeout>PT1H</WaitTimeout>
      <StopOnIdleEnd>true</StopOnIdleEnd>
      <RestartOnIdle>false</RestartOnIdle>
    </IdleSettings>
    <MultipleInstancesPolicy>IgnoreNew</MultipleInstancesPolicy>
    <DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>true</DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>
    <StopIfGoingOnBatteries>true</StopIfGoingOnBatteries>
    <AllowHardTerminate>true</AllowHardTerminate>
    <StartWhenAvailable>false</StartWhenAvailable>
    <RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>false</RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>
    <AllowStartOnDemand>true</AllowStartOnDemand>
    <Enabled>true</Enabled>
    <Hidden>false</Hidden>
    <RunOnlyIfIdle>false</RunOnlyIfIdle>
    <WakeToRun>false</WakeToRun>
    <ExecutionTimeLimit>P3D</ExecutionTimeLimit>
    <Priority>7</Priority>
  </Settings>
  <Actions Context="Author">
    <ShowMessage>
      <Title>Test Message</Title>
      <Body>TThis is a test task message.</Body>
    </ShowMessage>
  </Actions>
</Task>

/xml argument is not supported on Windows 2003 Server. – dereli Jan 26 '10 at 18:41 — dereli, Jan 26 '10 at 18:41

How to schedule a task for multiple days of a month using schtasks.exe?

2 Answers2