Query schtasks using Powershell

Question

On a Windows7 machine I am trying I can run a query to view all the scheduled tasks using schtasks.exe

This is fine but I would also like to filter the result set using something like

schtasks /query | where { $_.TaskName -eq "myTask" }

The problem is I don't this schtasks returns a properly formatted list for the where function to work.

I've also tried:

schtasks /query /FO LIST
schtasks /query | format-list | where ....

those don't work either.

What would be the best way to query the schtasks on a local computer using Win7 and be able to filter them

What's with the backslashes in there? I'm fairly sure that's not what `schtasks` expects there, but rather a forward slash. — Joey, Jun 18 '10 at 21:37

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 20 '22 at 15:07

8

You could try to use schtasks, which will leave you parsing text. This is almost always error prone, and definitely more difficult than it is to take the output of a command.

There happens to be a TaskScheduler module in the PowerShellPack. Once you install the PowerShell pack, to get all of the scheduled tasks, use:

Import-Module TaskScheduler
Get-ScheduledTask -Recurse

Since these are real objects, to find a task of a particular name, you can use:

Get-ScheduledTask -Recurse |  Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*Task*"}

In general, you will find that the PowerShell community has taken a lot of harder to use command lines, like schtasks, and turned them into easy-to-use cmdlets, like Get-ScheduledTask.

See Also:

Sending Automated Emails using the TaskScheduler Module

Hope this helps

edited Aug 20 '22 at 15:07

Glorfindel

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answered Jun 18 '10 at 21:44

Start-Automating

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This works great if you're using Win2k8 boxes (or vista/W7). Unfortunately, it doesn't work with W2k3 servers (which are still very common in my environment). – Mike Shepard Jun 28 '10 at 03:09
@MikeShepard If you want the new toys, you have to stop using 11 year old operating systems. – Ryan Ries Jan 30 '14 at 00:30
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That's the story of my career. :-( – Mike Shepard Jan 30 '14 at 13:08

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 30 '14 at 00:27

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Here's a blog post I wrote about doing this. Essentially, I took the output of the /FO LIST /V, wrote that to a file, and imported it back in as objects using import-csv

edited Jan 30 '14 at 00:27

SliverNinja - MSFT

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answered Jun 18 '10 at 19:26

Mike Shepard

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You're on the right track but writing to a temporary file is unnecessary here: `schtasks /query /fo csv /v|convertfrom-csv` works just fine – Joey Jun 18 '10 at 21:39
this is neat but still not easily queryable – jdiaz Jun 20 '10 at 04:19
Johannes: you're right, but I really (really) dislike properties that have embedded spaces/colons/slashes. jdiaz: What's not queryable? The script I posted and Johannes' revision both return native powershell objects with properties. They should be just as queryable as any other powershell entities. – Mike Shepard Jun 28 '10 at 03:08
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Truly - they are queryable...`schtasks /query /fo csv /v /s "myserver" | convertfrom-csv | Select TaskName, "Last Run Time", Author | ? {$_.Author -notmatch "microsoft|N/A|Author"}` will provide you with all the custom scheduled tasks you have. – SliverNinja - MSFT Jan 29 '14 at 22:56

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 18 '10 at 19:32

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if you don't need to do it in powershell then the following will work

schtasks /query | findstr /i "mytask"

ps version
schtasks /query | ?{$_ -like 'mytask'}

answered Jun 18 '10 at 19:32

tony roth

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any full source code sample for create, query and delete tasks using PS ? – Kiquenet Sep 10 '12 at 09:01

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 01 '14 at 18:50

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You may try:

schtasks /query /FO CSV | ConvertFrom-CSV | Where { $_.TaskName -eq "myTask" }

The trick is in converting output to CSV first, and then back to a powershell object.

answered Oct 01 '14 at 18:50

Oleks

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 22 '10 at 19:16

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You are overthinking it.

Commandline for what you want schtasks /query /s %computername%|FIND /I "%name_of_task%"

example schtasks /query /s server01|FIND /I "schedule"

answered Sep 22 '10 at 19:16

Juan Andres Ramirez · Answer 6 · 2016-12-06T15:24:10.557

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The best options is from Alex because you dont need library and you will convert the string's answers from schtasks in Powershell object.

edited Dec 06 '16 at 15:24

answered Dec 06 '16 at 15:18

Juan Andres Ramirez

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Query schtasks using Powershell

6 Answers6