Updating task scheduler entries to modify task arguments

Question

I am attempting to iterate over many task scheduler entries to modify the task arguments. We have many servers running simultaneously launched scripts, all need to be reachable on the console if a process needs attention.

Ideal is to launch minimized with start /min or powershell -window minimized

I am testing against one sample task. My code so far looks like

$PREFIX = "-window minimized"
$taskPath = "\somepath\"
Get-ScheduledTask -CimSession "servername" -TaskPath $taskPath -TaskName "mytask" | ForEach-Object {

  $actions = $_.Actions
  $actions New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "powershell" -Argument "${PREFIX} ${actions}"
  Set-ScheduledTask -CimSession "servername" -TaskPath $taskPath -TaskName $_.TaskName -Action $actions
}

This works excepting I cannot get to the old command arguments. Always I get as new arguments with my prefix and then 'MSFT_TaskExecAction' following. This fails against a multi-step task resulting in only one bad step afterwards (and MSFT_TaskExecAction). Thanks all.

Mathias R. Jessen · Accepted Answer · 2024-11-18 18:02:24Z

2

The Actions property contains a list of action instances - not just their arguments - for that you'll want the Arguments property on one of the contained actions:

$actions = $_.Actions |ForEach-Object {
  if ($_.Execute -match 'powershell') {
    # a powershell task, let's create a new one with the prefix
    $newTaskActionArgs = @{ Execute = 'powershell'; Arguments = "${PREFIX} $($_.Arguments)" }
    if ($_.WorkingDirectory) { 
      # make sure to copy the initial working directory if set too
      $newTaskActionArgs['WorkingDirectory'] = $_.WorkingDirectory
    }
    New-ScheduledTaskAction @newTaskActionArgs
  }
  else {
    # leave action as-is
    $_
  }
}

Set-ScheduledTask ... -Action $actions

answered Nov 18, 2024 at 18:02

Mathias R. Jessen

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