Specifying "start-in" directory in schtasks command in windows

Question

I realize that this question is "answered" at the following thread: Specifying the running directory for Scheduled Tasks using schtasks.exe

However, I'm still having trouble understanding the answer and seeing exactly what the result would look like for my situation.

My schtasks command looks like this:

Schtasks /Create /TR "C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\javaw.exe main.MoveFile input.txt" /SC WEEKLY /TN mytask

I want to specify the start in directory of "C:\My Library". Putting a "\" before the tr section fills in a start-in directory of "C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin".

I've messed around with it a lot, but I just can't seem to make it work.

Answer 1

UPDATE: Note that starting from Powershell v3 (but only under Windows 2012 and higher!) there's new API which I find much more attractive:

$taskPath = "\MyTasksFolder\" $name = 'MyTask' $runAt = '5:00 AM' $exe = 'my.exe' $params = 'command line arguments' $location = "C:\Path\To\MyTask"  Unregister-ScheduledTask -TaskName $name -TaskPath $taskPath -Confirm:$false -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue    $action = New-ScheduledTaskAction –Execute "$location\$exe" -Argument "$params" -WorkingDirectory $location $trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Daily -At $runAt Register-ScheduledTask –TaskName $name -TaskPath $taskPath -Action $action –Trigger $trigger –User 'someuser' -Password 'somepassword' | Out-Null 

---

Amal's solution with /v1 switch is great but doesn't allow to create tasks in custom folders (ie you can't create "MyCompany\MyTask" and everything ends up in the root folder), so I finally ended up with a PowerShell script described below.

Usage:

CreateScheduledTask -computer:"hostname-or-ip" `                     -taskName:"MyFolder\MyTask" `                     -command:"foo.exe" `                     -arguments:"/some:args /here" `                     -workingFolder:"C:\path\to\the\folder" `                     -startTime:"21:00" `                     -enable:"false" `                     -runAs:"DOMAIN\user" `                     -runAsPassword:"p@$$w0rd" 

(Note, enable must be lowercase - for a boolean you'd need $value.ToString().ToLower())

Implementation:

The function uses XML task definition and "Schedule.Service" COM object.

##################################################### # #  Creates a Windows scheduled task triggered DAILY. #  Assumes TODAY start date, puts "run-as" user as task author. # ##################################################### function CreateScheduledTask($computer, $taskName, $command, $arguments, $workingFolder, $startTime, $enable, $runAs, $runAsPassword) {         $xmlTemplate = "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-16'?>         <Task version='1.2' xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/2004/02/mit/task'>           <RegistrationInfo>             <Date>{0}</Date>             <Author>{1}</Author>           </RegistrationInfo>           <Triggers>             <CalendarTrigger>               <StartBoundary>{2}</StartBoundary>               <Enabled>true</Enabled>               <ScheduleByDay>                 <DaysInterval>1</DaysInterval>               </ScheduleByDay>             </CalendarTrigger>           </Triggers>           <Principals>             <Principal id='Author'>               <UserId>{1}</UserId>               <LogonType>Password</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>{3}</Enabled>             <Hidden>false</Hidden>             <RunOnlyIfIdle>false</RunOnlyIfIdle>             <WakeToRun>false</WakeToRun>             <ExecutionTimeLimit>P3D</ExecutionTimeLimit>             <Priority>7</Priority>           </Settings>           <Actions Context='Author'>             <Exec>               <Command>{4}</Command>               <Arguments>{5}</Arguments>               <WorkingDirectory>{6}</WorkingDirectory>             </Exec>           </Actions>         </Task>"     $registrationDateTime = [DateTime]::Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd") + "T" + [DateTime]::Now.ToString("HH:mm:ss")     $startDateTime = [DateTime]::Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd") + "T" + $startTime + ":00"     $xml = $xmlTemplate -f $registrationDateTime, $runAs, $startDateTime, $enable, $command, $arguments, $workingFolder      $sch = new-object -ComObject("Schedule.Service")     $sch.Connect($computer)     $task = $sch.NewTask($null)     $task.XmlText = $xml      $createOrUpdateFlag = 6     $sch.GetFolder("\").RegisterTaskDefinition($taskName, $task, $createOrUpdateFlag, $runAs, $runAsPassword, $null, $null) | out-null  } 

Answer 2

If all else fails, you can redirect to a batch file that sets it's own CD, then calls your program.
for example:

Schtasks /Create /TR "C:\example\batch.bat" /SC WEEKLY /TN mytask 

As the schtask, and

cd "%temp%\" "C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\javaw.exe main.MoveFile input.txt" 

as "C:\example\batch.bat". That should keep the current directory as whatever you change it to in the batch file and keep all references relative to that.