Windows Task Scheduler doesn't start batch file task

Question

I have a batch file with the code below to stop and start the SQL Report service:

net stop "SQL Server Reporting Services (MSSQLSERVER)"   timeout /t 10  net start "SQL Server Reporting Services (MSSQLSERVER)" 

I have set up the scheduled task to run daily, it currently runs as SYSTEM with the highest privileges set. I have set up the start in folder option on the action, and everything generally seems to be set up correctly. But when I run the task nothing seems to happen, it says the task has run but I cant see that the service has been restarted as it is meant to.

Can someone direct me to what I am missing? Thanks

Answer 1

Make sure you set the 'Start in' and 'Program/script' options correctly. If your file address is: C:\Temp\foo.bat, set the 'start in' option to 'C:\Temp' and the 'Program/script' option to 'foo.bat'.

To set the 'Start in' option: Right click task in the task scheduler > Properties > Actions > Edit.

If this alone doesn't work then try moving the .bat file to a directory with basic permissions (maybe a shared directory for example).

I had a problem where my .bat file was located in a folder with some restrictive permissions on it, so that only my user account could access it. Even though I had set up the task scheduler to use my credentials it still failed. Moving the .bat file to another directory sorted the issue.