Run a .vbs Script as a Scheduled task on Windows Server 2008 R2

Hi,

create a batch file and mention the following lines
c:\windows\System32\cmd.exe /c cscript "D:\temp\test.vbs"

save the file as fileName.bat and now in schedule task specify the batch file instead of vbs file.

Try and see if that helps you.

Regards,
Navdeep [v-2nas]

You won't need the cmd /c.  You can just use
cscript "D:\temp\test.vbs"

Make sure that for testing you schedule the task to run as the same user account as you are logged in with.

See if that helps.  Also, make the test script output some text to a file, like
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objFile = objFSO.CreateTextFile("C:\Test.txt", True)
objFile.WriteLine Now
objFile.Close

and then see if the file exists.  It may just be that the script is not running interactively.

Regards,

Rob.

OK
The text file is created successfuly.
How do I code it to
1. Open Excel if it is not running
2. Run a Macro in a specific workbook

Something like this should work

strExcelFile = Replace(WScript.ScriptFullName, WScript.ScriptName, "") & "Test.xls"
Set objExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
Set objWB1 = objExcel.Workbooks.Open(strExcelFile, False, False)
objExcel.Visible = True
objWB1.Application.Run "Macro1"
objWB1.Close True
objExcel.Quit

Select allOpen in new window

Regards,

Rob.

in server 2008;

there are two issues;

1) the run as adminsitrator command, if the uac has been enabled[by default]; this causes a lof grief when it doesn't run scripts thats requires elevation to be able to perform certian tasks. minor tasks/scripts runs okay.

secondly the task schedulre amy not run scripts/tasks, when the

Deny log on as a batch job


This policy setting determines which accounts are prevented from logging on by using a batch-queue tool, the feature in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 that is used to schedule and start jobs automatically one or more times in the future. The ability to log on by using a batch-queue tool is needed for any accounts that are used to start scheduled jobs by means of the Task Scheduler.

Possible values:
 User-defined list of accounts
 Not Defined

therefore the configured account [in the task scheduler] must have log on as a batch job
rights on that server [either through a local gpo] or a domain gpo.

Does using the batch file helped?

The .xlsm, .vbs and .bat files were on a network location - I have shifted them to C:\ExoPrograms\ with not improvement.

My bat script is
@echo off
 echo %date% %time% %username% >> c:\temp\test.txt
 cscript //nologo "c:\ExoPrograms\TFSWebUpdater.vbs" 1>>c:\temp\test.txt 2>>&1
 echo %date% %time% >> c:\temp\test.txt

My .vbs Script
 on error resume next
 
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objFile = objFSO.CreateTextFile("C:\temp\Testrun.txt", True)
objFile.WriteLine Now
objFile.Close

strExcelFile = Replace(WScript.ScriptFullName, WScript.ScriptName, "") & "WebUpdater.xlsm"
Set objExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
Set objWB1 = objExcel.Workbooks.Open(strExcelFile, False, False)
objExcel.Visible = True
objWB1.Application.Run "Update_web"
objWB1.Close True
objExcel.Quit

Same Problem - It works fine from a short cut but Refuses to run from the scheduler.
Note both the test.txt and the testrun.txt are generated when the task is run from the sceduler but Excel does not open and run the macro.

The Task is set to run under my profile.
If I am logged in and try to run it from the task sceduler then Excel refuses to open or run.

What do you mean by making it run interactively?

OK

When I select the Run only when user is logged Then the task runs fine.
Does this mean I need to stay logged into the Server for it to work?

Any way arround this?

As far as I know there is no way around this.  An application like Excel must run in an interactive session.  It may work while the server is "locked", if that helps.  Try scheduling the task, then locking the server, and see if it runs.

If your macro doesn't do anything particularly special, you can write to Excel files without using the Excel COM objects, as shown here with Powershell:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2008/09/15/how-can-i-write-to-excel-without-using-excel.aspx

But if you use formulas in the spreadsheet, these won't be evaluated.

Other than that, I don't think you've got any other option.

Regards,

Rob.

Is there anyway to set the Sceduler or the VB Script to logon it the user is not logged on?

No, you can't have a script automate a user logon.  You *could* configure the server to automatically log on when it boots up, but that's up to you.

Rob.