PowerShell Task Schedule running multiple times

Question

I have the following Powershell script that is set to run once every 3 hours in a Task Schedule. It just scans a folder ($startFolder) and if there are more than 200 files ($MaxFiles), it should send an alert email.

$startFolder = "E:\Data\"
$linkInFolder = "file://10.1.44.244/Myfolder/"
[string[]]$EmailTo = "EMail Group 1 <******@blah.com>", "
EMail Group 2 <******@blah.com>"
$EmailFrom = "Email Server <******@blah.com>"
$EmailServer = "SMTPsrv"
$Subject = "File Threshold Limit Reached"
$MaxFiles = 200

$totalFiles = (Get-ChildItem $startFolder -File | Measure-Object).Count
$totalFilesStr = '{0:N0}' -f $totalFiles 

if ($totalFiles -gt $MaxFiles)
{
    Write-Host 'Total Files: ' $totalFilesStr  
    $Body = 'There are <b>' + $totalFilesStr + '</b> files inside the <b><a href='''+ $linkInFolder +'''>IN</a></b> folder.<br/> <br/> Please verify!'
    
     try {
        Send-MailMessage -From $EmailFrom -To  $EmailTo -Subject $Subject -Body $Body -SmtpServer $EmailServer -Port 25 -BodyAsHtml
        "Email has been submitted to server!"
    }
    catch [System.Exception] {
        "Failed to send email: " -f  $_.Exception.Message
    }
    
    
}

I created a Task schedule to run this PS every 3 hours. The following is the Export of the Task Schedule.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<Task version="1.4" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/2004/02/mit/task">
  <RegistrationInfo>
    <Date>2020-10-26T15:27:55.1413442</Date>
    <Author>AME</Author>
    <URI>\CheckFiles</URI>
  </RegistrationInfo>
  <Triggers>
    <CalendarTrigger>
      <Repetition>
        <Interval>PT3H</Interval>
        <StopAtDurationEnd>false</StopAtDurationEnd>
      </Repetition>
      <StartBoundary>2022-09-06T15:23:52</StartBoundary>
      <ExecutionTimeLimit>PT30M</ExecutionTimeLimit>
      <Enabled>true</Enabled>
      <ScheduleByDay>
        <DaysInterval>1</DaysInterval>
      </ScheduleByDay>
    </CalendarTrigger>
  </Triggers>
  <Principals>
    <Principal id="Author">
      <UserId>S-1-5-18</UserId>
      <RunLevel>HighestAvailable</RunLevel>
    </Principal>
  </Principals>
  <Settings>
    <MultipleInstancesPolicy>StopExisting</MultipleInstancesPolicy>
    <DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>false</DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>
    <StopIfGoingOnBatteries>true</StopIfGoingOnBatteries>
    <AllowHardTerminate>true</AllowHardTerminate>
    <StartWhenAvailable>true</StartWhenAvailable>
    <RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>false</RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>
    <IdleSettings>
      <StopOnIdleEnd>true</StopOnIdleEnd>
      <RestartOnIdle>false</RestartOnIdle>
    </IdleSettings>
    <AllowStartOnDemand>true</AllowStartOnDemand>
    <Enabled>true</Enabled>
    <Hidden>false</Hidden>
    <RunOnlyIfIdle>false</RunOnlyIfIdle>
    <DisallowStartOnRemoteAppSession>false</DisallowStartOnRemoteAppSession>
    <UseUnifiedSchedulingEngine>true</UseUnifiedSchedulingEngine>
    <WakeToRun>false</WakeToRun>
    <ExecutionTimeLimit>PT1H</ExecutionTimeLimit>
    <Priority>7</Priority>
  </Settings>
  <Actions Context="Author">
    <Exec>
      <Command>powershell</Command>
      <Arguments>-File E:\CheckFileSize.ps1</Arguments>
    </Exec>
  </Actions>
</Task>

The problem I am having is that when it detects more than 200 files it triggers, but sends sometimes like 13 emails at once. If I run the PowerShell manually it runs once. Also, if I manually run the task schedule it runs once. Not sure what is wrong here.

Answer 1

Try setting the repeat to stop after one day.

Answer 2

Try using this version of your script. It will record a transcript activity. If the same execution of the script sends 13 unique messages the contents of the transcript will show that.

Start-Transcript -Path PATH-TO-TRANSCRIPT-FILE.txt -Append
$startFolder = "E:\Data\"
$MaxFiles = 200

$totalFiles = (Get-ChildItem $startFolder -File | Measure-Object).Count
$totalFilesStr = '{0:N0}' -f $totalFiles 

Write-Host 'Total Files: ' $totalFilesStr
if ($totalFiles -gt $MaxFiles) {
    $props = @{
        From    = "Email Server <******@blah.com>"
        To      = "EMail Group 1 <******@blah.com>", "EMail Group 2 <******@blah.com>"
        Subject = "File Threshold Limit Reached"
        Body    = "There are <b>$totalFilesStr</b> files inside the <b><a href='$linkInFolder'>IN</a></b> folder.<br/><br/>Please verify!"
        BodyAsHtml = $true
        SmtpServer = "SMTPsrv"
        Port = 25
    }
    
    try {
        Write-Host "Sending email"
        Send-MailMessage @props
        Write-Host "Email has been submitted to server!"
    }
    catch {
        Write-Host "Failed to send email: {0}" -f $_.Exception.Message
    }
    Write-Host "End of sending email"
}
else{
    Write-Host "Not enough files present to send email"
}
Write-Host "End of script"
Stop-Transcript