Windows Task Scheduler shows, Task completed successfully, but nothing happened

Question

Windows Task Scheduler shows, Task completed successfully, but nothing happened

Dey, Avijit 6

I'm running a simple one liner powershell script (refer below) which works fine. But when I try to execute it using Task Scheduler ( both manual/scheduled) on Windows 2k12 R2 server the task shows as completed successfully but actually nothing happens.

The Script : - "Remove-Item -Path "C:\TESTFOLDER" -Include *.txt -Recurse"

What things I already checked -

The task is being run using an Admin account of server.
Checked box to Run with highest privilege.
Check box for " Run weather th euser is logged on or not"
When I run the script in powershell it works fine.
Under "Program/Script:" I tried putting just "powershell.exe" instead of entire path to powershell.exe.
Added'-File' parameter before path under Argument.
There is no space in script File name
No Firewall / AV stuff is blocking anything

I searched a lot over internet but don't find any proper answer anywhere. It's becoming highly frustrating.

Can anyone suggest what might be wrong ?

Karen Payne MVP 35,586 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2022-07-20T23:25:12.69+00:00

Have you checked Window's event logs?
Rafael da Rocha 5,251 Reputation points

2022-07-20T23:46:18.193+00:00

what's the exit code in task scheduler?

Have you checked execution policy?
What does the run command looks like in the task?
Dey, Avijit 6 Reputation points

2022-07-21T23:58:57.47+00:00

Any Specific Events you are referring to ?

7 answers

Your answer

Karen Payne MVP 35,586 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2022-07-20T23:25:12.69+00:00

Have you checked Window's event logs?
Rafael da Rocha 5,251 Reputation points

2022-07-20T23:46:18.193+00:00

what's the exit code in task scheduler?

Have you checked execution policy?
What does the run command looks like in the task?
Dey, Avijit 6 Reputation points

2022-07-21T23:58:57.47+00:00

Any Specific Events you are referring to ?

Answer 1

MotoX80 36,401

Add a transcript to the script to see if it is encountering an error.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.host/start-transcript?view=powershell-5.1

Dey, Avijit 6 Reputation points

2022-07-21T08:41:33.42+00:00

Thanks for response. Tried that no errors in the script.

Just FYI, I have numerous other scheduled tasks running on the same system using different powershell scripts & different accounts all are running fine.

The user account I'm using is admin on the system.
MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points

2022-07-21T11:29:05.007+00:00
Add diagnostic displays to verify that there are txt files in the folder. Or don't just look at txt files, get a directory list and verify that your script can see all of the files.

Start-transcript -path c:\temp\MyScript.log Get-ChildItem -Path c:\temp -Filter *.txt -recurse stop-transcript

Answer 2

Limitless Technology 39,931

Hello

Thank you for your question and reaching out. I can understand you are having issues related to Task scheduler

Please Add the Start-Transcript and Stop-Transcript commands to your script and see if it encounters an error.
To schedule the PowerShell script, specify the following parameters:

Action: Start a program
Program\script: powershell
Add arguments (optional): -File [Specify the file path to the script here]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--If the reply is helpful, please Upvote and Accept as answer--

Dey, Avijit 6 Reputation points

2022-07-21T08:39:00.5+00:00

Thanks for the response. I added start-trascript & stop-transcript steps as suggested & when I run the script directly from powershell ISE/ CLI it runs successfully & I do get the transcript logs in the output file without any errors.

However when I run the same updated script through Task Scheduler, the task shows completed successfully as it happened earlier but no transcript logs appear in the output path & as earlier no action happens.

Attaching the Task screenshot for your reference.

Below is the transcript output when run through PS cli -

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Windows PowerShell transcript start
Start time: 20220721033400
Username: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
RunAs User: TTI\a_adey
Machine: TXVADMP04 (Microsoft Windows NT 6.3.9600.0)
Host Application: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
Process ID: 13084
PSVersion: 5.1.14409.1027
PSEdition: Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1.14409.1027
BuildVersion: 10.0.14409.1027
CLRVersion: 4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion: 3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion: 2.3
SerializationVersion: 1.1.0.1

Transcript started, output file is C:\ScheduleFileDeletionLogs.txt

Windows PowerShell transcript end
End time: 20220721033400

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Answer 3

Rafael da Rocha 5,251

From what is visible in the screenshot, it would seem that the task isn't created correctly.

In Program/Script you can reference powershell.exe directly, no need for the full path. This is just a suggestion for ease of use.

In arguments, you must add the -File parameter before the path to the script.

Dey, Avijit 6 Reputation points

2022-07-21T23:49:41.057+00:00

I did tried putting only 'powershell.exe' under "Program/Script" but that didn't helped.

Now I tried putting '-File' parameter before path to script & run ... getting same result. The Task runs successfully with no actual action. Attaching screenshot for your ref.

And yes there is no space in the file name.

Answer 4

Rich Matheisen 47,901

This works:

Answer 5

MotoX80 36,401

If you have a space in the folder name, then you need to put quotes around the file name.

Dey, Avijit 6 Reputation points

2022-07-21T23:50:57.233+00:00

no space anywhere .. already checked

Thanks for your time.

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Windows Task Scheduler shows, Task completed successfully, but nothing happened

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