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Manage or Create a Task on a Remote Computer

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista

You can create or manage tasks on a remote computer by using the Task Scheduler user interface to connect to a remote computer. You must supply the name or IP address of the computer you want to connect to. You can connect to remote computers running Windows Server® 2008, Windows Vista®, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000, and then, when connected, create or manage tasks on the remote computer in the same way you would create or manage tasks on the local computer. The user credentials that you use to connect to the remote computer must be a member of the Administrators group on the remote computer.

If you are connecting to a remote computer running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 from a computer running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, you need to enable the Remote Scheduled Tasks Management firewall exception on the remote computer. To allow this exception click Start, Control Panel, Security, Allow a program through Windows Firewall, and then select the Remote Scheduled Tasks Management check box. Then click the Ok button in the Windows Firewall Settings dialog box.

If you are connecting to a remote computer running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 from a computer running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, you need to allow the File and Printer Sharing firewall exception on the remote computer. To allow this exception click Start, Control Panel, double-click Windows Firewall, select the Exceptions tab, and then select the File and Printer Sharing firewall exception. Then click the Ok button in the Windows Firewall dialog box.

Managing or Creating a Task on a Remote Computer

  • Using the Windows interface

  • Using a command line

To create or manage a task on a remote computer by using the Windows interface

  1. If Task Scheduler is not open, start Task Scheduler. For more information, see Start Task Scheduler.

  2. Ensure that the Task Scheduler node is selected in the console tree. In the Actions pane, click Connect to Another Computer. The Select Computer dialog box will appear.

  3. In the Select Computer dialog box, click the Another Computer radio button.

  4. Enter the name or IP address of the remote computer in the text box next to the Another Computer radio button or click the Browse button to browse for a remote computer.

  5. (Optional) You can connect to the remote computer using different credentials than the credentials for the current user. Click on the Connect as another user check box and then click the Set User button. Enter the user name and password of the user credentials that you want to use.

  6. When a remote computer is specified, click the OK button on the Select Computer dialog box.

  7. You are now connected to the remote computer. You can create or manage tasks (run, end, enable, disable, create, delete, view, import, and export tasks) on the remote computer using the same procedures that you would use if Task Scheduler were connected to the local computer. For more information about how to create or manage a task, see Task Scheduler How To....

To create or manage a task on a remote computer by using the command line

  1. Open a command prompt. To open a command prompt, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.

  2. Use the Schtasks.exe tool to manage or create a task, and specify the name or IP address of the remote computer you want to connect to in the /Ssystem argument, the user name used to connect to the remote computer in the /Uusername argument, and the password for the username in the /Ppassword argument. For help using Schtasks.exe, type one of the following commands:

    • schtasks /Create /?

    • schtasks /Run /?

    • schtasks /End /?

    • schtasks /Delete /?

    • schtasks /Change /?

Additional references

Task Scheduler How To...

Manage Tasks

Command-line syntax notation