at |
(commands or programs) to run on a computer at a specified
time/date and manages scheduled tasks.
|
Syntax
at [\\computername] [ [id] [/delete] | [/yes] ]
at [\\computername] time [/interactive] [/every:date[,...] |
/next:date[,...] ] command
Options
- None
Displays scheduled jobs.- \\computername
Specifies the name of the remote computer on which the job is run.
(If omitted, the job executes on the local computer.)- id
Is the identification number assigned to the scheduled job.- /delete
Removes a job from the list of scheduled jobs. (If
id is omitted, all scheduled jobs on the
specified computer are canceled.)- /yes
Executes the scheduled job without prompting for confirmation.- time
Specifies when the command is to run (syntax is
hours:minutes in 24-hour notation).- /interactive
Lets the scheduled job interact with the desktop of the user logged
on when the job runs.- /every:date[,...]
Runs the job on specified day(s) of the week or month. Use
M,T,W,Th,F,S,Su for days or the numbers
1 through 31 for dates, and
separate them with commas. (If omitted, the current date is used.)- /next:date[,...]
Runs the job on the next occurrence of the specified day or date.- command
Is the command, program (.exe or
.com file), or batch file
(.bat or .cmd file)
scheduled to run. Enclose the command in quotes if it includes
spaces. If a path is required, use an absolute path for commands run
on the local machine and a UNC path
(\\server\share ) for remote computers.
(Don't use mapped drive letters because these may
depend on the user who is logged on.)
Examples
Display all scheduled jobs on server Bob :
at \\Bob
Typical output might be:
Status ID Day Time Command Line
---------------------------------------------------
1 Each M W F 2:00AM \\Bob /yes c15.bat
Display information about job 12 on Bob :
at \\Bob 12
Delete job 4 on the local server:
at 4 /delete
To execute a command that isn't a simple executable,
precede it with cmd /c because
the at command doesn't
automatically load the command interpreter
(cmd.exe ) prior to executing commands. For
example, to synchronize the clock of the current server with
Bob daily at 3 a.m.:
at 03:00 /every:M,T,W,Th,F,S,Su "cmd net time \\Bob /set /yes"
Notes
- For a GUI command scheduler, see Tasks in Chapter 4. For a more powerful command-line task
scheduler, see schtasks later in this chapter. - Note that jobs scheduled with at are displayed in
the Scheduled Tasks folder, but if you then
modify the parameters of the job using Scheduled Tasks, you can no
longer access it from the command line using at. - You need to be a member of the local Administrators group to use this
command. - The Task Scheduler service must be running to use this command. Use
the Services console to start this service if necessary. (By default,
this service is set to start automatically when the system is
booted.) - Scheduled jobs are stored in the registry and aren't
lost if you restart the Scheduled Tasks service. - The current directory for executing a scheduled command is
%SystemRoot% . - Scheduled jobs run as background processes, and no output is
displayed on the screen. You can redirect screen output to a file
instead by using the redirection symbol (>). - If you change the system time on a computer after scheduling a job to
run on it, be sure to synchronize the command scheduler with the new
time by typing at without options. - If a scheduled job uses a mapped drive letter to connect to a network
share, be sure to schedule a second job that disconnects the drive
when you are finished using it; otherwise, the drive letter will not
be available from the command prompt.
See Also
schtasks, Tasks