Running Powershell Script from Task Scheduler when User is Logged Off [duplicate] - excel

Question

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Task Scheduler doesn't execute batch file properly
(1 answer)
Closed 6 years ago.
I have a powershell script that I'm intending to run from a remote server. The purpose of the script is to do the following:
Copy an Excel file from a mapped drive to the remote server
Open the Excel file and run a macro that
The macro copies an Access table that's on the remote server and pastes it into the Excel file, then does some manipulation of the data
Saves the Excel file, closes it, and then copies it back to the mapped drive
Right now, I'm testing it on my local machine, so it's copying the Excel file from the mapped drive to my C drive, then grabbing the Access table from a location on my local machine. It runs perfectly when I run it from Powershell. Here is the code:
# collect excel process ids before and after new excel background process is
# started
$priorExcelProcesses = Get-Process -name "*Excel*" | % { $_.Id }
$Excel = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
$postExcelProcesses = Get-Process -name "*Excel*" | % { $_.Id }
#run program
$folderPath = "my folder goes here"
$filePath = "my folder gooes here\filename.xlsm"
$tempPath = "C:\Users\Public"
$tempFile = "C:\Users\Public\filename.xlsm"
#copy file from I drive to remote desktop
Copy-Item -Path $filePath -Destination $tempPath
#create Excel variables
$excel = new-object -comobject excel.application
$excel.visible = $False
$excelFiles = Get-ChildItem -Path $tempPath -Include *.xls, *xlsm -Recurse
#open excel application and run routine
Foreach($file in $excelFiles)
{
$workbook = $excel.workbooks.open($tempFile)
$worksheet = $workbook.worksheets.item(1)
$excel.Run("getAccessData")
$workbook.save()
$workbook.close()
}
#copy file from remote desktop back onto I drive
Copy-Item -Path $tempFile -Destination $folderPath
# try to gently quit
$Excel.Quit()
[System.Runtime.Interopservices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($Excel)
# otherwise allow stop-process to clean up
$postExcelProcesses | ? { $priorExcelProcesses -eq $null -or $priorExcelProcesses -notcontains $_ } | % { Stop-Process -Id $_ }
I need to have the script run once per day in the middle of the night, so I have been working on making it a scheduled task. I first set up the 'Action' with the following information:
Program/Script:
C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
Add arguments (optional):
-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -file "C:\Users\nelsonth\emsUpdateDesktop.ps1"
Now, if I run this task while the security option is set to "Run only when user is logged on" and the "Hidden" checkbox selected, then the task runs perfectly.
Since this is going to be running from a remote desktop in the middle of the night, I need the script to run while I am logged off. But when I selected "Run whether user is logged on or not" and "Run with highest privileges" the script no longer runs.
I need this to work so can anyone help me troubleshoot this?

Answer 1

When run as "Run whether user is logged on or not", your PowerShell Script will most likely have to manually Map the drives or access the file via UNC path.
Try adding something like the following to the top of your script, checking for the drive letter, then mapping it if not found:
if (-Not (Test-Path 'X:\')) {New-PSDrive -Name "X" -PSProvider FileSystem -Root "\\MyServer\MyShare"}