Maintenance Scripts
Get-ScheduledTasks.ps1
Description
@GitHub Copilot - Welcome @BanterBoy, I’m your Copilot and I’m here to help you get things done faster. I can identify issues, explain and even improve code.
You can ask generic questions, but what I’m really good at is helping you with your code. For example:
Generate unit tests for my code Explain the selected code Propose a fix for the bugs in my code If you want to learn more about my capabilities and limitations, check out the Copilot documentation.
I’m powered by AI, so surprises and mistakes are possible. Make sure to verify any generated code or suggestions, and share feedback so that we can learn and improve.
@BanterBoy: - Explain what the script does and why it is useful.
@GitHub Copilot - This PowerShell script is designed to retrieve scheduled tasks from a remote computer. The script starts by defining a function called Get-ScheduledTasks that takes two parameters: $Computer and $State. The $Computer parameter specifies the name of the remote computer to retrieve scheduled tasks from, while the $State parameter specifies the state of the tasks to retrieve (e.g. running, stopped, etc.).
The script then checks if the $Computer parameter is null or empty. If it is, the script will display an error message and exit. If the $Computer parameter is not null or empty, the script will attempt to retrieve the scheduled tasks from the remote computer.
If the $State parameter is null or empty, the script will retrieve all scheduled tasks from the remote computer. If the $State parameter is not null or empty, the script will retrieve only the scheduled tasks that match the specified state.
If the scheduled tasks are successfully retrieved, the script will loop through each task and create a custom object that contains various properties of the task, such as the computer name, task name, run as user, actions, author, date, description, documentation, principal, security descriptor, settings, source, task path, triggers, URI, version, and state. The custom object is then added to an array called $TasksArray.
Finally, the script displays the results in the console by outputting the $TasksArray array. If no tasks are found, the script will display a warning message.
Overall, this script is a useful tool for retrieving scheduled tasks from a remote computer. However, there are some ways to improve the code for readability and performance. For example, the script could benefit from better error handling and logging, as well as more efficient ways to retrieve and process the scheduled tasks. Additionally, the script could be refactored to use more concise and readable syntax, such as using pipeline operators instead of loops and arrays.
@BanterBoy: - Can you provide examples for using the script
@GitHub Copilot - Sure, here are some examples of how you can use this PowerShell script:
- Retrieve all scheduled tasks from a remote computer:
Get-ScheduledTasks -Computer "RemoteComputerName"
- Retrieve only running scheduled tasks from a remote computer:
Get-ScheduledTasks -Computer "RemoteComputerName" -State "Running"
- Retrieve only stopped scheduled tasks from a remote computer:
Get-ScheduledTasks -Computer "RemoteComputerName" -State "Stopped"
- Retrieve scheduled tasks from multiple remote computers:
$Computers = "RemoteComputer1", "RemoteComputer2", "RemoteComputer3"
ForEach ($Computer in $Computers) {
Get-ScheduledTasks -Computer $Computer
}
These are just a few examples of how you can use this script. You can customize the parameters to fit your specific needs, such as filtering by task name or author, or exporting the results to a CSV file.
Script
function Get-ScheduledTasks {
[CmdletBinding()]
# Parameters used in this function
param
(
[Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Default',
Mandatory = $false,
ValueFromPipeline = $true,
ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true,
HelpMessage = 'Enter computer name or pipe input'
)]
[ValidateScript( {
if (Test-Connection -ComputerName $_ -Quiet -Count 1 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue ) {
$true
}
else {
throw "$_ is unavailable"
}
})]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[Alias('cn')]
[string[]]$ComputerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME,
[Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Default',
Mandatory = $false,
ValueFromPipeline = $true,
ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true,
HelpMessage = "Select task state (Ready, Disabled, Running)")]
[ValidateSet("Ready", "Disabled", "Running")]
[string]$State = $null
)
# Error action set to Stop
$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
# Checking module
Try {
Import-Module ScheduledTasks
}
Catch {
$_.Exception.Message
Write-Warning "Scheduled Tasks module not installed"
Break
}
# Looping each server
ForEach ($Computer in $ComputerName) {
Write-Output "Processing $Computer"
# Testing connection
If (!(Test-Connection -ComputerName $Computer -BufferSize 16 -Count 1 -ErrorAction 0 -Quiet)) {
Write-Warning "Failed to connect to $Computer"
}
Else {
$TasksArray = @()
Try {
$Tasks = Get-ScheduledTask -CimSession $Computer | Where-Object { $_.State -match "$State" }
}
Catch {
$_.Exception.Message
Continue
}
If ($Tasks) {
# Loop through the servers
$Tasks | ForEach-Object {
# Define current loop to variable
$Task = $_
# Creating a custom object
$Object = New-Object PSObject -Property @{
Computer = $Task.PSComputerName
TaskName = $Task.TaskName
RunAsUser = $Task.Principals.Principal.UserId
Actions = $Task.Actions
Author = $Task.Author
Date = $Task.Date
Description = $Task.Description
Documentation = $Task.Documentation
Principal = $Task.Principal
SecurityDescriptor = $Task.SecurityDescriptor
Settings = $Task.Settings
Source = $Task.Source
TaskPath = $Task.TaskPath
Triggers = $Task.Triggers
URI = $Task.URI
Version = $Task.Version
State = $Task.State
}
# Add custom object to our array
$TasksArray += $Object
}
# Display results in console
$TasksArray
}
Else {
Write-Warning "Tasks not found"
}
}
}
}
Download
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