Scheduled scripts with Task Scheduler in PowerShell - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Scheduled scripts with Task Scheduler

📖 Scenario: You work in an office where you need to run a PowerShell script every day to check disk space and save the report. Instead of running it manually, you want to automate this using Windows Task Scheduler.

🎯 Goal: Build a PowerShell script that checks disk space on drive C: and saves the output to a file. Then, prepare a Task Scheduler command to run this script daily.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a PowerShell script variable with disk space check command

Add a variable for the output file path

Write the command to save disk space info to the file

Show the Task Scheduler command to schedule the script daily

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Automating routine system checks saves time and avoids manual errors. Scheduled scripts help keep systems healthy without daily manual work.

💼 Career

System administrators and IT support staff often use Task Scheduler and PowerShell scripts to automate maintenance tasks.

1

Create disk space check command

Create a variable called diskCheck that stores the PowerShell command Get-PSDrive -Name C to check disk space on drive C.

PowerShell

# Create a variable called diskCheck with the command to check disk space on drive C
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use double quotes to store the command as a string in the variable diskCheck.

2

Add output file path variable

Create a variable called outputFile and set it to the string "C:\\Reports\\DiskSpaceReport.txt" which will store the disk space report.

PowerShell

$diskCheck = "Get-PSDrive -Name C"
# Create a variable called outputFile with the path C:\Reports\DiskSpaceReport.txt
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Remember to escape backslashes in the file path by doubling them.

3

Write disk space info to file

Use the Invoke-Expression cmdlet with diskCheck and pipe the output to Out-File using the outputFile variable to save the disk space info to the file.

PowerShell

$diskCheck = "Get-PSDrive -Name C"
$outputFile = "C:\Reports\DiskSpaceReport.txt"
# Run the diskCheck command and save output to outputFile
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use Invoke-Expression $diskCheck to run the command stored in the variable, then pipe it to Out-File with the path from outputFile.

4

Show Task Scheduler command

Write a PowerShell Write-Output statement that prints the exact command to create a daily scheduled task named DiskSpaceCheck running the script C:\\Scripts\\DiskSpaceCheck.ps1 at 9 AM every day using schtasks.exe.

PowerShell

$diskCheck = "Get-PSDrive -Name C"
$outputFile = "C:\Reports\DiskSpaceReport.txt"
Invoke-Expression $diskCheck | Out-File -FilePath $outputFile
# Print the Task Scheduler command to schedule the script daily at 9 AM
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use Write-Output to print the full schtasks command with the correct options for daily scheduling at 9 AM.