Smarts NCM: How to schedule backup.pl using Windows Task Scheduler to run as a scheduled task

Products

• VMware Smart Assurance

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:


By default, the Smarts NCM backup.pl script prompts the user with the following, which requires user interaction before the script will proceed:
 

"Would you like to back up your current data [y/n]"
 

This article explains how to schedule Smarts NCM backup.pl to run as a scheduled task using Windows Task Scheduler, so that it will run without requiring user interaction.

Environment

VMware Smart Assurance - NCM

Resolution

To configure the Smarts NCM backup.pl script to run as a scheduled task using Windows Task Scheduler, do the following:

1. In the Actions section on the right side of the Windows Task Scheduler tool, click Create Task to launch the Create Task dialog.

 

2. In the General tab of the Create Task dialog shown below, give the task a Name and Description and select the Security options. To ensure that the task runs when no one is logged in, select the "Run whether user is logged on or not" radio button. Also, select the "Run with highest privileges box" to ensure that the task runs. 

 

3. Select the Triggers tab and click the New... button to launch the New Trigger dialog as shown below. Set up the schedule according to your requirements.

 

4. Select the Actions tab and click on the New... button to launch the New Action dialog shown below. In the Action field, ensure that "Start a program" is selected. In the Program/script field of the Settings section, provide the path to the backup.pl script. In the Add arguments field, add the argument of -f.

 

5. Click OK buttons as required to complete the setup of the task.