Powershell v4. Create remote task scheduler task set to expire and delete

This error is caused by a bug introduced in the Task Scheduler back in Vista. Read more here "The task XML is missing a required element or attribute" error when you use the /z switch together with the Schtasks command in Windows Vista

The work around is to create a task compatible with pre-Windows Vista platforms, if you want to use the -DeleteExpiredTaskAfter parameter.

This is

-Compatibility V1

Or in your code

$settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet -Compatibility V1 -DeleteExpiredTaskAfter 00:00:01 -AllowStartIfOnBatteries -DontStopIfGoingOnBatteries -ExecutionTimeLimit 01:00:00 -RestartCount 3

There are other things to look out for when setting a scheduled task to expire.

Valid values.

There is only a limited number of values that are valid a parameter "-DeleteExpiredTaskAfter". These are Imediately (PT0S), 30 days (P30D), 90 days (P90D), 180 days (P180D) and 365 days (P365D).

Other Prerequisites

Before a task can be set to expire there has to be a trigger with an expiration time (EndBoundary) set.

This is where I'm stuck at the moment, because new PS4.0 cmdlets don't seem to cater for this.

In the meantime here is an "old school" way of setting up a scheduled task directly via Scheduler Service COM interface.

$server = "...."
$domain = $server
$user = "...."
$password = "...."

$ExecuteTime = (Get-Date).AddDays(1)
$ExpireTime = $ExecuteTime.AddMinutes(1)

$taskname = "Reboot $server"
$taskpath  = "PendingReboots"
$taskdesc = "Server Reboot"

$ShedService = new-object -comobject "Schedule.Service"
$ShedService.Connect($server, $user, $domain, $password)

$Task = $ShedService.NewTask(0)
$Task.RegistrationInfo.Description = "$taskdesc"
$Task.Settings.Enabled = $true
$Task.Settings.AllowDemandStart = $true
$Task.Settings.DeleteExpiredTaskAfter = "PT0S"
$Task.Settings.ExecutionTimeLimit = "PT1H"
$Task.Settings.StopIfGoingOnBatteries = $false
$Task.Settings.RestartCount = 3

$trigger = $task.triggers.Create(1) # Creates a "One time" trigger
#    TASK_TRIGGER_EVENT     0
#    TASK_TRIGGER_TIME      1
#    TASK_TRIGGER_DAILY     2
#    TASK_TRIGGER_WEEKLY    3
#    TASK_TRIGGER_MONTHLY   4
#    TASK_TRIGGER_MONTHLYDOW    5
#    TASK_TRIGGER_IDLE      6
#    TASK_TRIGGER_REGISTRATION  7
#    TASK_TRIGGER_BOOT      8
#    TASK_TRIGGER_LOGON     9
#    TASK_TRIGGER_SESSION_STATE_CHANGE  11

$trigger.StartBoundary = $ExecuteTime.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss")
$trigger.EndBoundary = $ExpireTime.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss")
$trigger.Enabled = $true

$Action = $Task.Actions.Create(0)
$action.Path = "shutdown.exe"
$action.Arguments = " -r -f -t 0"

Try {$taskFolder = $ShedService.GetFolder("\$taskpath")}
catch {$taskFolder = $ShedService.GetFolder("\").CreateFolder("$taskpath")}

$result = $taskFolder.RegisterTaskDefinition("$TaskName",$Task,6,"System",$null,5)

This will create the task and then update it with the expires and delete values allowing the EndBoundary value to be set. The below example sets both the expiration and deletion to 30 days from value of $run.

Make sure to set the run time to at least one min in the future to allow the task to be update before it runs.

$run = (Get-Date).AddMinutes(1);
$action = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute 'Powershell.exe' -Argument 'C:\temp\install-<whateveryouneed>.ps1' -WorkingDirectory 'C:\temp'
$trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Once -At $run

$settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet -Compatibility Win8
Register-ScheduledTask -Action $action -Trigger $trigger -TaskName "Install 
from scheduled task" -Description "Installs stuff from a scheduled task as system" -User "system" -Settings $settings

$task = (Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Install 
from scheduled task")
$task.Triggers[0].EndBoundary = $run.AddDays(30).ToString('s')
$task.Settings.DeleteExpiredTaskAfter = "P30D"
Set-ScheduledTask -InputObject $task

$Action = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute powershell.exe -Argument "-WindowStyle Hidden -Command Get-Date"
$Trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -AtLogon
$Settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet -Compatibility Win8
$Principal = New-ScheduledTaskPrincipal -UserId $env:USERNAME -RunLevel Highest
$Parameters = @{
    "TaskName"    = "test"
    "Principal"   = $Principal
    "Action"      = $Action
    "Settings"    = $Settings
    "Trigger"     = $Trigger
}
Register-ScheduledTask @Parameters -Force

# In order to use DeleteExpiredTaskAfter, you need to set an StartBoundary & EndBoundary date/time to the trigger
$TargetTask = Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "test"
$TargetTask.Triggers[0].StartBoundary = [DateTime]::Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss")
$TargetTask.Triggers[0].EndBoundary = [DateTime]::Now.AddDays(1).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss")
# If the task is not scheduled to run again, delete it after: immediately
$TargetTask.Settings.DeleteExpiredTaskAfter = "PT0S"
$TargetTask | Set-ScheduledTask