Calling the ClickOnce Application from the Task Scheduler

Question

I have a Windows application that I deployed to share files through ClickOnce (VS 2012). It is configured as an online application (not installed on the client). I can run this application through the client by simply pointing to the file share and double-clicking the file. I had a problem running this as a scheduled task on the client (the client is actually a Windows Server 2008 server). If, however, I create a batch file that invokes the ClickOnce application, the task scheduler can successfully invoke the batch file. But I would prefer not to deal with the extra step of creating this batch file.

The error I get from the Task Scheduler is this: The Task Scheduler could not start the action "\ pathToClickOnceApp" in the instance "{d5cc956f-c09e-41dc-a04d-a4276f38704e}" of the task "\ TaskName". Additional information: Error value: 2147942403.

Answer 1

You can create the appref-ms file and place it locally when the task scheduler starts, or put it in the file share (this may require additional permissions, such as "execute").

Then run this task scheduler.

Answer 2

Here is sample code for creating a Task that can invoke a clickonce application:

using (TaskService ts = new TaskService()) { // Create a new task definition and assign properties TaskDefinition td = ts.NewTask(); td.RegistrationInfo.Description = "runs clickonce app every 10 minutes"; var trigger = new TimeTrigger(); trigger.Repetition.Interval = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(10); // Create a trigger that will fire the task at this time every other day td.Triggers.Add(trigger); // Create an action that will launch the clickonce app td.Actions.Add(new ExecAction("rundll32.exe", @"dfshim.dll,ShOpenVerbApplication your_clickonce_app_url/clickonce_appname.application", null)); // Register the task in the root folder ts.RootFolder.RegisterTaskDefinition(@"ClickOnce app", td); }