Creating or Removing Scheduled Tasks in Plesk

• cPanel
• Plesk

Some scripts / applications require certain scripts be run at a certain time to function properly.  On Windows servers, you can set them up to run at certain times by creating a schedule task (which is similar to how you can run cron jobs on Linux servers).

Creating a Scheduled Task in Plesk:

You can set up Scheduled Tasks in Plesk by doing the following:

1. Log into Plesk*
2. Click on the Websites & Domains tab.
3. Click on Show Advanced Operations (a small grey link in the middle of the page), if the advanced options are not already shown.
4. Click on Scheduled Tasks.
5. Select the appropriate system user.
6. Click on Schedule New Task.
7. Fill out the form as follows:
   • Switched On: Check the box to turn on the scheduled task.
   • Description: A short description to remind you what this scheduled task does.
   • Scheduler Notification: If you want an email every time this runs, select the appropriate option, otherwise select Do Not Send. You may provide an email address where you want the notifications sent to.
   • Path to executable file: Specify the path to the file you wish to execute based on the server and script type:
     
     Windows Servers: The Executable path depends on the type of script for the scheduled task.
     Examples:
     Scheduled Task - PHP

     Executable:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Parallels\Plesk\Additional\PleskPHP5\php.exe"

     Argument: Physical path to the script. (e.g. D:\inetpub\vhost\domain.tld\httpdocs\somefile.php)

     Note: Replace domain.tld with your domain name, and somefile.php with the appropriate subfolder(s) (if any) and filename.

     Workaround for non-PHP scripts

     Using cURL

     1. Create a new PHP file. The name is not important.
     2. Add the following code to it, replacing the URL for $home with the URL for the script the customer wants to run.

        PHP cURL Script:

        <?php
        $home="http://domain.tld/script_to_run";
        $c=curl_init();
        curl_setopt($c,CURLOPT_URL, $home);
        curl_exec($c);
        ?>

     3. Use this file as the argument.

     Note: Replace domain.tld with your domain name, and script_to_run with the appropriate subfolder(s) (if any) and filename.
     Scheduled Task - Perl

     Executable:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Parallels\Plesk\Additional\Perl\bin\perl.exe"

     Argument: Physical path to the script. (e.g. D:\inetpub\vhost\domain.tld\httpdocs\somefile.php)

     Note: Replace domain.tld with your domain name, and somefile.php with the appropriate subfolder(s) (if any) and filename.
     Scheduled Task - Python

     Executable:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Parallels\Plesk\Additional\Python\python.exe"

     Argument: Physical path to the script. (e.g. D:\inetpub\vhost\domain.tld\httpdocs\somefile.php)

     Note: Replace domain.tld with your domain name, and somefile.php with the appropriate subfolder(s) (if any) and filename.
     Scheduled Task - Other Scripts

     PHP may be used to execute scripts that are not outlined in the sections above using this workaround via cURL:

     1. Create a new PHP file. The name is not important.
     2. Add the following code to it, replacing the URL for $home with the URL for the script the customer wants to run.

        PHP cURL Script:

        <?php
        $home="http://domain.tld/script_to_run";
        $c=curl_init();
        curl_setopt($c,CURLOPT_URL, $home);
        curl_exec($c);
        ?>

     3. Use the path to this file as the Argument.
     4. Use the PHP path for the Executable:
        "C:\Program Files (x86)\Parallels\Plesk\Additional\PleskPHP5\php.exe"

     Note: Replace domain.tld with your domain name, and script_to_run with the appropriate subfolder(s) (if any) and filename.
     
     Linux Servers with Plesk: Your path will be similar to this:

     /var/www/vhosts/domain.tld/httpdocs/myscript.php

     Note: Replace domain.tld with your domain name, and myscript.php with the appropriate subfolder(s) (if any) and filename.
   • Task Priority:  Select Low, Normal or High.
   • Specify when to run your command by selecting the appropriate checkboxes in the Hours, Days of month, Months or Days of week fields.
   • Click OK to schedule the task or click Run Now to schedule the task and immediately run it.
8. You will be taken back to the Scheduled Tasks screen and you should see your new scheduled task listed at the bottom.

Removing a Scheduled Task in Plesk

1. Log into Plesk*
2. Click on the Websites & Domains tab.
3. Click on Show Advanced Operations (a small grey link in the middle of the page), if the advanced options are not already shown.
4. Click on Scheduled Tasks.
5. Select the appropriate system user.
6. Check the box next to the Scheduled Task you want to remove.
7. Click on the Remove button.
8. It will load a new page and ask if you really want to deleted it.  Check the Confirm Removal box and click on the OK button.
9. You will be taken back to the Scheduled Tasks screen and it should say: "Information: Scheduled tasks were removed."

Notes

*The user you are logging in with should have enough permissions to create a scheduled task.  Windows Shared customers automatically have permission, and the Admin user for Windows Dedicated Servers automatically have permission.  Additional users created by the Admin on a Windows Dedicated Server may or may not have permission to setup scheduled tasks, depending on what permissions you give them.