Folder input field for versioning muxt not be empty

[ocpaul919]

I have set up batch files to run with Task Scheduler. Tasks appear to be running OK, but updates are not taking place as expected. When I activate the popup to show progress I get messagees that say "Folder input field for versioning must not be empty" and "Synch completed with errors".

I am only using Update as the synch strategy.

Also - I might be able to answer my own questions, but the Help function does not seem to be working properly.

[Zenju]

> "Folder input field for versioning must not be empty"

The message is talking about the versioning directory in sync settings.

> but the Help function does not seem to be working properly.

What do you mean exactly?

[ocpaul919]

> "Folder input field for versioning must not be empty"

The message is talking about the versioning directory in sync settings.

> but the Help function does not seem to be working properly.

What do you mean exactly?

When I clicked on help I was getting a screen that was basically blank except for a header. I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling and that problem seems to be resolved.

I now have batch files working to my satisfaction as long as a run by double clicking on the batch file name. However I have had limited and spotty success setting up to run automatically through Task Scheduler. At first I thought everything was working OK because the history logs in Task Scheduler indicated normal start and stop of the batch files. However I found that the desired synchronization (actually Update) was not taking place. I must admit that at first the tasks did seem like they were causing the Updates to take place, but that has ceased to be the case.

Is there something in the setup of the batch file that I need to take special care so the batch files will properly execute under Task Scheduler? Or is there something particular I should NOT be doing?

[Zenju]

There is nothing special about FFS. Scheduling "FreeFileSync.exe" with a ".ffs_batch" file as first argument should be as simple/hard as scheduling any other application.

[ocpaul919]

Simply driving me nuts! All of my .ffs_batch files work just fine when manually invoked by double clicking on the batch file name.

However, runs under task scheduler indicate that they were successful, but the update process does not actually take place - stated another way, the results from running under task scheduler are not the same as the results of running the batch file manually.

Gotta be a reason!

[ocpaul919]

A little more information: Two of the drives I am trying to update from and/or to are virtual drives created by Boxcryptor. One is a SugarSync Drive and the other is a Dropbox Drive. Two other drives I amy trying to update from / to are virtual drives created using TrueCrypt.

All of these drives can have files copied in either direction using either normal file copy procedures or using the .ffs_batch file.

File copies in either direction using Task Scheduler seem to work OK for the TrueCrypt created drives, but not for the Boxcruptor created drives. Curiouser and curiouser!

[Giangi]

Which OS are you using?
Tasks are scheduled to run ender the same account used to configure Boxcryptor?
HAve you saved the Boxcryptor's credential or do you have to type at startup?

i.e. On Seven you can tell the scheduler how to run the job, I guess that for being able to use a Boxcryptor drive you have to run the task with the same account, high privilege and you have to save the Boxcryptor credential or the task will have to ask them to you!

You may also try to set the BC drive as "for all users"

Ciao

[Zenju]

Maybe FFS is blocking showing some error dialog you can't see? Make sure to read the recommendations in the help file about setting up a batch job. Also check via Windows task manager, better yet Process Explorer whether FFS is starting and exitting properly.

[dwig]

Simply driving me nuts! All of my .ffs_batch files work just fine when manually invoked by double clicking on the batch file name.

However, runs under task scheduler indicate that they were successful, but the update process does not actually take place - stated another way, the results from running under task scheduler are not the same as the results of running the batch file manually.

Gotta be a reason!

On 11/28/12 3:29 PM, ocpaul wrote:
>
> Simply driving me nuts! All of my .ffs_batch files work just fine when
> manually invoked by double clicking on the batch file name.
>
> However, runs under task scheduler indicate that they were successful,
> but the update process does not actually take place - stated another
> way, the results from running under task scheduler are not the same as
> the results of running the batch file manually.
>

A couple of thoughts:

* Are you sure that the FFS process is actually being run? Maybe check
the log files (if it's set to log), and also use Task Manager when
it's scheduled to start to see if it really does fire off a
process. (Actually, I use Process Explorer, which gives much better
information than the stock Task Manager.)

* Install Cygwin's cron and run the FFS job under that. (If you're
not familiar with *nix or Cygwin, there'll be a learning curve for
this.)

FWIW...

[ocpaul919]

Found that if I chose "Mount for all users" option when setting up Boxcryptor drives that the Task Scheduler items ran fine. Shouldn't have needed to do this as the User was Owner for both the Boxcryptor drives and the Task Scheduler items, but at least now the updates are working as desired. Thanks for your help.

[ocpaul919]

Eureka!

Found that if I changed the account to be used to run the task to "Administrators", which is the group that contains ALL users with administrator permissions, that the tasks would run properly without the volumes being mounted for all users. This is important because I did NOT want to have to mount the Boxcryptor volumes for all users.

I think this is needed because Task Scheduler runs in a different session, so even though the user account it is running under appears to be the same as the account that the Boxcryptor volumes were mounted under, Windows apparently actually somehow treats it as a different user - but since they are all Administrators the problem is resolved!!!

[Giangi]

I think you have found just a *turnaround* (do not know the exact english term! :-)
And yes, scheduled tasks run on different sessions by default: you need to select "Run only if user connected" to have it use the same session... :-(