Scheduled Tasks don’t run on Windows EC2? We can help you.

Generally, if the instance has the incorrect time the scheduled tasks do not run.

Here, at Bobcares, we assist our customers with several AWS queries as part of our AWS Support Services.

Today, let us see how we can resolve this issue.

Scheduled Tasks don’t run on Windows EC2

It is quite common for us to lose network connectivity while we restart the instance. In such cases, it is possible that the instance has the wrong time.

By default, Windows instances use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

However, if we set it to a different time zone and then restart it, the time becomes offset and the instance temporarily loses its IP address.

Though it will eventually regain the network connectivity, it will take time.

The time it takes depends on the difference between UTC and the other time zone.

Moving ahead, let us see how our Support Techs fix this issue for our customers.

The time issue will prevent scheduled tasks from running when we expect them to.

In this case, the scheduled tasks do not run when we expect because the instance has the incorrect time.

To use a time zone other than UTC persistently, we must set the RealTimeIsUniversal registry key. If we do not have this key, the instance uses UTC after we restart it.

To resolve time issues that cause a loss of network connectivity we ensure that we run the recommended PV drivers.

Then we verify that the following registry key exists and is set to 1:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation\RealTimeIsUniversal

Most often, this should resolve the issue and let the scheduled task to run properly.

[Stuck with the fix? We’d be happy to assist]

Conclusion

To conclude, if the instance has the incorrect time the scheduled tasks do not run. Today, we saw how our Support Techs resolve this issue.