PowerShell FileSystemWatcher doesn't function when Scheduled Task

Question

I have a PowerShell script StartWatching.ps1 which monitors a folder using FileSystemWatcher:

### SET FOLDER TO WATCH + FILES TO WATCH + SUBFOLDERS YES/NO
    $watcher = New-Object System.IO.FileSystemWatcher
    $watcher.Path = "C:\ScheduledTasks\PlanUpdates"
    $watcher.Filter = "*.sql"
    $watcher.IncludeSubdirectories = $false
    $watcher.EnableRaisingEvents = $true  

### DEFINE ACTIONS AFTER A EVENT IS DETECTED
    $action = { 
            $path = $Event.SourceEventArgs.FullPath
            $changeType = $Event.SourceEventArgs.ChangeType
            $logline = "$(Get-Date), Processed, $path"
            Add-content "C:\ScheduledTasks\PlanUpdates\log.txt" -value $logline
            cmd.exe /c 'C:\ScheduledTasks\PlanUpdates\planUpdate.bat'
              }    
### DECIDE WHICH EVENTS SHOULD BE WATCHED + SET CHECK FREQUENCY  
    $created = Register-ObjectEvent $watcher "Created" -Action $action
    while ($true) {sleep 1}

The script launches a .bat-file planUpdate.bat whenever an .sql-file is created in the folder. The .bat-file executes the contents of the .sql-file on a specific SQL server (database is stated in .sql-file), and then moves the file to sub-folder "Old":

for %%f in (.\*.sql) do sqlcmd -S <server> -i %%f  & move "%%f" .\Old

The PowerShell script works flawlessly when I launch it by right-clicking and selecting "Run with PowerShell".

I need to make the script work when executed from cmd before it can work as a Scheduled Task. But it doesn't work when I launch it from cmd with:

powershell -noexit -file C:\ScheduledTasks\PlanUpdates\StartWatching.ps1

It opens a command-window as if the script is running, but FileSystemWatcher doesn't register any events

I hope you can help as I have been trying to solve this all day.

Here's the task xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<Task version="1.2" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/2004/02/mit/task">
  <RegistrationInfo>
    <Date>2016-04-25T12:57:08.5588603</Date>
    <Author>CRB\IUSR</Author>
  </RegistrationInfo>
  <Triggers>
    <BootTrigger>
      <Enabled>true</Enabled>
    </BootTrigger>
  </Triggers>
  <Principals>
    <Principal id="Author">
      <UserId>CBB\IUSR</UserId>
      <LogonType>Password</LogonType>
      <RunLevel>HighestAvailable</RunLevel>
    </Principal>
  </Principals>
  <Settings>
    <MultipleInstancesPolicy>Queue</MultipleInstancesPolicy>
    <DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>false</DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>
    <StopIfGoingOnBatteries>true</StopIfGoingOnBatteries>
    <AllowHardTerminate>true</AllowHardTerminate>
    <StartWhenAvailable>true</StartWhenAvailable>
    <RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>false</RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>
    <IdleSettings>
      <StopOnIdleEnd>true</StopOnIdleEnd>
      <RestartOnIdle>false</RestartOnIdle>
    </IdleSettings>
    <AllowStartOnDemand>true</AllowStartOnDemand>
    <Enabled>true</Enabled>
    <Hidden>false</Hidden>
    <RunOnlyIfIdle>false</RunOnlyIfIdle>
    <WakeToRun>false</WakeToRun>
    <ExecutionTimeLimit>PT0S</ExecutionTimeLimit>
    <Priority>7</Priority>
  </Settings>
  <Actions Context="Author">
    <Exec>
      <Command>C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe</Command>
      <Arguments>-Noexit -File C:\ScheduledTasks\PlanUpdates\StartWatching.ps1</Arguments>
    </Exec>
  </Actions>
</Task>

Answer 1

I came across the same problem.

I don't know why this works, but try changing

powershell -noexit -file C:\ScheduledTasks\PlanUpdates\StartWatching.ps1

to

powershell -noexit -file ". C:\ScheduledTasks\PlanUpdates\StartWatching.ps1"