Advanced components

If logoffaction=Passive, check to see if users are currently logged on to the computer. If found, cancel the scheduled event.

Check to see if the computer is set to be last man standing. If so, cancel the scheduled event.

Check for user activity, If found, cancel the scheduled event. This test is not performed if:

• the power-off has been initiated from the user interface.

• useractivitymaxidlemins=0

• logoffaction=Force

Check to see if any processes on the process exception list are currently running. If so, cancel the scheduled event.

If Configuration Manager client exists and monitorjobs=ON, check for currently running jobs. If found, cancel the scheduled event.

If Configuration Manager client exists and monitorjobs=ON and pendingjobwindowmins is set, check for pending jobs. If found, cancel the scheduled event.

Check to see if the computer is acting as the Nomad P2P master. If so, cancel the scheduled event.

Check to see if the computer has content that Nomad is holding as part of its Peer-Backup Assistant functionality. If so, cancel the scheduled event.

Check the Keep Active status on the NightWatchman user interface. If set, cancel the scheduled event.

1. Run the pre-run script (PRERUN on Windows and PreRun.scpt on macOS).

   • If the script returns zero, continue with the event.

   • If the script returns a non-zero value, cancel the event.

2. Display the countdown dialog.

   • If logoffaction=Active, the user gets the option to postpone the event.

   • If logoffaction=Force, the user has no option of postpone and the event takes place once the countdown expires.

3. Run the RunAlways script (RUNALWAYS.vbs on Windosw and RunAlways.scpt on macOS).

   • If the script returns zero, continue with the event.

   • If the script returns a non-zero value, cancel the event.

4. Put the machine into hibernate of standby.

   • The machine suspends

1. Run the pre-run script (PRERUN.vbs on Windows and PreRun.scpt on macOS)

   • If the script returns zero, continue with the event.

   • If the script returns a non-zero value, cancel the event.

2. Display the countdown dialog.

   • If logoffaction=Active, the user gets the option to postpone the event.

   • If logoffaction=Force, the user has no option of postpone and the event takes place once the countdown expires.

3. Run the NightWatchman scripts.

   • Close any open applications and save data.

4. Run the RunAlways script (RUNALWAYS.vbs on Windows and RunAlways.scpt on macOS).

   • If the script returns zero, continue with the event.

   • If the script returns a non-zero value, cancel the event.

5. Check for script errors.

   • If logoffaction is set to Force, NightWatchman shuts the machine down regardless of the script errors. If ignoreerrors on Windows or ignorescripterrors on Mac is set and script errors are found, NightWatchman will not power-off or reboot the machine but will lock the it to make it secure.

6. Log-off all current users.

7. Once all client sessions have been closed, power-off of reboot the computer.

Windows:

NightWatchman.exe 
–scheduledactions="ALLDAYS(18:00,PowerOff,Force)"

Mac:

sudo ./NightWatchman 
–scheduledactions ALLDAYS=18:00,PowerOff,Force

Windows:

NightWatchman.exe 
–scheduledactions="WEEKDAYS(18:00,PowerOff,Force) |
WEEKEND(13:00,Hibernate,Passive)"

Mac:

sudo ./NightWatchman 
–scheduledactions WEEKDAYS=18:00,PowerOff,Force 
WEEKEND=13:00,Hibernate,Passive

Windows:

NightWatchman.exe 
–scheduledactions="MON,TUE(18:00,PowerOff,Force)| 
WED(20:00,Standby,Passive)| 
THU,FRI(17:00,Hibernate, Active)"

Mac:

sudo ./NightWatchman 
–scheduledactions MON,TUE=18:00,PowerOff,Force 
WED=20:00,Standby,Passive THU,FRI=17:00,Hibernate,Active

This is the most common use for NightWatchman. Powering-off computers is the best way of saving energy and it also ensures that they have a clean start each day. NightWatchman ensures that as many systems as possible are shut down, executing scripts to make sure that any active applications that have been left running are closed and user data is saved. For example:

NightWatchman.exe 
–scheduledactions ="ALLDAYS(20:30,PowerOff,Force)"

If we have a policy that:

• Initiates a power off at 20:30.

• Prompts the user that power off is going to take place and give them a 5 minute countdown to allow for the fact that they might be away from their desks.

• Allows users to defer the power off for half an hour.

• Try and shut down every half an hour (for twenty times to catch the moment when late night users have finally left their computers).

We implement this with (some are at their default values, but are included for clarity).

NightWatchman.exe 
–scheduledactions="ALLDAYS(20:30,Normal,Active)" 
-countdownsecs=300 
-retryinterval=30 
-retryattempts=20 

This policy is implemented with shutdowndays.

For example, to set the scheduler to run only on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday:

NightWatchman.exe 
–scheduledactions="SUN,TUE,WED,FRI(20:30,Normal,Active)" 

And to set the scheduler to run each day from Monday until Friday:

NightWatchman.exe 
–scheduledactions="WEEKDAYS(20:30,Normal,Active)"

In secure environments, it is a requirement that users are logged-off from systems when they leave the office. NightWatchman can log-off users even if the system has been locked or if a password-protected screensaver is in use. It can force the system to shut down if you want to be absolutely sure that your systems are shut down each day whilst still attempting to save user data and close applications using the NightWatchman scripts.

For example, to enforce a power-off on all machines at 20:30 with no user intervention, run the following from the System Tray interface:

NightWatchman.exe 
–scheduledactions="ALLDAYS(20:30,PowerOff,Force)"

Aside from powering off machines and logging-off users, NightWatchman can also control the power schemes currently in use. This means that the settings for power conservation, such as putting the monitor, hard disks and computer into standby mode, can be unified into an enforceable company-wide scheme.

The commands available for managing the power schemes mirror the options that are available to the user through the Windows System Property dialog which are

• Switches that control the settings when the machine is on mains power.

• Those that control the settings during battery operation.

If we have a policy that:

• Reapplies the power scheme options every log on (thereby overriding any local settings).

• Sets the monitor to switch to standby after 5 minutes of inactivity.

• Sets the disks to standby every 10 minutes.

• Sets the computer to switch to standby every 15 minutes

We implement this with:

nightwatchman.exe 
-powerscheme=ON 
-monitorac=5 
-diskac=10 
-standbyac=15

NightWatchman can be used to manipulate applications prior to a software update. For instance, if you have scheduled an enterprise-wide update of Microsoft Outlook, you want to make sure that Outlook is not running on systems otherwise the update will fail.

NightWatchman scripts can be used to close applications, save documents, manipulate dialog boxes and perform many other automation tasks using the NightWatchman ActiveX control.

Licenses NightWatchman with the valid license key.

Starts the NightWatchman service.

Displays the NightWatchman product version number. You will need the version number when contacting 1E support.

Displays the current NightWatchman service configuration parameters on the command-line.

Displays the current NightWatchman service configuration parameters on the command-line.

Enables customization of a countdown message.

Number of seconds that the countdown timer dialog is displayed before a power-off or log-off action is executed.

Puts the computer into hibernate mode. Works in conjunction with countdownsecs and shutdownmsg.

Determines the behavior when a user is logged onto the system. In Active and Force mode, scripts are executed to close down applications gracefully.

Turns the Configuration Manager job monitoring on or off. monitorjobs also controls the integration with WakeUp. If monitorjobs=ON, NightWatchm an p erforms auto power-off for machines awoken by a scheduled WakeUp signal.

Determines whether the other switches on the NightWatchman command-line is applied in a once-off operation.

Defines the power down behavior according to pending Configuration Manager jobs.

Number of times a power-off is attempted if cancelled by the user.

Interval (in minutes) the service retries the power-off if cancelled by the user or if the power-off cannot be performed.

Sets the behavior for running the RunAlways script during a NightWatchman initiated log-off, power-off or reboot. This script is run in the context of the logged-on user.

Behavior for running the RunAlways script during a NightWatchman initiated hibernate or standby.

Configures scheduled power down actions at specific times for specified days of the week.

Number of seconds NightWatchman waits before deciding a script has timed out.

Use scheduledactions instead.

Use scheduledactions instead.

Enables customization of a countdown message.

Implements an immediate power-off, regardless of shutdownaction.

Use scheduledactions instead.

Puts the computer into standby mode. standbynow works in conjunction with countdownsecs and shutdownmsg.

Controls the behavior of the system tray applet.

Enables a custom script to be run, prior to a NightWatchm an p ower-off, hibernate or standby event.

Behavior for running the RunAlways script during a NightWatchman initiated log-off, power-off or reboot.

Behavior for running the RunAlways script during a NightWatchman initiated hibernate or standby.

Behavior for the RunOnResume script when the computer resumes from a low-power state.

Sets the location of the NightWatchman Management Center policy service.

Sets the polling interval, in minutes, to check for new Power Policy settings.

Controls the setting of a NightWatchm an p ower scheme when the service starts and at user login.

Switches the monitor to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on mains power.

Switches the monitor to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on battery power.

Switches the hard disks to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on mains power.

Switches the hard disks to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on battery power.

Switches the computer to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on mains power.

Switches the computer to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on battery power.

Switches the computer to hibernate after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on mains power.

Switches the computer to hibernate after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on battery power.

Enables or disables the Hardware Utilization feature.

Hardware utilization sample interval in seconds.

Displays the process exception list.

Adds a process name to the process exception list. The name must match the name of the process as it appears in Task Manager.

Deletes a process from the process exception list.

Replaces the process exceptions list with the contents of a named file. The named file must contain a list of process names, one on each line in the file.

Turns advanced sleepless detection mode on or off.

Turns busy process detection on or off.

Displays the sleepless exclusion list.

Adds a process to the sleepless exceptions list. The process name must match the name as it appears in the NightWatchman Sleepless Client Detection/Busy and Sleepless Processes report.

Deletes a process from the sleepless exclusion list.

Replaces the sleepless exceptions list with the contents of a named file. The named file must contain a list of process names, one on each line in the file.

Sets an alarm clock schedule for specific days of the week.

Determines if the display for a computer is turned on when an alarm clock wake up occurs.

Maintenance schedule for specific days of the week.

When using HTTPS for communications and client certificate authentication, set this to the certificate issuer text.

When using HTTPS for communications and client certificate authentication, set this to the certificate subject text.

When using HTTPS for communications and client certificate authentication, set this to the certificate issuer text.

When using HTTPS for communications and client certificate authentication, set this to the certificate subject text.

Sets the URL of the NightWatchman Management Center policy service.

Sets the status of NightWatchman reporting.

Sets the URL for the NightWatchman Management Center Web Service reporting.

Sets the URL for the secure NightWatchman Management Center policy service.

Level of debug information output to the NightWatchman log file.

Location and name for the NightWatchman log file.

Determines if the display for a computer is turned on when an alarm clock wake-up occurs. To turn monitors on when an alarm clock occurs:

nightwatchman 
-acturnonmonitor=on

Turns advanced sleepless detection mode on or off. See Sleepless detection for basic and advanced modes. Values are:

• ON

• OFF

To turn advanced sleepless detection off:

nightwatchman 
-advancedsleeplessdetection=off

Sets an alarm clock schedule for specific days of the week. On Windows, the format of the value is a list of entries separated by a vertical bar (|) where each entry is a day of operation and a time to wake up in the format: day(Hrs:Mins).

The first entry in the list specifies whether to turn the monitor on during the alarm clock and uses the format: monitorstate=<state>, where state is on or off. The client computer is woken up 5 minutes before the specified time to ensure its availability at that time.

For example, the following sets an alarm clock for 07:00 Monday and 08:00 Tuesday (the client computer will be awoken at 06:55 and 07:55 respectively):

nightwatchman 
-alarmclock="monitorstate=off|
mon(07:00)|tue(08:00)"

On the Mac, the format of the value is a list of entries separated by commas where each entry is a day of operation and a time to wake up, in the following format: day=Hrs:Mins. The client computer is woken up 5 minutes before the specified time to ensure its availability at that time.

For example, the following sets an alarm clock for 07:00 Monday and 08:00 Tuesday (the client computer will be awoken at 06:55 and 07:55 respectively):

nightwatchman 
-alarmclock mon=07:00, tue=08:00

autorestart is deprecated as NightWatchman no longer supports non-APM/ACPI machines.

Disables busy process detection.

• ON – busy processes that keep the computer awake are reported centrally but will still prevent the computer from going to sleep. The contents of the report contain the names for the busy processes. If these are included in the sleepless exclusion list, they will not be allowed to stop the computer from going to sleep after a period of inactivity.

• OFF – ensures that busy processes on Windows Vista will not prevent a computer from sleeping, thereby reproducing the standard Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 behavior

To turn busy process detection on:

nightwatchman 
-busyprocesssdetection=on

Customize a countdown message.

This message varies according to the shutdownaction currently set. Setting a value for coutdowndlgtext replaces all messages with a single custom message.

Duration (in seconds) the countdown timer dialog is displayed before a power-off or log-off action is executed.

• Must be between 0 and 3600 inclusive.

The countdown timer dialog will only appear if countdownsecs is not 0. To set a 5-minute countdown:

nightwatchman 
-countdownsecs=300

Sets the level of debug information output to the NightWatchman log file. You should only change this value after checking with the 1E support.

Sets the number of seconds before the countdown timer dialog is displayed before a power-off or log-off action is executed.

• Must be between 30 and 300 inclusive.

To set a 1 minute delay before the countdown starts:

nightwatchman 
-delaysecs=60

Switches the hard disks to standby after a number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on mains power.

• Must be between 0 and 1440 inclusive.

• 0 turns power management off.

Switches the hard disks to standby after a number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on battery power.

• Must be between 0 and 1440 inclusive.

• 0 turns power management off.

Enables or disables hardware utilization monitoring. When enabled the 1E Agent will retrieve information from PCs to determine which ones are in use throughout the day. Values are:

• ON - Turns hardware utilization monitoring on.

• OFF - Turns hardware utilization monitoring off.

Hardware utilization sample interval (in seconds).

• Must be between 5 and 900 seconds.

The aggregation interval (in minutes).

• Range is 5 to 1440 minutes.

Displays the command-line syntax help.

Switches the computer to hibernate after a number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on mains power.

• Must be between 0 and 1440 inclusive.

• 0 turns power management off

Switches the computer to hibernate after a number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on battery power.

• Must be between 0 and 1440 inclusive.

• 0 turns power management off.

Puts the computer into hibernate mode. Works in conjunction with countdownsecs and shutdownmsg.

Server name hosting the NightWatchman Management Center standard security websites used for policy retrieval and reporting. This can be set to the server name or IP address and may also refer to the port number if this has been changed from the default on the server side. For example, to set the server name to nwmcserver:

./nightwatchman 
-s HTTPServer nwmcserver

To use an IP address of 192.168.23.23:

./nightwatchman 
-s HTTPServer 192.168.23.23

To use nwmcserver as the server using port 180:

./nightwatchman 
-s HTTPServer nwmcserver:180

Server name hosting the NightWatchman Management Center secure websites used for policy retrieval and reporting. This can be set to the server name and may also refer to the port number if this has been changed from the default on the server side.

To set the server name to nwmcserver:

./nightwatchman 
-s HTTPSServer nwmcserver

To set the server name to nwmcserver using port 180:

./nightwatchman 
-s HTTPSServer nwmcserver:180

Behavior on detecting errors in the power-off scripts during a scheduled event.

• ON – during power-off, errors are ignored and the power-off will continue. User are given the option to cancel the event.

• OFF – script errors will prevent power-off from taking place.

Behavior on detecting errors in the power-off scripts during a scheduled event.

• ON – during power-off, errors are ignored and the power-off will continue. Users are given the option to cancel the event.

• OFF – script errors will prevent power-off from taking place.

Location and name for the NightWatchman log file. For example, to set the log file called NW.LOG in C:TEMP:

nightwatchman 
-logfilename=C:\TEMP\NW.LOG

Determines the behavior when a user is logged onto the system. In ACTIVE and FORCE mode, scripts are executed to close down applications gracefully.

• ACTIVE –users are given the opportunity to postpone a log-off. If they are not present and the countdown timer dialog expires, log-off will occur. Log-off will be stopped if any scripts generate an error.

• FORCE – countdown timer dialog has no option to cancel. All NightWatchman tests run prior to the scheduled event is bypassed. The event ignores errors generated by the power-off scripts. Unsaved data may be lost.

• PASSIVE –log-off is not actioned if a user is logged on.

Location for the Mac spooler directory, where reporting messages are stored before being sent to the NightWatchman Management Center Web Service. macspoolerdirectory, set by the installer, modifies the settings for communicating with the NightWatchman Management Center Reporting and should not need to be modified under normal circumstances.

Maintenance schedule for specific days of the week. The format of the value is a list of entries separated by a vertical bar |. The first entry in the list determines if the on/off state of the monitor during the maintenance window and uses the format:

monitorstate=<state>

where <state> is on or off. The remaining entries determine the day of operation, a time to wake up, a duration and an action to perform at the end, in the following format:

day(Hrs:Mins,Duration,EndAction)

The Hrs:Mins time parameter must always be in the format hh:mm. So to represent 3am the string is 03:00. The client computer is woken up to 5 minutes before the specified time to ensure its availability. EndAction may take one of values:

• 0 – do nothing.

• 1 – puts the client computer into standby mode.

• 2 – puts the client computer into hibernate mode.

• 3 – powers-off the client computer.

For example, to set a 23-minute maintenance window on Mondays leaving the computer on, and a 1-hour maintenance window on Tuesdays leaving the computer on standby:

nightwatchman 
-maintenancewnd="monitorstate=off|
mon(03:00,23,0)|tue(02:00,60,1)"

Interval (in seconds) to wait before batch dispatching messages in the spooler to the NightWatchman Management Center Web Service. This switch takes precedence over minmessagesperbatch. maxbatchsendintervalsecs, set by the installer, modifies the settings for communicating with the NightWatchman Management Center Reporting and should not need to be modified under normal circumstances.

• Must be between 1 and 172800.

• The value must be greater than pollintervalsecs and less than waitminutesforunavailableserver.

Duration (in seconds) the 1E Agent will store reporting information locally when the NightWatchman Management Center Web service cannot be contacted. Data held beyond the default value is deleted.maximumfileagesecs, set by the installer, need not be modified under normal circumstances.

Maximum size (in bytes) for the NightWatchman log file. If the log file exceeds this value NightWatchman saves the current log file to a file in the same location but with the extension .LO_, overwriting any existing copy. NightWatchman will continue to write to the file specified in logfilename.

• The minimum value is 1024, as this is the minimum size for any file.

For example, to set a 32K limit for the log file:

nightwatchman 
-maxlogfilesize=32768

Minimum number of messages in the spooler before a batch is dispatched to the NightWatchman Management Center Web Service. It is subservient to maxbatchsendintervalsecs in terms of setting how long between sending messages to the NightWatchman Management Center Web Service. minmessagesperbatch, set by the installer, modifies the settings for communicating with NightWatchman Management Center Reporting and should not need to be modified under normal circumstances.

Switches the monitor to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on mains power.

• Must be between 0 and 1440 inclusive.

• 0 diables power management.

Switches the monitor to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on battery power.

• Must be between 0 and 1440 inclusive.

• 0 disables power management.

Enables or disables the Configuration Manager job monitoring. monitorjobs also controls the integration with WakeUp. If monitorjobs=ON, NightWatchman performs auto power-off for machines awoken by a scheduled WakeUp signal. Values are:

• ON – turns Configuration Manager job monitoring on.

• OFF – turns Configuration Manager job monitoring off.

Determines if the display for a computer is turned on when a maintenance window wake up occurs. For example, to turn a monitor on when a maintenance window wake up occurs:

nightwatchman 
-mwturnonmonitor=on

Replaces shutdownonce. Determines whether the other switches on the NightWatchman command-line is applied in a once-off operation. Any other switches used in conjunction with the onceoff command will not affect other global scheduled settings. It can be used in conjunction with countdownsecs, logoffaction, shutdownaction, shutdownmsg and shutdowntime.

onceoff only retries on the day of the power-off. If the day expires before retryattempts, no more retries are attempted. If you do not want users to cancel the event, use -logoffaction=force.

For example, to force a power-off at 7:30 pm:

nightwatchman 
-onceoff 
-shutdowntime=19:30 
-logoffaction=force 
-shutdownaction=normal

Determines if a password is required when the client computer resumes from standby or hibernate.Values are:

• ON – password required on resume from standby or hibernate

• OFF – no password required

For example, to set the client computer not to request a password on resumption:

nightwatchman 
-passwordonwakeup=off

Adds a process name to the process exception list.The name must match the name of the process as it appears in Task Manager. For example, to set NightWatchman to abort power-offs when the Notepad application is running:

nightwatchman 
-pelistadd=notepad.exe

Clears all process exceptions.

Deletes a process from the process exception list. For example, to remove the Notepad application process from the process exception list:

nightwatchman 
-pelistdel=notepad.exe

Replaces the process exceptions list with the contents of a named file. The named file must contain a list of process names, one on each line in the file.

For example, to list the contents of a process exception list from a file named myprocesses.txt:

nightwatchman 
-pelistfrom=myprocesses.txt

Displays the process exception list.

Defines the power down behavior according pending Configuration Manager jobs. It takes an integer that defines the number of minutes in the look-ahead window. monitorjobs =ON must be set (as it is by default) in order for this value to be used.

The way that the power-off behavior is modified is dependent on the shutdown type:

• Shutdown now – if either of the following is true, NightWatchmanwill abort its power down attempt.

  • Pending jobs exist scheduled to start within the specified look-ahead window starting from the current time.

  • There are current running jobs.

• Scheduled shutdown – if either of the following is true, NightWatchmanwill abort its scheduled power down attempt, and will retry in the configured retry interval.

  • Pending jobs exist scheduled to start within the specified look-ahead window starting from the current time.

  • There are current running jobs.

When PENDINGJOBWINDOWMINS=0 but the MONITORJOBS=ON, the look-ahead functionality is turned off but the check for running Configuration Manager jobs will still happen. To turn off Configuration Manager job monitoring altogether set MONITORJOBS=OFF.

If using HTTPS for communications and client certificate authentication, set this to the certificate issuer text.

If using HTTPS for communications and client certificate authentication, set this to the certificate subject text.

URL of the NightWatchman Management Center policy service in the format:

http://<server>/AFWebService/PolicyService.asmx

where <server> is the location of your server.

This value is set during installation and will not require modification during normal use. For example, to set your NightWatchman Management Center Web Service server to AFServer:

nightwatchman -policyserverurl=http://AFServer/AFWebService/PolicyService.asmx

Polling interval (in minutes) to check for new power policy settings. This poll checks to see which power policy is used for the client computer and retrieves its settings. Power policies and their associated computers are defined using the NightWatchman Console.

• Must be between 1 and 43200 inclusive.

Power policies held in the NightWatchman Management Center will set this value if applied to the 1E Agent. Default values in the NightWatchman Management Center are dependent on the Environment setup (selected in the NightWatchman Management Center installer). These are:

• 1 – very small.

• 90 – small.

• 1500 – medium.

• 3000 – large.

Interval (in seconds) for the delay in resending rejected messages to the NightWatchman Management Center Web Service Component. pollintervalsecs, set by the installer, modifies the settings for communicating with NightWatchman Management Center Reporting and should not need to be modified under normal circumstances.

Retry interval (in minutes) to check for new power policy settings if the initial check fails.

• Must be between 1 and 1440 inclusive.

Controls the setting of a NightWatchman power scheme when the service starts and at user login.

• ON – power scheme is applied when the service starts and when a user logs in.

• OFF – power scheme will not be applied.

Enables a custom script to be run, prior to a NightWatchman power-off, hibernate or standby event. This script is set to run before all other actions. At the start of any scheduled event and depending on the status of the -prerun option, NightWatchman runs this script to have control over whether the scheduled event continues.

• If it fails (exits with a non-zero error code), the scheduled event is automatically postponed and will retry after the standard period defined in retryinterval.

• If it succeeds and shutdownaction is Standby or Hibernate, the machine is put into one of these states.

• If it succeeds and shutdownaction is Normal, Reboot or Logoff, the process exception list is checked. If any of the processes in the exception list are currently running, the scheduled event is aborted.

During a NightWatchman installation, a default PreRun script is created that explicitly performs no action and only returns a success code. The script is commented to enable the functionality to be customized easily.

• ON – enables the pre-run script.

• OFF – disables the pre-run script.

Reboots the computer. rebootnow works in conjunction with countdownsecs and shutdownmsg.

Licenses NightWatchman with the valid license key. If no license key was entered during the initial NightWatchman installation, a 30-day evaluation license would have been put in place. If the license key has already expired the service will have stopped. You will need to restart the service manually after relicensing with:

nwmsvc.exe -start

For example, to relicense NightWatchman for Windows with a new licence key (ABCDE-1234-3456-5678-5678):

nwmsvc.exe 
-relicense=ABCDE-1234-3456-5678-5678

To relicense NightWatchman for Macs with a new licence key (ABCDE-1234-3456-5678-5678):

./nightwatchman 
-s relicense ABCDE-1234-3456-5678-5678

Status of NightWatchman reporting. If reporting=ON, NightWatchman sends regular messages to the NightWatchman Management Center Web Service defined by reportingserverurl. Switch category: Policy and reporting

• ON – enables reporting.

• OFF – disables reporting.

If using HTTPS for communications and client certificate authentication, set this to the certificate issuer text.

If using HTTPS for communications and client certificate authentication, set this to the certificate subject text.

Replaces reportingserver. Sets the URL for the NightWatchman Management Center Web Service reporting in the format:

nightwatchman -reportingserverurl= http://RServ/AFWebService/PostMessage.aspx

where <server> is the location of the NightWatchman Management Center Web Service Component. This value is set during installation and will not require modification during normal use.

For example, to set your NightWatchman Web Service server to RServ:

nightwatchman -reportingserverurl= http://RServ/AFWebService/PostMessage.aspx

Number of times a power-off is attempted if cancelled by the user

• Must be between 0 and 10 inclusive.

For example, to set NightWatchman to try and shutdown 10 time after the user cancels the event:

nightwatchman -retryattempts=10

Interval (in minutes) the service retries the power-off if cancelled by the user or if the power-off cannot be performed.

• Must be between 1 and 60 inclusive.

For example, to set NightWatchman to retry every 15 minutes:

nightwatchman -retryinterval=15

Behavior for running the RunAlways script during a NightWatchman initiated log-off, power-off or reboot. This script is run in the context of the logged-on user.

• ON – enables the RunAlways script during a NightWatchman initiated log-off, poweroff or reboot. If the script returns a non-zero value it cancels the event; else it continues.

• OFF – disables the RunAlways script.

Behavior for running the RunAlways script during a NightWatchman initiated hibernate or standby.

Note

• ON – enables the RunAlways script during a NightWatchman initiated hibernate or standby.

• OFF – disables the RunAlways script during a NightWatchman initiated hibernate or standby.

Behavior for the RunOnResume script when the computer resumes from a low-power state.

• ON – enables the RunOnResume script, if it exists, when the computer resumes from a low-power state.

• OFF – disables the RunOnResume script if it exists.

Delay (in seconds) between the resume event and when the RunOnResume script is run.

• Must be between 20 and 300.

Configures scheduled power down actions at specific times for specified days of the week. The syntax for Windows is

D{,D,D}(T,P,L){| D{,D,D}(T,P,L)}

and for Macs

D{,D,D}=T,P,L { D{,D,D}=T,P,L}

where

For example, t o set a power down on Windows at 18:00 with a logoffaction=FORCE for every day of the week:

NightWatchman.exe 
–scheduledactions=”ALLDAYS(18:00,
PowerOff,Force)”

To set a power down on Mac at 18:00 with a logoffaction=FORCE for every day of the week:

sudo ./nightwatchman 
–scheduledactions

Duration (in seconds) NightWatchman waits before deciding a script has timed out.

• Must be between 1 and 120 inclusive.

URL for the secure NightWatchman Management Center policy service in the format

https://<server>/AFWebService/PolicyService.asmx

where <server> is the location of your server.

This value is set during installation and will not require modification during normal use. If you do need to change this, you must set the full URL. For example, to set your NightWatchman Management Center Web Service server to AFServer:

nightwatchman 
-securepolicyserverurl=
 https://AFServer/AFWebService/PolicyService.asm

URL for the secure NightWatchman Management Center Web Service reporting in the format:

https://<server>/AFWebService/PostMessage.aspx

where <server> is the name of your NightWatchman Management Center Web Service component. securereportingserverurl, set by the installer, modifies the settings for communicating with the NightWatchman Management Center and should not need to be modified under normal circumstances.

For example, to set your NightWatchman Web Service server to RServ:

nightwatchman 
-reportingserverurl= 
    http://RServ/AFWebService/PostMessage.aspx

Adds a process to the sleepless exceptions list. The process name must match the name as it appears in the NightWatchman Sleepless Client Detection/Busy and Sleepless Processes report. Normally, the name matches the Task Manager process but for running services that are hosted by SvcHost, SvcHost.exe will be reported back.

For example, to set NightWatchman to sleep even if the LanManServer service prevents this from taking place:

nightwatchman 
-selistadd=SvcHost.exe(LanManServer)

Clears all sleepless exclusions.

Deletes a process from the sleepless exclusion list. For example, to remove the Notepad process from the sleepless exclusion list:

nightwatchman 
-selistdel=notepad.exe

Replaces the sleepless exceptions list with the contents of a named file. The named file must contain a list of process names, one on each line in the file.

For example, to list the contents of a sleepless exception list from a file named myprocesses.txt

nightwatchman 
-selistfrom=myprocesses.txt

Displays the sleepless exclusion list.

Displays the current NightWatchman service configuration parameters on the command-line.

Determines the shutdown type.

• Hibernate – puts the machine into hibernate mode.

• Logoff – performs the log-off action only. No shut down performed. The machine is left at the log-on prompt. This action has no power management value but can be used to enforce security.

• Normal – shuts down and powers off.

• Poweroff – shuts down and power offs, this is a synonym for Normal.

• Reboot – restarts the sysetm. This action has no power management value other than to enforce good housekeeping practice.

• Standby – puts the machine into standby mode.

• LogoffThenStandby - Same as logoff but also puts the machine into standby mode.

Sets the days of operation as a range or a set of integers.

• 0 – Sunday.

• 1 – Monday.

• 2 – Tuesday.

• 3 – Wednesday.

• 4 – Thursday.

• 5 – Friday.

• 6 – Saturday.

After a default installation NightWatchman is set to operate 7 days a week. For example, to set a range from Monday to Friday:

nightwatchman 
-shutdowndays=1-5

To set a shutdown for Monday,Tuesday and Thursday only:

nightwatchman 
-shutdowndays=1,2,4

Customize a countdown message.

This message varies according to the shutdownaction currently set. Setting a value for coutdowndlgtext replaces all messages with a single custom message. This message only appears if countdownsecs is not equal to 0. To customize a countdown message with the text 'Let's save some energy!':

nightwatchman 
-shutdownmsg="Let’s save some energy!"

Implements an immediate power-off, regardless of shutdownaction, depending on the value of the countdownsecs, shutdownmsg and logoffaction switches. If there are any other switches on the same command-line, the power-off aborts and reports an error.

To force a power-off:

nightwatchman 
-shutdownnow 
-logoffaction=force

Sets the time for the scheduled event. shutdowntime utilizes the scheduler and it takes the current shutdowndays settings into account and only initializes a scheduled event on days that are set.

• HH:mm – time in 24 hour format.

• NOW – no longer supported. Use shutdownnow instead for equivalent behavior.

• OFF – no longer supported. Use scheduledactions=OFF for approximate equivalent behavior.

Location of the spooler directory where NightWatchman Management Center Reporting messages are stored before being sent to the NightWatchman Management Center Web Service. spoolerdirectory, set by the installer, modifies the settings for communicating with the NightWatchman Management Center Reporting and should not need to be modified under normal circumstances.

Switches the computer to standby after a number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on mains power.

• Must be between 0 and 1440 inclusive.

• 0 disables power management.

Switches the computer to standby after a number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on battery power.

• Must be between 0 and 1440 inclusive.

• 0 disables power management.

Puts the computer into standby mode. standbynow works in conjunction with countdownsecs and shutdownmsg. If there are any other switches on the same command-line, the power-off aborts and reports an error.

Starts the NightWatchman service. Values are:

• <no value> – starts the service once.

• auto – sets the service to auto start.

For example, to start the service:

nwmsvc –start

To set the service to auto start:

nwmsvc –start=auto

Stops the NightWatchman service, for example:

nwmsvc -stop

Displays the current NightWatchman service configuration parameters on the command-line.

Behavior of the system tray applet.

• ON – displays system tray applet.

• ON1 – displays the system tray applet with the Keep Active option disabled.

• OFF – hides the system tray applet, unless backup documents exist.

Duration (in minutes) for the window that governs the recent user activity test. If users have been active during a determined period prior to a NightWatchman scheduled event, the event is postponed.

• Must be between 0 and 1440 inclusive.

• 0 disables this feature.

The postponement time is governed by the NightWatchman retryinterval switch setting. useractivitymaxidlemins does not affect shutdowns started from the system tray or those where the NightWatchman logoffaction=Force.

To set the user activity window to 20 minutes:

nightwatchman 
-useractivitymaxidlemins=20

Displays the NightWatchman product version number. You will need the version number when contacting 1E support.

Displays the current NightWatchman settings.

Sets the named setting to the specified value.

Schedules an immediate shutdown. The command accepts the optional parameters LogOffAction, CountdownSecs and CountdownDlgText.

Schedules an immediate reboot (restart). The command accepts the optional parameters LogOffAction, CountdownSecs and CountdownDlgText.

Schedules an immediate hibernate (suspend). The command accepts the optional parameters CountdownSecs and CountdownDlgText.

Schedules an immediate standby (sleep). The command accepts the optional parameters CountdownSecs and CountdownDlgText.

Sets the number of seconds that the countdown timer dialog box will be displayed before the shutdown or log-off action is executed.

The minimum value is 0 seconds. The maximum value is 3600 seconds (1 hour).

Determines the behavior when a user is logged onto the system.

Can be set to one of Passive, Active or Force.

Sets the number of times that a power down will be attempted if cancelled by the user. The minimum value is 0 retries. The maximum value is 1440 retries. The default value is 3 retries.

Sets the interval (in minutes) at which the service will retry a power down if cancelled by the user or if a power down cannot be performed. The minimum value is 1 minute. The maximum value is 60 minutes. The default value is 60 minutes.

Determines the power down method. Can be set to one of Hibernate, Logoff, Normal, PowerOff, Reboot or Standby.

Sets the behavior on encountering errors in the power down scripts.

When set to OFF (the default), any errors in the power down scripts will prevent the power down from taking place.

When set to ON, any errors in the power down scripts will be ignored and the power down will be allowed to continue.

When set to ON, every power down action (except for sleep and hibernate) will run the RunAlways scripts after any other scripts have run.

When set to ON, every sleep or hibernate power down action will run the RunAlwaysOnSleep scripts after any other scripts have any run.

When set to ON, the RunAlwaysOnResume scripts will be run after the system wakes up from a sleep or hibernate power down action.

Controls the number of seconds that NightWatchman will wait before starting the RunAlwaysOnResume scripts. The minimum value is 0. The maximum value is 300 (5 minutes). The default value is 30 seconds

Controls whether NightWatchman will attempt to enforce a power scheme. Can be set to one of the following values:

ON: The NightWatchman power scheme will be applied when the service starts and when a user logs in.

OFF: The power scheme will not be applied. (Default)

Set the hard disks to switch to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on mains power. A value of zero turns this power management option off. The default value is 10.

Set the hard disks to switch to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on battery power. A value of zero turns this power management option off. The default value is 10.

Set the computer to hibernate after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on mains power. A value of zero turns this power management option off. The default value is 0.

Set the computer to hibernate after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on battery power. A value of zero turns this power management option off. The default value is 10.

Set the monitor to switch to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on mains power. A value of zero turns this power management option off. The default value is 10.

Set the monitor to switch to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on battery power. A value of zero turns this power management option off. The default value is 2.

Set the computer to switch to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on mains power. A value of zero turns this power management option off. The default value is 10.

Set the computer to switch to standby after a specified number of minutes of system idle time when the computer is running on battery power. A value of zero turns this power management option off. The default value is 10.

Turns NightWatchman reporting on or off.

Sets the maximum interval to wait before batch dispatching messages in the spooler to the reporting server.

Sets the maximum age of a reporting file. Beyond this value, the file will not be submitted to the reporting server and will instead be deleted.

Sets the minimum number of messages in the spooler before a batch is dispatched to the reporting server.

Sets the number of seconds to wait before the spooler will check for new reporting messages.

Sets the location to which reporting messages are spooled before being sent to the reporting server.

Clears and adds a list of process names into the process exception list from a file.

Clears the process exception list.

Adds the name of a single process to the process exception list.

Removes the name of a single process from the process exception list.

Clears and adds a list of process names into the process exception list from a file.

Clears the process exception list.

Sets the polling interval to check for new power policy check in minutes. This is a number between 1 and 43200.

Specifies the domain name or address of the HTTP server used for reporting and policy retrieval. This value can be suffixed with a custom port number. eg. server:80

Enables the running of a custom script prior to NightWatchman commencing the power down process.

Controls the display of the status menu icon. The default value is ON.

The ON1 setting enables the status menu icon, but disables the "Keep Active" menu item.