acturnonmonitor

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

advancedsleeplessdetection

• ON
• OFF

To turn advanced sleepless detection off:

nightwatchman 
-advancedsleeplessdetection=off

alarmclock

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

busyprocessdetection

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

countdowndlgtext

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.

countdownsecs

• 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

debug

delaysecs

• Must be between 30 and 300 inclusive

To set a 1 minute delay before the countdown starts:

nightwatchman 
-delaysecs=60

diskac

diskdc

hardwareutilization

hardwareutilizationsampleinterval

hardwareutilizationaggregationinterval

help

hibernateac

hibernatedc

hibernatenow

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

httpserver

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

httpsserver

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

ignoreerrors

ignorescripterrors

logfilename

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

logoffaction

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.

macspoolerdirectory

maintenancewnd

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)"

maxbatchsendintervalsecs

maximumfileagesecs

maxlogfilesize

• 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

minmessagesperbatch

monitorac

monitordc

monitorjobs

mwturnonmonitor

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

onceoff

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

passwordonwakeup

• 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

pelistadd

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

pelistclear

pelistdel

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

pelistfrom

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

pelistshow

pendingjobwindowmins

• 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.

policycertissuer

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

policycertsubject

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

policyserverurl

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

pollintervalmins

pollintervalsecs

pollretryintervalmins

powerscheme

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

prerun

• 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.

• ON – enables the pre-run script
• OFF – disables the pre-run script

rebootnow

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

relicense

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

reporting

reportingcertissuer

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

reportingcertsubject

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

reportingserver

reportingserverurl

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

http://<server>/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

retryattempts

• 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

retryinterval

• Must be between 1 and 60 inclusive.

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

nightwatchman -retryinterval=15

runalways

Bbehavior 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

runalwaysforsleep

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

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

runonresume

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

runonresumedelaysecs

runscriptseverylogoff

scheduledactions

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

scripttimeoutsecs

• Must be between 1 and 120 inclusive.

securepolicyserverurl

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

securereportingserverurl

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

selistadd

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)

selistclear

selistdel

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

nightwatchman 
-selistdel=notepad.exe

selistfrom

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

selistshow

settings

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

shutdownaction

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

shutdowndays

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

shutdownmsg

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!"

shutdownnow

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

shutdownonce

shutdowntime

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.

spoolerdirectory

standbyac

standbydc

standbynow

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.

start

• <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

stop

Stops the NightWatchman service, for example:

nwmsvc -stop

summary

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

systemtray

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

useractivitymaxidlemins

• 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

version

waitminutesforunavailableserver