Remote Shutdown – XP, Server 2003

From the command line, you can shut down or reboot any Windows Server 2003 computer (or even Windows XP or Vista machines) with the Shutdown.exe command. (Note: The exe file extension is optional for the Shutdown command.) Shutdown.exe contains a number of switches that allow you to specify different actions for the server when the Shutdown command executes. The Shutdown.exe switches are as follows:

/? Displays the Help listing
/i Displays the graphical user interface (GUI); it must be the first option
/l Logs off the current user; it cannot be used with the /d or /m options
/s Shuts down the computer
/r Shuts down and restarts the computer
/g Shuts down and restarts the computer and then restarts any registered applications
/a Aborts system Shutdown
/p Turns off the local computer with no timeout or warning
/h Hibernates the local machine
/e Documents the reason for shutting down the computer
/m Specifies the target computer; it is used with \\computername
/t xxx Where xxx is the number of seconds before Shutdown
/c “comment” Where “comment” is the reason for the Shutdown or restart
/f Forces running applications to close without warning users
/d [p|u:]xx:yy Provides the reason for the Shutdown action: p = planned; u= unplanned; xx supplies the major reason code; yy = supplies the minor reason code

When you enter a Shutdown with no arguments, the Help listing will display. The Help listing also includes the reason codes available for use with the /d switch. The reason codes are shown below:

Reasons on this computer:
E=Expected U=Unexpected P=Planned c=Customer Defined
Type Major Minor Title
U

0

0

Other(Unplanned)
E

0

0

Other(Unplanned)
EP

0

0

Other(Planned)
U

0

5

Other Failure: System Unresponsive
E

1

1

Hardware: Maintenance(Unplanned)
EP

1

1

Hardware: Maintenance(Planned)
E

1

2

Hardware: Installation(Unplanned)
EP

1

2

Hardware: Installation(Planned)
P

2

3

Operating System: Upgrade (Planned)
E

2

4

Operating System:
Reconfiguration (Unplanned)
EP

2

4

Operating System:
Reconfiguration(Planned)
P

2

16

Operating System:
Service Pack (Planned)
U

2

17

Operating System:
Hotfix (Unplanned)
P

2

17

Operating System:
Hotfix(Planned)
U

2

18

Operating System:
Security Fix(Unplanned)
P

2

18

Operating System:
Security Fix(Planned)
E

4

1

Application: Maintenance(Unplanned)
EP

4

1

Application: Maintenance(Planned)
EP

4

2

Application: Installation(Planned)
E

4

5

Application: Unresponsive
E

4

6

Application: Unstable
U

5

15

System Failure: Stop Error
E

5

19

Security Issue
U

5

19

Security Issue
EP

5

19

Security Issue
E

5

20

Loss of Network Connectivity
(Unplanned)
U

6

11

Power Failure: Cord Unplugged
U

6

12

Power Failure: Environment
P

7

0

Legacy API Shutdown

You can use many of these switches in conjunction with one another when issuing the Shutdown command. A usage example for the Shutdown command follows:

Shutdown /r /c “Hanging Application or service” /t 30

This example would restart the local machine storing the comment provided with the /c switch. Windows would wait 30 seconds before initiating the restart. You might also create a batch file to use when it is necessary to restart a server in a remote location. The batch file might look like this:

Shutdown /m \\computername /r /c “Remote Restart” /t 45

By saving this command in a batch file, it can save you time if you routinely restart the same remote server.