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Background Jobs

Purpose

Background Jobs is the list of scheduled jobs that Clarity Transform runs automatically. Each row is one job with a cron schedule, the time it last ran, the time it will next run and the result of its last run. Most jobs in the list are integration discovery jobs, named after the integration endpoint they belong to. The list also includes system jobs, such as Database Backup and Temporal History Archive. Clarity shows a fixed list of jobs, each with its own schedule, rather than a queue of individual runs.

Where to find it

Settings → System → Background Jobs

What you see

Columns

  • Name: integration jobs are named after their integration endpoint.
  • Schedule: a five-field cron expression, for example 00 22 * * * or 30 5 * * *.
  • Last Run
  • Next Run
  • Last Result (see Values)
  • Execution Time
  • Script Path
  • Status (see Values)
  • Technology: values seen include VMware vSphere, Nutanix AHV, Nutanix Move, Hyper-V and PowerShell.

The grid also has the hidden columns Id, Parameters and Integration Endpoint Id, and the audit fields.

Fields

The create form (Create new entry) has these fields, in this order. The edit form (Edit entry) has the same fields, filled in.

  • Name: text.
  • Schedule: text, a five-field cron expression.
  • Next Run: a date.
  • Parameters: text. Help: "JSON parameters passed to the background script", followed by two JSON examples (one with RetentionDays and TablesToExport, one with SqlInstance and DatabaseName).
  • Script Path: text.
  • Technology: text.

Last Run, Last Result, Execution Time, Status and Integration Endpoint Id are hidden in the form, so they can't be set there. The form footer has Cancel and Save.

Values

  • Last Result takes one of these forms:
  • Completed at <timestamp> - Integration triggered
  • Completed at <timestamp> - Success
  • Failed at <timestamp> - <error text>
  • Status: every job showed Pending in this build, including jobs whose Last Result reports a recent completion.

Actions

  • The standard grid toolbar: Create New Background Jobs, Edit Background Jobs, Remove selected, Clear selection, Reload table data, Enable spreadsheet editing, Export CSV and Import CSV.
  • View Details: the only row action (the eye icon).
  • This screen has no control to run a job immediately, and no control to enable or disable a job. To run an integration's job now, select Mark as Running on its endpoint's row on the integration's Endpoints tab; to stop it running on schedule, clear the endpoint's Enabled. See Integrations.

Filters

The grid has a Search: box and a filter row under each column.

The grid remembers its Search: text, column filters, sort order and page size between visits. If the grid shows fewer rows than you expect, clear the Search: box and the filter row.

How to

Check whether a job ran successfully

  1. Go to Settings → System → Background Jobs.
  2. Find the job by Name, or use the Search: box above the grid.
  3. Read Last Run and Last Result. A result of the form Failed at <timestamp> - <error text> gives the error after the timestamp.
  4. Read Next Run to see when it will run again.

Read a job's schedule

  1. Go to Settings → System → Background Jobs.
  2. Read Schedule for the job. The five fields are, in order: minute, hour, day of month, month and weekday, the same order as the Job Schedule field on integration endpoints. For example, 00 22 * * * means minute 00 of hour 22 on every day.

Change a job's schedule

  1. Go to Settings → System → Background Jobs.
  2. Select the job's row, then select the edit icon (Edit Background Jobs). The Edit entry form opens with the job's values.
  3. Change Schedule to the new cron expression, for example 30 5 * * *.
  4. Select Save.

Integration jobs appear to take their schedule from the Job Schedule of their integration endpoint. To change when an integration runs, change the endpoint's Job Schedule on the integration's Endpoints tab rather than the job here, so that the endpoint and the job agree.

Find the job for an endpoint

  1. Note the endpoint's Name on the integration's Endpoints tab.
  2. Go to Settings → System → Background Jobs and type the name in Search:. Integration jobs are named after their endpoint.
  3. Read Schedule, Next Run and Last Result. Next Run is when the job is next due.
  • Integrations: each integration endpoint has a Job Schedule.
  • Event Log: job runs are logged there with the Source Context BackgroundJobService.
  • System Health: its Background Jobs check lists jobs that are stuck, recently failed or overdue.
  • System Settings: other system-level settings.