Creating a Task

Each task has the following properties:

  • Task Name – this specifies the functional operation that the task performs
  • Title – this is a localizable title that is visible in the utility to identify the task
  • Node ID –: this is a pull-down list that is populated by the names of the nodes that are started on the cluster. The node ID is specified in the Configuration.properties file as the WEB_SERVER_NAME. The name of each node ID must be unique in the cluster
  • Start Option – This may be one of the following:

    • None: no action to be taken for/by the task
    • START_ON_BOOT: start up the task when the application server node is started
    • START_NOW: start up the task immediately and also when the node is started
    • STOP_NOW: stop the task immediately and discard its thread
    • AUTO_START: the task will be started by ExtraView when it is required. For example, the Metadata Export and Metadata Import tasks are only started when they are required
    • STOPPED: the task is currently stopped, but if required again, it will be started automatcially. For example, the Metadata Export and Metadata Import tasks are stopped when they have completed their functionality, but can be started again if required
  • Poll Interval – This is the number of seconds between each triggering of the task. Once the task has finished, it stops executing until the poll interval is reached
  • Class Name – This is the name of the Java class that contains the code for the task to be executed
  • ERROR_NOTIFICATION_WARNING: The value to this optional property specifies a period of time which is the maximum amount of elapsed time during which the task may be idle before an email warning is sent to administrators.  If the task has the START or START_ON_BOOT start option set, then if the amount of specified idle time is exceeded, warning emails are sent to users with the ADMIN role.  The syntax to set this option is either of the following two options:

    • ERROR_NOTIFICATION_WARNING = nn MINUTES
    • ERROR_NOTIFICATION_WARNING = nn MISSED_POLLS
  • ERROR_NOTIFICATION_REMINDER: The value to this optional property specifies a period of time which is the maximum amount of elapsed time during which the task may be idle before an email reminder is sent to administrators.  If the task has the START or START_ON_BOOT start option set, then if the amount of specified idle time is exceeded, reminder emails are sent to users with the ADMIN role.  The syntax to set this option is either of the following two options:
  • ERROR_NOTIFICATION_REMINDER = nn MINUTES
  • ERROR_NOTIFICATION_REMINDER = nn MISSED_POLLS

Modifying a Task

After viewing the list of tasks, the administrator may modify some aspects of any one of the tasks:

  1. Title
  2. Node Id
  3. Start Option
  4. Start Option
  5. Poll Interval
  6. Class name

Generally, this function is used to modify the start option, either to start or to stop a task from executing or to alter the frequency with which the task executes. No matter what the prior value is for start option, when the user updates the task, the specified start option is carried out by the task control task. START_NOW and STOP_NOW have immediate consequences on the target node, as long as the task control task (TASK_CONTROL_TASK) is running.

Deleting a Task

One of the options in the task management utility EDIT screen is to delete a task. Note that this only removes the task from the task management utility and has no effect on the background processing of the task. If it is already running, it continues to run. If the task is stopped or in error it remains in that state.

Tasks in a Multi-Node (Clustered) Environment

Some tasks run on a single node, and some may or must run on all nodes in your network.  There are some considerations:

ADD_UPDATE Add & Update Task Optional.  This may be run on any or all nodes and must be run if you are using ADD, COPY and UPDATE business rules or handling large-sized file imports
BATCHMAIL  Batchmail Task Optional.  Should but should be run on a single node to process outgoing notifications
ESCALATION  Escalation Task Optional.  Should be run on a single node to process issue escalations
EVMAIL  EVMail Task Optional.  Can be run many times on one or more different nodes to process incoming emails.  Each instance of the task can be configured differently
FILE_IMPORT_WORKER File Import Task Optional.  Used to process file imports
FULL_TEXT_SYNCHRONIZE Quickfind Task Optional, but is almost always run on a single node to process inserted and updated text within issues
SCHEDULED_REPORT_TASK Scheduled Report Task Optional, but must be run to process the scheduling and delivery of reports
SESSION_MONITOR Session Monitor Task This must run once on all nodes, and runs by default
TASK_CONTROL_TASK Task Control Task This must run once on all nodes, and runs by default
TEMPLATE_LOADER Template Loader Task Optional but if used should be run on all nodes.  Used in a small number of sites to pre-load the most commonly used templates, thereby improving performance to users when the application server is first started

On any node, you may monitor the status of tasks running on that node or other nodes within the cluster.  You can start and stop tasks from any node and download the application server log from any of these nodes.  This is providing that you have permission to that part of the file system with an absolute path.