Using Scheduled Tasks in Aptify

Scheduled tasks can simplify the management of an Aptify system by automating recurring tasks and maintenance processes. To use Scheduled Tasks, you must have one or more Application Servers installed on the system.

Aptify's view scheduling, delayed message delivery, and message scheduling features use Scheduled Tasks to automatically execute views and send messages on a scheduled specified by the user. See Enabling View Scheduling for information on View Scheduling, Scheduling Messages for Future Delivery for information on delayed message delivery, and Message Schedules and Recurring Delivery for information on message scheduling.

In addition, an organization can use scheduled tasks to automate any recurring system task. The following is an overview of how an organization might use scheduled tasks in Aptify:

1. An organization identifies a recurring task that can be automated.
2. An administrator creates a process flow that provides the required functionality for the identified task.
   • This process flow should typically be configured with Execution Mode set to Asynchronous and Execution Location set to Server.
   • You can use synchronous process flows with scheduled tasks but the process flow must not require any user intervention or display any windows.
   • Process flows are defined in Aptify using the Process Pipeline functionality. See How to Create a Process Pipeline for information on creating process flows.
      
3. An administrator installs an Application Server on the network. Installing Application Servers for details.
4. An administrator creates a new Scheduled Tasks record that contains the following information (see Creating a Scheduled Task):
   • The name of the Process Flow to run (created in Step 2).
   • The Input Map for the Process Flow (this determines the results or output of the Process Flow).
   • The name of the Application Server (installed in Step 3) that will execute the specified Process Flow.
   • The frequency with this the task should run (for example, a task can be configured to run every night, every week, every month, etc.).
   • The Job Account that will run the Windows Scheduled Task.
      
5. Upon saving a new Scheduled Task, the Application Server adds the task to its Windows Scheduler.
   • Click Start > Control Panel > Scheduled Tasks to view the tasks configured in the Windows Scheduler.

   • This assumes that the Scheduled Task uses the Windows Scheduler. The process is slightly different for a task configured with the Remote Scheduler. For the Schedule Only service, the system does not create a Windows Scheduled Task.

     Only Trusted Aptify users that are members of one of the following Windows groups on the Application Server can create or edit Scheduled Tasks: Administrators, Backup Operators, or Server Operators. If you want a user who is not a member of one of these Windows groups to create scheduled tasks, use Remote Scheduler service. See About the Remote Scheduler Service for details.

     
     
     

6. On the specified date and at the specified time, the Windows Scheduler runs the task and notifies the Application Server. The Application Server then creates a pending Process Flow Run record for the task.
7. The Application Server (specified in the Scheduled Tasks record) picks up the pending Process Flow Run record the next time it polls the database server (assuming that the Application Server has an available thread).
8. The Application Server executes the Process Flow and updates the run record as necessary.
9. The process repeats at regular intervals, as specified in the Scheduled Task.