HCL Workload Automation, Version 9.4

Import Cron and Windows Task Scheduler jobs

Control all your business tasks from a single point of control and reduce the risk and time involved in using multiple schedulers.

Before you begin

You can use this same procedure to import a previously exported Application Lab process.

About this task

Import a cron job or Windows Task Scheduler job into Workload Automation to take advantage of the powerful scheduling capabilities of HCL Workload Automation. You can use the simple intuitive Application Lab user interface to read crontab files or Windows Task Scheduler jobs and convert them into processes. The processes are added to your Process Library with the same specifications as the original jobs. You can then modify, scheduler, and monitor them along with all of your other business processes or integrate them into a comprehensive business process.

To manage your Cron and Windows Task Scheduler jobs in your HCL Workload Automation environment, perform the following steps:

Procedure

In the Application Lab main window, click the down arrow in the Process Library toolbar and select Import.
Select into which folder in the Process Library you want to import the data.
Browse for and select your Cron or Windows Task Scheduler job and click Upload.
Application Lab identifies the file type and the wizard changes accordingly:
Cron files

Select the user to run the command specified in the cron file. You can choose between:
Specified in the file

The user that runs the command is defined in the cron file. This is the default value.

Specify

Select to specify the user that runs the command.

One process is created for each command in the file. Each process is scheduled to run independently of the other processes, as defined in the cron file. For each process, you can specify the agent where you want the process to run and the rules to be imported.

Windows Task Scheduler files

Specify the agent where you want the process to run. A single process is created for all commands in the file, which are inserted in the process as steps.

Previously exported Application Lab process

Specify the agent where you want the process to run.
Click Import. Your scheduler files are now imported and available for use in Application Lab.

Results

You can now manage, schedule and monitor your Cron or Windows Task Scheduler job like any other process in Application Lab.

Limitations

About this task

There are some limitations that apply to the import of a Cron or Windows Task Scheduler job.

Cron

You can use commas only for the second and third fields, indicating the hour and the day of the month, respectively. In all other fields, you must use the dash (-) to indicate a range. For example, a range from one to five must be specified as follows: 1-5. Consider the following example, in which you specify that the job must run on the 30th day of each month once a minute, from 12;30 AM to 12;35 AM and from 12;30 PM to 12;35 PM:
```
30-35 0,12 30 * *
```
The range-type syntax is not supported in the penultimate field of the rule
In the last field of the rule, you can use a value between zero or seven and six only if in both the third and fourth field the value provided is *. In all other cases, the value of the last field must be *. The zero and seven values both indicate Sunday and can be used interchangeably.

Windows Task Scheduler

General tab

The following fields and options are not supported or are partially supported:

Run only when user is logged on
Run whether user is logged on or not
Run with highest privileges
Hidden
Configure for

Trigger tab

Triggers are supported only if based on a schedule. The related advanced settings are not supported. Specifying how often the task should run is not supported.

Action tab

Only the Start a program action is supported.

Conditions tab

This tab is not supported.

Settings tab

Only the If the task is already running, then the following rule applies selection is supported, besides in that selection, the Stop the existing instance option is not supported.