Managing Background Tasks

A scheduled task is a task that is in queue to be performed.

To view the scheduled tasks, go to Operations > Tasks > Background tab, the Scheduled Tasks subtab.

Scheduled tasks are represented in the form of a list and have such parameters as:

• ID. The unique task number.
• Name. The task name. It can contain operation details like a host name or user ID.
• Start date. The date and time the task was scheduled.

• Queue name. The task's queue name. All tasks inside the group have the same queue name and are performed consecutively. The queue is formed when several tasks are needed to fulfill a single job. For example, creating a VPS requires several consecutive operations: configure the IP address, install a set of vz templates, set a VPS root password, and so on. If one of the tasks in a queue fails, all the subsequent tasks will not be performed and will be set as scheduled until you restart or cancel the failed task. Tasks with different queue names are performed independently.

  Note: To find out the name of the group the task belongs to, click the task name. To search for tasks by a number of task parameters including the group name, click Advanced search.

• Subscription ID. The unique number of the subscription for which the task was run. If the task does not have relation to a subscription, this is blank.

• Status. One of the following three states the task is in:

  • Unprocessed. The task is awaiting to be executed (marked white).
  • Rescheduled. The task failed during its execution and is queued again (marked yellow). Periodic tasks' statuses are always rescheduled.
  • Running. The task is executing at that moment (marked green).
  • Canceled. The task that was manually recalled from execution. Tasks in this status are moved under the Canceled Tasks subtab. To view canceled tasks select this subtab.
  • Restarted. The task was interrupted (marked yellow).
  • Failed. It is impossible to execute the task due to some reason, for example, a necessary component is missing (marked red with the white exclamation point).

Task important details not displayed in the list but on the task dashboard (click the task to view):

Along with the task details displayed in the list, you can see the following important details on a task dashboard:

• Parent task ID. The numeric identifier of the task that scheduled this one. It is filled automatically and will be visible on a task dashboard only if this task is scheduled from another task handler. Click the parent task's ID to display its details.
• Belong to groups. The names of the groups the task belongs to. Tasks are grouped to execute complex actions in CloudBlue Commerce (for example, provisioning of a service). Filtering by the name of a group fetches all the tasks related to an action.
• Subscription ID. The unique numeric identifier of the subscription for which the task was run. Click the subscription's ID to display its details.

Dependent Tasks:

Aside from the task dependencies in one queue, a single task can also depend on another queue. For example, you scheduled a backup operation for a VPS, then set the same VPS for deletion without waiting for it to finish backing up. In this case, the deletion will not start until the back-up operation queue successfully finishes. If it fails, the dependent task (VPS deletion) is considered failed too.

To see if a task or queue blocks or depends on the execution of the other tasks in the neighboring queues, click its name in the tasks list. If there are any dependent tasks, the Tasks this task depends on tab or the Tasks this task blocks tab will be available. Clicking that tab will show you the list of dependent tasks. To cancel all the dependent tasks you can click Cancel Tasks Tree.

Operations with tasks available to the provider are Cancel Tasks Tree and Run Tasks. To perform any of these operations, put a tick next in the check boxes to the necessary tasks to select them and click the corresponding button.

Note: Run Tasks is applicable only to tasks with the Failed status.

Canceling Tasks:

Cancel Task Tree. Task can be canceled using the Cancel Tasks Tree button. Because a task cancellation results in the cancellation of all its dependent tasks, this option allows you to be aware of the impact of canceling a task.

You will be displayed the confirmation screen displaying the list of all the tasks that are dependent from the task you were going to cancel. The selected task and its dependent tasks that are also will be canceled are displayed in a tree view. To cancel the task and all its dependent tasks, click Submit. To avoid cancellation, click Back.

Important: Before canceling tasks, carefully review the dependent tasks to ensure that all of them have the same Subscription ID. After submitting the cancellation operation, all the tasks in the tree will be canceled.

Cancel Task without Dependent Tasks Preview. To cancel a task without previewing the tasks tree, click the task name in the scheduled tasks list. As the task dashboard is displayed, you can cancel it using the Cancel Task button. This type of cancellation is not recommended because dependent task cancellation may result in unexpected behavior of the CloudBlue Commerce system.