Scheduling - How To

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Create a Job Schedule

Create an SRM Data Collection Schedule Policy

Create an SRM Reports Schedule Policy

View a Job Schedule

View Job Schedules From the Schedule Viewer

Modify a Job Schedule

Disable a Schedule

Delete a Job Schedule

Run a Scheduled Job Immediately

Schedule a Task from the Scheduled Jobs Window

Exclude Schedules on Holidays

Create a Schedule Filter

View Details/Modify a Schedule Filter

Delete a Schedule Filter

Configure Job-Based Alerts

Modify Alerts

Delete Alerts

Create a Job Schedule

• The scheduler does not consider Daylight Savings Time when scheduling tasks in different time zones.

• If you create a one-time schedule for a time that has past, the scheduled job will initiate immediately, providing it is within the default schedule window of two hours, or the within the time set from the schedWindow registry key. For more information on the schedWindow registry key, see Registry Keys and Parameters.

• If you are scheduling a data protection operation, consider the following:

  • You can schedule all of your subclients of a particular backup set/instance at once by creating the schedule at the backup set/instance level.

  • Ensure that the schedules you create for a backup cycle are complementary. For example, if you want to schedule daily incremental backups and a full backup once a week, do not schedule any incremental backups on the day the full backup is to occur.

  • Consider the retention rules of the storage policies of your subclients when designing schedules for a higher level CommCell object, such as a backup set/instance.

  • If you are creating a schedule at the backup set/instance level, and the subclients of that backup set/instance are using the same storage policy, it is possible that one subclient will be backed up at the specified time, but the other subclients will queue until the storage policy resources are free.

  • If your CommCell has many client computers, try to coordinate your data protection operations to minimize media, media drive, and possible network contention.

  • To secure all data for a given agent on a client computer, make certain to define schedules either for all subclients within the agent or for the entire backup set/instance.

  • Check if an operation window has been established for data protection operations. If an operation window exists, make certain to schedule the data protection operation with the operation window.

• If you are scheduling a data recovery operation, consider the following:

  • If your CommCell has several client computers, try to coordinate your data recovery operation to minimize media, media drive, and possible network contention.

  • Check if an operation window has been established for data recovery operations. If an operation window exists, make certain to schedule the data recovery operation within operation window.

• If you plan to use a custom calendar, be sure that the calendar has been defined for several years. When time definitions for a custom calendar expire, related schedules will be deleted.

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To create a job schedule for an operation:

1. From the dialog box of the appropriate operation, click Schedule.
2. In the Schedule Details dialog box that appears, select the appropriate scheduling options. Click Options to view more options. You can also confirm and/or edit (where applicable) your choices from the Job Summary tab. For a monthly or yearly schedule, you can select either a standard calendar or a custom calendar.
3. Click OK.

Create an SRM Data Collection Schedule Policy

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To create an SRM Data Collection Schedule Policy:

1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Schedule Policies node, then click New Schedule Policy.
2. From the New Schedule Policy dialog box, enter a name for the schedule policy, select the type of schedule policy (SRM Data Collection), select an agent for this schedule policy or All Agent Types, and include a brief description.
3. Click Add to define the schedule.
4. Define a schedule from the Schedule Details tab of the Schedule Details dialog box.
5. Select the type of Data Collection from the Job Options tab. Click the Advanced button to specify the Advanced Options: Startup and Job Retry.

A discovery level data collection job can be associated with the Client or the Agent along with the default Subclient while creating the schedule policy.

6. Click OK. The schedule pattern are populated in the Schedule Policy Schedules pane.
7. From the New Schedule Policy dialog box, click the Associations tab:
   • Select either one or more client computer group(s), client(s), subclient(s), or any combination. All items under the one chosen will be associated with this schedule policy for Data Collection. If a client is selected, all current and future items under the one selected will be included in the schedule policy. (These items are denoted by an up arrow.) You can also select individual subclients. In this case, only selected subclients will be protected. If new subclients are added in the future, they will not be included.
   • Click Select All to select all the client computer group(s) and client(s) listed for the agent to be associated, if necessary.
8. Click the Alert tab:
   • Click the Configure Alert box, if you want to configure an alert for this schedule policy.
   • Following the steps in the Add Alert Wizard. Click Finish in the Finish step.
9. Click OK. The new schedule policy is displayed in the CommCell Browser.

Create an SRM Reports Schedule Policy

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To create an Agent Specific or All Agent Types data protection schedule policy:

1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Schedule Policies node, then click New Schedule Policy.
2. From the New Schedule Policy dialog box, enter a name for the schedule policy, select the type of schedule policy (SRM Reports) and include a brief description.
3. Click Add to define the schedule.
4. Define a schedule from the Schedule Details tab of the Schedule Details dialog box.
5. Select report-to-file exporting and Predictive Trending options regarding the SRM reports from the Options tab.
6. Click OK. The status of the report-to-file exporting and Predictive Trending options along with the schedule pattern are populated in the Schedule Policy Schedules pane.
7. From the New Schedule Policy dialog box, click the Associations tab:
   • For each agent or feature, expand the appropriate node and select the name of one or more reports. All items under the one chosen will be associated with this schedule policy to be backed up. If an agent or a feature is selected, all current and future items under the one selected will be included in the schedule policy. (These items are denoted by an up arrow.)
   • Click Select All to select all the agents, features, and reports to be associated, if necessary.
8. Click the Alert tab:
   • Click the Configure Alert box, if you want to configure an alert for this schedule policy.
   • Following the steps in the Add Alert Wizard. Click Finish in the Finish step.
9. Click OK. The new schedule policy is displayed in the CommCell Browser.

View a Job Schedule

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To view a job schedule:

1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the appropriate node, select All Tasks -> Schedules.

   To view the schedules for a SRM subclient, right click the desired subclient and select Schedules.

   To view the schedules for a Automated Content Classification Policy, from the CommCell Explorer, right-click the Automated Content Classification policy and select View Schedules.

2. All existing schedules for that node (e.g., client) are displayed in the Scheduled Jobs window. You can filter the schedules by job type by selecting a job type from the Filter schedules by job type list box.

   If you are viewing the schedules for the entire CommCell, then from the CommCell's Scheduled Jobs window, select the filters from the Filters list box.

3. Select a schedule, then double-click or click Edit to view the schedule details and job summary of a particular job. For a job related to a schedule policy, double-click the job or click View.

View Job Schedules From the Schedule Viewer

Before You Begin

• The Schedule Viewer shows jobs that are scheduled to occur at some future time. It does not show jobs that have already occurred.
• By default the display is monthly.

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To view jobs that are scheduled from the schedule viewer:

1. From the Tools menu of the CommCell Console, select Scheduler.
2. From the Schedule Filter Dialog, select the month and year you would like to view the schedules from. Select the job type, either data protection and recovery jobs, and/or administrative jobs. If you selected data protection and recovery jobs, you must select which clients you want to view the schedules for. You can select either All Clients or select particular clients from the list. Click Show.
3. In the Schedule Viewer window, the schedules that correspond to the filtering options you set from the Schedule Filter Dialog are displayed. You can use the stepper arrows in the upper right corner of the Schedule Viewer window to view other months. You can also view a specific month and year by specifying it in the list boxes in the upper left corner of the window.
4. To view the details of a specific day, double-click the day and then the jobs scheduled to run on that day will be displayed.
5. Click OK.

Modify a Job Schedule

Before You Begin

• When changing the schedules for a data protection or data recovery operation, you should observe the same precautions as those used when creating these schedules.
• This option is not available for jobs associated with a schedule policy.

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To modify a job schedule:

1. From the appropriate level in the CommCell Browser, right-click the entity, click All Tasks and then click Schedules.
2. From the Scheduled Jobs dialog box, click the job that you want to reschedule and then click Edit.
3. From the Schedule Details tab of the Schedule Details dialog box, select the scheduling options that you want to apply.
4. If you want to review the options that you selected for the job, click the Job Summary tab.
5. To submit the job for scheduling, click OK.

Disable or Enable a Schedule

Before You Begin

Once a schedule is disabled, the scheduled task will not initiate at the scheduled time.

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To disable or enable a schedule:

1. From the appropriate node of the CommCell Browser, right-click the entity, click All Tasks and then click Schedules.
2. From the Scheduled Jobs dialog box, select the scheduled task (or multiple scheduled tasks) you want to disable or enable, then click Disable or Enable.
3. The schedule is displayed as Disabled or Enabled in the Status column.
4. Click Close.

Delete a Job Schedule

Before You Begin

This option is not available for jobs that are associated with a schedule policy. These jobs must first be decoupled before they are deleted.

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To delete a job schedule:

1. From the appropriate node in the CommCell Browser, right-click the entity, click All Tasks and then click Schedules.
2. From the Scheduled Jobs dialog box, click the scheduled task (or multiple scheduled tasks) that you want to delete, and then click Delete.
3. If you are sure that you want to delete the job, click Yes in the Confirm Delete prompt that appears.

Run a Scheduled Task Immediately

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To run a scheduled task immediately:

1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the appropriate node, click All Tasks and then click Schedules.
2. From the Scheduled Jobs window, click a scheduled task (or multiple scheduled tasks), and then click Run Immediately.

The scheduled task is initiated.

Schedule a Task from the Scheduled Jobs Window

Before You Begin

• The scheduler does not consider Daylight Savings Time when scheduling tasks in different time zones.

• If you create a one-time schedule for a time that has past, the scheduled job will initiate immediately, providing it is within the default schedule window of two hours, or the within the time set from the schedWindow registry key. For more information on the schedWindow registry key, see Registry Keys and Parameters.

• If you are scheduling a data protection operation, consider the following:

  • You can schedule all of your subclients of a particular backup set/instance at once by creating the schedule at the backup set/instance level.

  • Ensure that the schedules you create for a backup cycle are complementary. For example, if you want to schedule daily incremental backups and a full backup once a week, do not schedule any incremental backups on the day the full backup is to occur.

  • Consider the retention rules of the storage policies of your subclients when designing schedules for a higher level CommCell object, such as a backup set/instance.

  • If you are creating a schedule at the backup set/instance level, and the subclients of that backup set/instance are using the same storage policy, it is possible that one subclient will be backed up at the specified time, but the other subclients will queue until the storage policy resources are free.

  • If your CommCell has many client computers, try to coordinate your data protection operations to minimize media, media drive, and possible network contention.

  • To secure all data for a given agent on a client computer, make certain to define schedules either for all subclients within the agent or for the entire backup set/instance.

  • Check if an operation window has been established for data protection operations. If an operation window exists, make certain to schedule the data protection operation with the operation window.

• If you are scheduling a data recovery operation, consider the following:

  • If your CommCell has several client computers, try to coordinate your data recovery operation to minimize media, media drive, and possible network contention.

  • Check if an operation window has been established for data recovery operations. If an operation window exists, make certain to schedule the data recovery operation within operation window.

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To schedule a task from the Schedule Jobs window:

1. From the appropriate level in the CommCell Browser, right-click the entity, click All Tasks and then click Schedules.
2. From the Scheduled Jobs window, click Add.
3. From the Schedule Tasks dialog box, select the CommCell entity from which the task is to be associated with, a list of task types is displayed on the right.
4. Select a task to be scheduled, and then click Create.
5. From the dialog box of the selected scheduled task, click Schedule. From the Schedule Details dialog box that appears, select the appropriate scheduling options. You can also confirm and/or edit (where applicable) your choices from the Job Summary tab. Click OK
6. The scheduled task is displayed in the Scheduled Jobs window. Click Close.

Exclude Schedules on Holidays

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To add or delete a holiday:

1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Client computer or Client Computer Group icon for which you wish to exclude schedules on holidays, click All Tasks, and then click Set Holidays. The Holidays window is displayed with the current holidays.

   (Note that you can also access the Holidays window by selecting Set Holidays in the CommCell Console's Control Panel).

2. To delete a holiday, select the appropriate holiday from the list in the Holidays window and click Delete.
3. To add a holiday, click Add. The Add Holiday window is displayed.
4. From the Start Date and End Date lists, select the start and end date and times for the holiday. If you want the holiday to apply annually, select the Annually option.
5. In the Description field, add a name or label for the holiday.
6. When you are finished, click OK.

Create a Schedule Filter

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To create a filter:

1. Right-click on the CommServe entity, and from the popup menu, click All Tasks and then Schedules.
2. From the Scheduled Jobs dialog box, click the icon to create a new filter.
3. From the Filter Definition dialog box:
• Enter a name for the filter; this name will display as a filter option in the Schedule Jobs dialog box Filters dropdown list box.
• Select the operations you wish to be included in the filter; you must select at least one operation type.
• Select the entities you wish to be included in the filter, if any.
4. Click OK.

View Details/Modify a Schedule Filter

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To view/modify a filter:

1. Right-click on the CommServe entity, and from the popup menu, click All Tasks and then Schedules.
2. From the Scheduled Jobs dialog box, click the icon to see and modify the filter details.
3. From the Filter Definition dialog box, you can:
   • Modify the name of the filter; this name will display as a filter option in the Schedule Jobs dialog box Filters dropdown list box.
   • Modify the operation selections you wish to be included in the filter; you must select at least one operation type.
   • Modify the entity selections you wish to be included in the filter.
4. Click OK.

Delete a Schedule Filter

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To delete a filter:

1. Right-click on the CommServe entity, and from the popup menu, click All Tasks and then Schedules.
2. From the Scheduled Jobs dialog box, select the filter you wish to delete in the Filters dropdown list box.

   Click the icon to delete the filter. Note that this button will be disabled when the filter listed in the Filters dropdown list box is active. If the filter is active, simply Apply another filter first, and then select this filter for deletion.

3. Click OK.

NOTES

Active filters cannot be deleted.

Configure Job-Based Alerts

In order for alerts to reach their intended recipients, alerts must first be configured. The following steps need to be taken in order to configure alerts:

• Select an Alert Category and Alert Type
• Associate Entities with the Alert
• Select the Threshold and Notification Criteria
• Select the Notification Type
• Select the CommCell Users and/or CommCell User Groups to Receive the Alert (Not necessary for alerts sent as SNMP traps or to the Windows System Event Viewer).

Procedure
Getting Started
1.	You can create job-based alerts while configuring an immediate job, scheduled job, configuring a schedule policy, or for a running job. While in the process of these configurations you will encounter an opportunity to create the alert, such as a tab or button. For a running job, right click on the job in the Job Controller window to initiate the popup menu. Click Add Alert. NOTES Depending on what options you select or what job you are creating, your screen may look different than the example shown.
Select an Alert Category and Alert Type
2.	From the Alerts window, click Add. In the General Information step of the Alert Wizard dialog box: Enter a name for the alert in the Display Name box. Select a category and alert type. See Available Alerts and Alert Descriptions for a complete list of available alerts. Click Next. NOTES Depending on what options you select, your screen may look different than the example shown.
Associate Entities with the Alert
3.	Associate entities with the alert (if applicable). NOTES Alerts must be associated with an entity based on the alert type. Once conditions with the entity meet a pre-selected criteria, an alert will be generated based on those conditions. Entities differ according to the type of alert selected. See Available Alerts and Alert Descriptions for a list of entities available for each alert type. A user must have the correct associations and capabilities to associate entities with alerts. See the capabilities column in Available Alerts and Alert Descriptions for more information. Click Next. NOTES Depending on what options you select, your screen may look different than the example shown.
Select the Threshold and Notification Criteria
4.	Select the conditions that will initiate the alert in the Alert Wizard's Threshold and Notification Criteria Selection dialog box. Then enable or disable the Send Individual Notification for This Alert option. (When enabled, recipients will only receive one notification for this alert.) Click Next. NOTES The threshold and notification criteria determine when and at which frequency an alert is generated. An alert is sent: Once conditions within the entity have met the selected criteria for the alert. For example, if the criteria of Job Skipped is selected for a Data Protection alert, then an alert will be sent if a data protection operation is skipped Either: Repeat if the condition persists for certain length of time. (Available for the Device Status and Library Management alerts only.) When the condition clears. (Available for the Device Status and Library Management alerts only.) After a specified number of attempts during a phase or network failure. (Available for the Auxiliary Copy and Data Protection alerts only.) If the alert notification was configured to send an escalated alert. If this option is available, select the time at which the escalated alert notification should be sent, the frequency and whether notification should be sent when the condition clears. If configuring a Job Management Data Protection alert, you can select the following additional notification option: Notify only when jobs qualify for extended retention If selected, when a data protection job meets the thresholds of the configured alert criteria, users will only be notified of those jobs that are set for extended retention. Depending on what options you select, your screen may look different than the example shown.
Select the Notification Type
5.	Select the way in which the alert is to be sent to its intended recipient. E-mail/pager messages can be customized by adding tokens to the body of the e-mail. The following notification types are available:
	E-Mail/Pager If you wish to send the alert by e-mail or pager: Click the E-Mail/Pager tab. Click the Select [E-Mail/Pager] for notification checkbox. If you wish to customize the e-mail or pager notification, click a token from the list and then click Add Token. Click Next. NOTES Depending on what options you select, your screen may look different than the example shown.
	SNMP If you wish to send the alert by a SNMP trap: Click the SNMP tab. Click the Select [SNMP] for notification checkbox. If you wish to customize the SNMP notification, click a token from the list and then click Add Token. Click Next. NOTES Depending on what options you select, your screen may look different than the example shown.
	Event Viewer If you wish to send the alert to the System Event Viewer: Click the Event Viewer tab. Click the Select [Event Viewer] for notification checkbox. If you wish to customize the Event Viewer message, click a token from the list and then click Add Token. Click Next. NOTES Depending on what options you select, your screen may look different than the example shown.
	Run Command If you wish to send the alert by executing a command script: Click the Run Command tab. Click the Select [Run Command] for notification checkbox. Click Use Local Drive or Use Network Share. Use the Change button to change the account information to access the network share. Enter the location of the Command Processor executable file in the Command Script Location box, or click Browse to browse to the location, e.g., C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe. Enter the following in the Arguments field prior to adding any arguments: /C C:\Tmp\runCommandTest.bat. Where the \C signifies that the Command Processor must carry out the given command in the following string and then terminate. Note that C:\Tmp\runCommandTest.bat is the location of the batch file you wish to run when the alert criteria threshold is met. Add the arguments by clicking on the Browse button. Manually add quotation marks around the tokens, e.g., "$<DETECTED CRITERIA>$"; this resolves any white space issues. The Arguments filed will resemble the following format: /C C:\Tmp\runCommandTest.bat "$<ALERT NAME>$" "$<DETECTED CRITERIA>$" The following is the content of the batch file used in this example: REM runCommandTest.bat @echo %date% %time% >> c:\tmp\alert1.log echo %~1>>c:\tmp\alert1.log echo %~2>>c:\tmp\alert1.log echo %3>>c:\tmp\alert1.log echo %4>>c:\tmp\alert1.log echo %5>>c:\tmp\alert1.log echo %6>>c:\tmp\alert1.log echo %7>>c:\tmp\alert1.log echo %8>>c:\tmp\alert1.log echo %9>>c:\tmp\alert1.log REM End Batch File Note the '~' character between the '%' character and the parameter position number above; this signifies the command processor to strip off the quotation characters at the beginning and end of the parameter. If this is not done, the quotation marks remain as part of the parameter, which may be useful if the batch file is calling another program or batch file. Click Next. NOTES The Run Command can be located on the CommServe or remote machines, but is executed only on the CommServe machine. Depending on what options you select, your screen may look different than the example shown.
Select the CommCell Users and/or CommCell User Groups to Receive the Alert
6.	Select the CommCell users and/or CommCell user groups that will receive the alert; or enter the e-mail address(es) of the recipient(s) in the Email to Recipient field; these recipients can reside within an external domain. See User Administration and Security for more information. Click Next. NOTES An alert can be configured to send e-mail notifications to user groups created from within the CommCell Console as well as external domain user groups. However, individual external domain users will not receive the alert notification e-mail if they have not previously logged on to the CommCell Console. Users (from the user groups created from within the CommCell Console) will receive the alert e-mail notification regardless of their login status. Depending on what options you select, your screen may look different than the example shown.
7.	The Summary step displays a summary of the options that you have selected for the alert. Click Finish. The alert is now configured. NOTES If the e-mail server and sender's address are not configured correctly, the alerts will not be sent to the intended e-mail and pager recipients. Depending on what options you select, your screen may look different than the example shown.

Modify Alerts

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

• To send alerts to CommCell users, a user must belong to one of the following user groups to assign a user to receive alerts:
  • The Master user group.
  • A user group that has the Alert Management Capability and that is associated with the object for which you want to configure the alert. Users can set alerts for themselves without an association or capability.

To modify an alert:

1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the CommCell icon, click Control Panel, and then click Alerts.
2. From the Alerts window, select an alert and then click Modify.
3. Follow the steps from the Modify Alert Wizard.
4. Click Finish from the Summary window.

Delete Alerts

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To delete an alert:

1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the CommCell icon, click Control Panel, and then click Alerts.
2. From the Alerts window, select the alert and then click Delete.
3. Click Yes from the confirmation window.

The alert is now deleted.

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