Managing Automation Server jobs
Updated in 2022.1
The Automation Server is a Windows service dedicated to running automated tasks in Alloy Navigator Express. The Automation Server runs on the computer where you installed it, it is configured and started separately using the Alloy Automation Server Manager.
The Automation Server runs the following jobs in Alloy Navigator Express.
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Outgoing e-mail - for details, see Configuring and controlling outgoing e-mail
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Network Inventory Synchronization - for details, see Configuring Inventory Data Mapping
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Active Directory Synchronization jobs - for details, see Integration with Active Directory
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Mail Connector jobs - for details, see Processing incoming e-mail
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Reporting jobs - for details, see Scheduling reports
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Workflow Scheduled Tasks - for details, see Configuring Scheduled Tasks
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Business policies - for details, see Configuring business policies for Tickets and Change Requests
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Recurrent Tickets - for details, see Configuring Create Actions and Managing Recurrent Tickets.
Automation Server properties
In the Services > Automation Server section, at the top, you can view the server properties:
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Host - the computer name of the machine, which has the registered Automation Server instance installed.
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Status - the status of the Automation Server, either Stopped or Running.
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Version - the version of the Automation Server.
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Audit Tools Version - the version of the installed Audit Tools.
NOTE: To start or stop your server, use the Alloy Automation Server Manager on the computer hosting the Automation Server. Alloy Automation Server Manager is available only for Alloy Navigator Express On-Premises. For details, see Starting and stopping the Automation Server.
Automation Server job list
In the Services > Automation Server section, in the grid, you can view all existing jobs, grouped by type. Each entry in the job list displays basic information about a particular job.
Click here to understand the meaning of all Services > Automation Server columns.
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Job Type - displays the type of the job: Mail Connector, Recurrent Ticket, Trigger On Condition, etc.
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Name - displays the job name and the job ID (where available).
NOTE: The auto-generated ID uniquely identifies each workflow item, such as a Trigger or Create Action. For details, Accessing a workflow item or component by its ID.
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Last Run Status - displays the status, date, and time of the last run of the job. Status can be one of the following:
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Unknown - the job has not been loaded to the Automation Server yet or its schedule is disabled
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Running - the job is running at the moment
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Succeeded - the job was completed successfully
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Failed - the job failed
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Next Run Date - displays the date and time of the nearest scheduled job execution or either of the following messages:
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The job has not started yet - The job is scheduled, but has not been run yet.
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The job has expired - There are no scheduled executions before the end time defined for the job.
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The job schedule is disabled - Running the job by schedule is disabled.
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Queued to run as soon as possible - the job has been forced to run on the remote Automation Server. This message appears when your Automation Server instance is installed on a remote computer which does not belong to the same domain or workgroup as your Settings App. Typically, the remote Automation Server runs “ASAP” jobs within a minute after they were forced.
NOTE: If the Next Run Date value differs from the due time in the job’s schedule, it may take up to a minute for the Next Run Date value to be updated.
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Enabled - displays whether the job schedule is currently enabled.
You can perform the following tasks here:
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To disable or enable a job:
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Right-click the job and choose Disable from the pop-up menu.
To enable a disabled job, choose Enable.
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To terminate a non-responding job:
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Right-click the job and choose Terminate from the pop-up menu.
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To force a job to run:
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Select the job and click Run on the Module menu.
The job will run regardless of its schedule and its disabled status.
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To refresh the job list:
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The information displayed in the job list automatically refreshes every ten seconds.
If needed, you can refresh it manually by clicking Refresh (or pressing F5 on the keyboard).
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Managing High Availability mode
In the Services > Automation Server > High Availability Mode section you can designate any of the two Automation Server instances as primary. To do it, select the required Automation Server and click Set as Primary. As soon as the primary Automation Server is designated, the other server in the two-node group automatically becomes a fail-over instance.
INFO: For instructions on how to set up High Availability mode, see High Availability (HA).
Automatic termination of non-responding tasks
The Automatic Server automatically terminates non-responding jobs after a timeout period of one hour. If needed, you can terminate non-responding jobs manually.