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Scheduled Jobs

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In this lesson, you will learn:

  • What a scheduled job is
  • The main kinds of scheduled jobs
  • How to create and test a scheduled script

1 Work that runs on a timer

Some work doesn’t wait for anyone to click. “Every night at 2 AM, close resolved incidents older than 7 days.” ⏰ That’s a scheduled job.

Key term: Scheduled job

Work that runs automatically at a set time or on a repeat, like daily or every hour. Find them in System Definition > Scheduled Jobs.

2 Kinds of scheduled jobs

When you click New, pick… What it does Example
Automatically run a script of your choosing Runs a server script Close old resolved incidents
Automatically generate something from a template Creates a record from a template A weekly “Check the backups” task
Automatically generate and distribute a report Emails a report (Lesson 22.3) Monday P1 report to managers
A scheduled script job named SNWR close stale resolved incidents. Marker 1: Name. Marker 2: Run is Daily. Marker 3: Time is 02:00. Marker 4: Conditional, unchecked. Marker 5: the script, which finds incidents in state Resolved that were resolved more than 7 days ago and sets them to Closed. Marker 6: the Execute Now button to test it right away.
Figure 1. A nightly clean-up job.

3 Key fields

  • Run: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Periodically (every X minutes or hours), Once, or On Demand.
  • Time and Day: when it runs. Times follow the job’s time zone.
  • Conditional: adds a condition script. The job only runs if it returns true.
  • Run as: the user whose permissions the job uses.
  • Execute Now: runs it once right away, great for testing.
var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');
gr.addQuery('state', 6);                                  // Resolved
gr.addQuery('resolved_at', '<', gs.daysAgoStart(7));      // older than 7 days
gr.query();
while (gr.next()) {
  gr.state = 7;                                           // Closed
  gr.update();
}

📝 Note: Many new automations use a flow with a Scheduled trigger (Lesson 28.2) instead. Both work. Scheduled jobs are still common and on the CSA exam.

⚠️ Heads up: A job that updates many records at a busy time can slow the instance. Run big jobs at quiet times, and test with Execute Now in snwrdev first.

⭐ Remember: Scheduled job = timed work. Script, template, or report. Test with Execute Now.

4 Let’s try it: nightly clean-up

  1. Go to System Definition > Scheduled Jobs and click New.
  2. Pick Automatically run a script of your choosing.
  3. Name: SNWR close stale resolved incidents. Run: Daily. Time: 02:00.
  4. Paste the script. Click Execute Now on your PDI. Did any old resolved incidents close?

5 Quick recap

  • A scheduled job runs work on a timer
  • Three kinds: run a script, generate from a template, send a report
  • Key fields: Run, Time, Conditional, Run as
  • Execute Now runs it once for testing

6 Check yourself

Think of your answer first. Then tap to check.

1 Where do you find scheduled jobs? Show answer

System Definition > Scheduled Jobs.

2 You want to create the same checklist task every Monday. Which kind of job? Show answer

Automatically generate something from a template.

3 How do you test a scheduled job without waiting? Show answer

Click Execute Now.

Nice work! You finished this lesson. 🎉

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