Scheduled tasks help

Use this topic to help you understand scheduled task dialog box options. For general scheduled task help, see the topics under Scheduling tasks.

About the Schedule task dialog box

Access this dialog box from the Scheduled tasks window (Tools > Distribution > Scheduled tasks). In the Scheduled tasks window, click the Create software distribution task toolbar button, or from the shortcut menu of the task you want to configure, click Properties.

Use this dialog box to set the start time for the task and to specify whether to make it a recurring task and how often. This dialog box also shows the task targets. Depending on the task type you're scheduling, you may also see options for delivery methods and distribution packages.

About task copying

You can also create groups for your common tasks to categorize them. Other users will see groups only if their RBA scope allows them to see a task in that group. If you try deleting a group that contains tasks, you won't be able to delete the group if there are tasks in the group that your scope doesn't allow you to see.

About the Overview page

This page lets you pick an owner for the task and summarizes the choices you've made in the Scheduled tasks dialog box. If you want to modify any of your choices, click Change beside that choice. If you want the task to appear in the Scheduled tasks window's Common tasks group, rather than the My tasks group, click Show in common tasks.

About the Distribution package page

Use this page to select the distribution package you want to deliver. Once you select a Package type, the Distribution package list shows the packages of that type that you can distribute. The packages in the list correspond to the packages you can see under that type in the Distribution packages window for the current user and the public user. Click the Distribution package you want.

About the Targets page

Use this page to view target devices for the task you're configuring. You can add targets on this page by selecting a target type and clicking the Add button. You can add also targets later by dragging and dropping them into the task in the Scheduled tasks window. Targeted devices can be in these categories:

  • Targeted devices
  • Targeted LDAP objects
  • Targeted queries
  • Targeted LDAP queries
  • Targeted device groups
  • Targeted scopes
  • Targeted email addresses (based on information from Computer.LDAP User.Primary Owner.Email)
  • Targeted time zones

About the Task settings page

Use this page to configure the task type, run frequency, push options, and download options.

Task type:

  • Policy-supported push: The combined push distribution and policy model. First, software distribution attempts to install the package on all devices in the target list. This way, you can do an initial deployment using Targeted Multicast. Second, any devices that didn't get the package or that later become part of the target list (in the case of a dynamic target list) receive the package when the policy-based management agent on the device requests it. Generally, this is the recommended delivery method.
  • Policy: The core server makes the packages available for download. When a managed device checks for available policies, the package will be returned. Depending on the policy type, devices may install the package automatically or make the package available to users for them to install when they want.
  • Push: The packages may be multicast out to the managed devices. The core server then initiates package installation at the managed devices.
  • Ignore subsequent requests on successfully targeted devices: If the task was successful on a device, don't try doing it again.
  • Action type: What to do with the task in the client portal. This option shows what is selected on the Portal settings page.
  • Frequency: The task's run interval. Can be once, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly.

Additional push options:

  • Accelerated push: Defaults to enabled. This greatly speeds up task processing by not waiting for devices to complete tasks before moving on to the next device. For more information, see Using accelerated push distribution.
  • Use DNS resolution for discovery: Uses DNS queries to find device IP addresses rather than inventory scanner data from the database.
  • Wait for each machine to finish processing the task: Selecting this forces the task handler to handle targeted devices one by one rather than in batches.
  • Wake up devices: Uses Wake on LAN to wake up sleeping or powered-off devices. Woken devices will be shut down once the scheduled task completes.
  • Accelerated wakeup (targets will not be shutdown): Uses Wake on LAN to wake up sleeping or powered-off devices, but speeds up the process by bypassing the discovery steps. After the job completes, devices won't be shut down. This can be helpful if multiple tasks will be targeting devices.

Download options:

  • Run from source (execute on share): Executes the task without downloading package files first.
  • Download and execute: The default. Downloads package files to the local distribution cache before executing.
  • Pre-cache (download for a future task or portal-initiated action): Copies package files to the local cache and leaves them there.

About the Portal settings page (under the Task settings page)

Use this page to select how client portals will handle this task.

  • Run automatically (do not display in portal): This is the default. The task runs when the device receives it, bypassing the client portal.
  • Recommended (display in portal): Shows the task in the recommended portal section. Users start the task from the portal.
  • Optional (display in portal): Shows the task in the optional portal section. Users start the task from the portal.
  • Allow users to run as desired: Leaves the item in the portal after it has been run. Can be selected independently of the other options on this page.

About the Agent settings page

Use this page to temporarily override the distribution and patch agent settings or the reboot agent setting for the current job. You can select a different setting by clicking a setting in the Settings column.

About the Custom message page

Use this page if you want to configure a custom message that appears when the task runs. The message text can include HTML formatting codes.

About the overrides page

Use this page to override the following agent settings that may have been assigned to targeted devices:

  • Ignore maintenance window agent settings
  • Ignore do not disturb agent settings

About the Schedule task page

Use this page to configure when the task runs and how retries should work:

  • Leave unscheduled: Adds the task to the Scheduled tasks window but doesn't schedule the task. Use this option if you want to preserve a task configuration, but you don't want it to run.
  • Start now: Starts the task as soon as the dialog box is closed. There can be a delay of up to a minute before the task actually starts.
  • Start later: Starts the task at the specified time and date.
  • Date and time: Runs a task on selected date. Type the date using MM/DD/YY format, or click the Date list to pick the date from a calendar.
  • Target time zone aware: Automatically adjust the task start time for devices in different time zones. For example, if this is enabled and your task start time is 2:00 AM, devices in different time zones won't run the task until their local time is 2:00 AM. For more information, see Assigning targets to a task.
  • Repeat every: Schedules the task to recur periodically. Select Day, Week, or Month from the list to choose how often the task repeats. It repeats at the time set above.
  • Schedule these devices: For the first time a task runs, you should leave the default of Devices that did not succeed. For subsequent runs, choose from All, Waiting or currently working, or Devices that did not try to run the task. These options are explained in more detail below.

When rescheduling a task, you can limit the devices the task runs on. You may want to do this if the task failed on a large number of devices and you don't expect the failed device state to change, for example. Limiting the task this way would help the task complete more quickly because the scheduler wouldn't keep trying devices that won't process the task. You can choose to run tasks on devices in these states:

  • Waiting or currently working: This is the default and should be used the first time a task runs. If you're rerunning the task, this option targets devices that succeeded the previous time you ran the task.
  • All: Select this if you want the task to run on all devices, regardless of state. Consider using this option if you have a task, especially a repeating one, that needs to run on as many devices as possible.
  • Devices that didn't succeed: Select this if you only want the task to run on all devices that didn't complete the task the first time. This excludes devices that have a Successful state. The task will run on devices in all other states, including Waiting or Active. Consider using this option if you need the task to run on as many unsuccessful devices as possible, but you only need the task to complete successfully once per device.
  • Devices that didn't try to run the task: Select this if you only want the task to run on devices that didn't complete the task and didn't fail the task. This excludes devices that were in an Off, Busy, Failed, or Canceled state. Consider using this option if there were a lot of target devices that failed the task that aren't important as targets.

About the Delivery method page (Legacy)

This page only applies to targets running Endpoint Manager agents older than version 9.6. Use this page to select the delivery method you want to use for legacy targets. For 9.6 and newer targets, these options are set on the Task settings page.

About the Custom script page

Use this page when you've scheduled a custom script and you want to see what the contents of the custom script will be. You can't edit the custom script's contents on this page.

About the Schedule dialog box

Several Endpoint Manager agents have features that you can schedule using the local scheduler agent that is installed on managed devices. Use this dialog box to configure that schedule.

You can also use the local scheduler to schedule your own tasks to run periodically on devices. Once you create a local scheduler script or customize the schedule for a device agent, you can deploy it to devices by using the Scheduled tasks window.

To configure a local scheduler task, in the Managed scripts window (Tools > Distribution > Managed scripts), from the My scripts shortcut menu, click New local scheduler configuration script.

All criteria in this dialog box that you configure must be met before the task will execute. For example, if you configure a schedule that repeats every day between 8 and 9 o'clock with a Machine state of Desktop must be locked, the task will only execute if it's between 8 and 9 o'clock and the device is locked.

These options are available in the Schedule dialog box:

Events section

The events section is dimmed unless you're configuring a local scheduler script from the Manage scripts tool.

  • Run when user logs in: Select this option to run the task whenever a user logs in. When a user logs in, the local scheduler will run the task directly.
  • Run whenever the machine's IP address changes: Select this option if you want the task to run if the device's IP address changes or is renewed through DHCP. For example, you can use this option to trigger an inventory scan when the IP address changes, keeping the IP address in the Endpoint Manager database synchronized.
Time section

Use this section to configure times for the task to run. If you launched this dialog box from the agent configuration tool, you can specify a random delay on the agent configuration page you came from. The random delay interval you specify is a time range during which the task may run. For example, if you have a large number of users who log in at the same time, this delay allows tasks that run on login to not all run at the same time, assuming your delay interval is long enough. The default delay is one hour.

  • Start: Click this option to display a calendar where you can select the day you want the task to start. Once you pick a day, you can also enter a time of day. These options default to the current date and time.
  • Repeat after: If you want the task to recur, click the list box and select minutes, hours, or days. Then, in the first box, enter the length you want for the interval you selected (for example, 10 days).
  • Time range: If you want the task to run between certain hours, select the start and end hours. The hours are in 24-hour time format.
  • Weekly between: If you want the task to run between certain days of the week, select the start and end days.
  • Monthly between: If you want the task to run between certain dates of the month, set the start and end dates.
Run filters section

When configuring local scheduler commands, you can specify the minimum bandwidth criteria necessary for the task to execute. The bandwidth test consists of network traffic to the device you specify. When the time comes for the task to execute, each device running the local scheduler task will send a small amount of ICMP network traffic to the device you specify and evaluate the transfer performance. If the test target device isn't available, the task won't execute. 

When specifying bandwidth criteria for devices that may be connecting to the core server through a Ivanti Management Gateway, you should put the Management Gateway's IP address in the to field. This allows the bandwidth test to complete and the task can then execute.

You can select these Minimum bandwidth options:

  • RAS: The task executes if the device's network connection to the target device is at least RAS or dialup speed, as detected through the networking API. Selecting this option generally means the task will always run if the device has a network connection of any sort.
  • WAN: The task executes if the device's connection to the target device is at least WAN speed. WAN speed is defined as a non-RAS connection that's slower than the LAN threshold.
  • LAN: The task executes when the device's connection to the target device exceeds the LAN speed setting. LAN speed is defined as anything greater than 262,144 bps by default. You can set the LAN threshold in agent configuration (Tools > Configuration > Agent Configuration, Bandwidth detection page). Changes won't take effect until you deploy the updated configuration to devices.

The Run filters section has these options:

  • Minimum bandwidth: If you want task execution criteria to include available bandwidth, select the minimum bandwidth you want and enter the device name or IP address that will be the target for the bandwidth test between the target and device.
  • Machine state: If you want the task execution criteria to include a machine state, select one of these states: Screen saver or desktop locked, Desktop must be locked, Machine must be idle, User must be logged in, or User must be logged out. The criteria for the Machine must be idle state are: the OS is locked, the screen saver is active, or the user is logged out.
Other options
  • Additional random delay once all other filters pass: If you want an additional random delay, use this option. If you select a random delay that extends beyond the time limits you configured for the task, the task may not run if the random value puts the task outside the configured time limits.
  • Delay up to: Select the additional random delay you want.
  • And at least: If you want the task to wait at least a certain number of minutes before executing, select this option. For example, if you're scheduling an inventory scan, you could enter a 5 here so a device has time to finish booting before the scan starts, improving the device's responsiveness for the user.
  • Command: Enter the program you want to run locally. Include the full path to the program or make sure the program is in a folder that's in the device's path. This path must be the same on all devices you deploy this script to.
  • Parameters: Enter any command-line parameters you want passed to the program.