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System Monitor Task

System Monitor Task

Overview

The System Monitor task allows you to monitor a specific remote machine and check for free disk space. You might use this task to check for sufficient disk space before running a task on it that requires a specific amount. In order for this task to execute, the remote machine must have Universal Agent running on it.

Built-In Variables

The following built-in variables can be used in a System Monitor task to pass data where appropriate:

Creating a System Monitor Task

Step 1

From the Automation Center navigation pane, select Tasks > System Monitor Tasks. The System Monitor Tasks list displays a list of all currently defined System Monitor tasks.
 
Below the list, System Monitor Task Details for a new System Monitor task displays.
 

Step 2

Enter/select Details for a new System Monitor task, using the field descriptions below as a guide.

  • Required fields display an asterisk ( * ) after the field name.
  • Default values for fields, if available, display automatically.

To display more of the Details fields on the screen, you can either:

  • Use the scroll bar.
  • Temporarily hide the list above the Details.
  • Click the  button above the list to display a pop-up version of the Details.

Step 3

Click the  button. The task is added to the database, and all buttons and tabs in the Task Details are enabled.

Note

To open an existing record on the list, either:

  • Click a record in the list to display its record Details below the list. (To clear record Details below the list, click the New button that displays above and below the Details.)
  • Clicking the Details icon next to a record name in the list, or right-click a record in the list and then click Open in the Action menu that displays, to display a pop-up version of the record Details.
  • Right-click a record in the a list, or open a record and right-click in the record Details, and then click Open In Tab in the Action menu that displays, to display the record Details under a new tab on the record list page (see Record Details as Tabs).

System Monitor Task Details

The following System Monitor Task Details is for an existing System Monitor task.

Depending on the values that you enter / select for these fields, and whether or not the System Monitor task has ever been launched, more (or less) fields may display. See the field descriptions, below, for a description of all fields that may display in the System Monitor Task Details.
 

System Monitor Task Details Field Descriptions

The following table describes the fields, buttons, and tabs that display in the System Monitor Task Details.

Field Name

Description

General

This section contains general information about the task.

Name

User-defined name of this task (Maximum = 255 alphanumeric characters); variables supported. It is the responsibility of the user to develop a workable naming scheme for tasks.

Version

System-supplied; version number of the current record, which is incremented by the Controller every time a user updates a record. Click the Versions tab to view previous versions. For details, see Record Versioning.

Description

Description of this record. Maximum length is 255 characters.

Member of Business Services

User-defined; Allows you to select one or more Business Services that this record belongs to.  (You also can Check All or Uncheck All Business Services for this record.)

You can select up to 62 Business Services for any record type, and enter a maximum of 2048 characters for each Business Service.

If the Business Service Visibility Restricted Universal Controller system property is set to true, depending on your assigned (or inherited) Permissions or Roles, Business Services available for selection may be restricted.

Resolve Name Immediately

If enabled, the Instance Name of the task instance will be resolved immediately at trigger/launch time.

Time Zone Preference

User-defined; Allows you to specify the time zone that will be applied to the task.

Options:

  • – System Default –
    Time zone is based on the value of the Task Time Zone Preference Universal Controller system property: Server or Inherited.
  • Server (xxx)
    Where (xxx) is the time zone ID of the server; time zone is evaluated in the time zone of the server.
  • Inherited
    Time zone is evaluated in the time zone of the Parent Workflow or Trigger / Launch specification in the case there is no Parent Workflow.

Hold on Start

If enabled, when the task is launched it appears in the Activity Monitor with a status of Held. The task runs when the user releases it.

Hold Reason

Information about why the task will be put on hold when it starts.

Virtual Resource Priority

Priority for acquiring a resource when two or more tasks are waiting for the resource. This priority applies to all resources required by the task.

Options: 1 (high) - 100 (low).

Default is 10.

Hold Resources on Failure

If enabled, the task instance will continue to hold Renewable resources if the task instance fails. Renewable resources will be returned only if the task instance status is either Complete, Finished, or Skipped.

Mutually Exclusive With Self

If enabled, the task will not be allowed to run concurrently with itself. Task will not start until the instance that is running finishes. An instance will transition to Exclusive Wait status if it cannot start due to another instance already running. 

Agent Details

This section contains assorted detailed information about the Agent / Agent Cluster selected for this task.

Cluster

Indication that selecting an Agent Cluster is required and selecting Broadcast, which lets you select a Cluster Broadcast, is optional.  If Cluster is selected, selecting an Agent is not required unless Agent Variable is selected.

Agent

Name of the Agent resource that identifies the machine where the operation will run. If you do not specify an Agent, you must specify an Agent Cluster or Cluster Broadcast.

Agent Variable

Indication of whether the Agent field is a reference field for selecting a specific Agent (unchecked) or a text field for specifying the Agent as a variable (checked). Use the format: ${variable name}. The variable must be a supported type as described in Variables and Functions.
 

Note

When updating multiple Tasks, to change from using an Agent reference to using an Agent variable, you must change the Agent Variable field to Yes and specify the Agent variable in the Agent Unresolved field. Conversely, to change from using an Agent variable to using an Agent reference, you must change the Agent Variable field to No and specify the Agent reference in the Agent field.

Agent Cluster

If Cluster is selected and Broadcast is not selected; Group of Agents, one of which the Controller will choose to run this task (compare with Cluster Broadcast). You can specify an agent cluster in addition to or in place of a specific Agent. If you specify an Agent and an agent cluster, the Controller first tries to run the task on the specific agent. If the Agent is not available, the Controller reverts to the agent cluster. See Agent Clusters for more information.

Agent Cluster Variable

Indication of whether the Agent Cluster field is a reference field for selecting a specific Agent Cluster (unchecked) or a text field for specifying the Agent Cluster as a variable (checked). Use the format: ${variable name}.

The variable must be a supported type as described in Variables and Functions.
 

Note

When updating multiple Tasks, to change from using an Agent Cluster reference to using an Agent Cluster variable, you must change the Agent Cluster Variable field to Yes and specify the Agent Cluster variable in the Agent Cluster Unresolved field. Conversely, to change from using an Agent Cluster variable to using an Agent Cluster reference, you must change the Agent Cluster Variable field to No and specify the Agent Cluster reference in the Agent Cluster field.

Broadcast

Displays only if Cluster is selected; Indication that selecting a Cluster Broadcast is required. Selecting Broadcast hides the Agent and Agent Cluster fields; you cannot select values for them.

Cluster Broadcast

Group of Agents, all of which will run this task (compare with Agent Cluster). If Broadcast is selected for a task, you must select a Cluster Broadcast instead of a specific Agent and/or agent cluster. Each instance of the task running on its own Agent becomes a separate task instance record in the database and displays separately on the Activity Monitor.

Cluster Broadcast Variable

Indication of whether the Cluster Broadcast field is a reference field for selecting a specific Cluster Broadcast (unchecked) or a text field for specifying the Cluster Broadcast as a variable (checked). Use the format:

${variable name}.

The variable must be a supported type as described in Variables and Functions.
 

Note

When updating multiple Tasks, to change from using a Cluster Broadcast reference to using a Cluster Broadcast variable, you must change the Cluster Broadcast Variable field to Yes and specify the Cluster Broadcast variable in the Cluster Broadcast Unresolved field. Conversely, to change from using a Cluster Broadcast variable to using a Cluster Broadcast reference, you must change the Cluster Broadcast Variable field to No and specify the Cluster Broadcast reference in the Cluster Broadcast field.

Credentials

Credentials under which an Agent runs this task. These Credentials override any Credentials provided in the Agent Details for any Agent running this task.

If the user does not have a login shell, add a - character in front of the runtime credentials name. The Controller will provide a shell for that user and strip the - character from the name.

Required if the Agent Credentials Required Universal Controller system property is true. When required, if the Credential is specified as a variable, and the variable resolves to blank, a Start Failure will occur.

Credentials Variable

Indication of whether the Credentials field is a reference field for selecting a specific Credential (unchecked) or a text field for specifying the Credential as a variable (checked). Use the format: ${variable name}.

The variable must be a supported type as described in Variables and Functions.
 

Note

When updating multiple Tasks, to change from using a Credentials reference to using a Credentials variable, you must change the Credentials Variable field to Yes and specify the Credentials variable in the Credentials Unresolved field. Conversely, to change from using a Credentials variable to using a Credentials reference, you must change the Credentials Variable field to No and specify the Credentials reference in the Credentials field.

System Monitor Details

This section contains assorted detailed information about the task.

Monitor Type

Type of system status to monitor for.
 
Options:

  • Diskspace Free

Note

For UNIX and Windows, System File Monitor polls the system every 120 seconds to see if there was a change in system status.

Condition

Specifies whether you want to check for free disk space greater than or less than the amount specified in the Resource Available field.

Resource Available

Used in conjunction with the By Scale field. Enter a number indicating the amount of the resource you are checking for. For example, to check to see if the machine has at least 1GB of free diskspace, select Greater Than in the Condition field, enter 1 in the Resource Available field, and select GB in the By Scale field.

By Scale

Scale of the number you entered in the Resource Available field. Options: KB (kilobyte), MB (megabyte), GB (gigabyte).

Mount Point or Drive

Use this field to limit the check to a specific mount point or drive, such as drive C: for Windows.

Wait / Delay Options

This section contains specifications for waiting to start and/or delaying on start the task.

Wait To Start

Amount of time to wait before starting a task from the time that it was launched.
 
Options are:

  • – None –
  • Time
  • Relative Time
  • Duration
  • Seconds

Wait Time

If Wait To Start = Time or Relative Time; Time of day (in 24-hour time) to wait until before starting the task. 

Wait Day Constraint

If Wait To Start = Time or Relative Time; Specification for whether or not to advance the wait time to another day.

Valid values:

  • -- None --
    • If Wait To Start = Time; Advance to the next day if the specified wait time is before the time that the task instance is eligible to start; that is, all dependencies have been met. For example: it is not being held, and it is not waiting on any predecessors.
    • If Wait To Start = Relative Time; Advance to the next day if the specified wait time is before the task instance Trigger Time or, if there is no Trigger Time, before the task instance Launch Time. In the latter case, when a task instance is within a workflow, it will inherit the Launch Time of the top-level parent workflow task instance.
  • Same Day
    Do not advance day.
  • Next Day
    Advance to the next day.
  • Next Business Day
    Advance to the next business day.
  • Sunday
    If today is not Sunday, advance to next Sunday.
  • Monday
    If today is not Monday, advance to next Monday.
  • Tuesday
    If today is not Tuesday, advance to next Tuesday.
  • Wednesday
    If today is not Wednesday, advance to next Wednesday.
  • Thursday
    If today is not Thursday, advance to next Thursday.
  • Friday
    If today is not Friday, advance to next Friday.
  • Saturday
    If today is not Saturday, advance to next Saturday.

Default is – None --.

Wait Duration

If Wait To Start = Duration; Number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds to wait before starting the task.

Wait Duration In Seconds

If Wait To Start = Seconds; Number of seconds to wait before starting the task.

Delay On Start

Amount of time to delay the start of a task, after it has been launched, from the time that it is eligible to start; that is, all dependencies have been met. For example: it is not being held, it is not waiting on any predecessors, or there is no wait time specified.
 
Options are:

  • – None –
  • Duration
  • Seconds

Delay Duration

If Delay On Start = Duration; Number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds to delay after starting the task.

Delay Duration In Seconds

If Delay On Start = Seconds; Number of seconds to delay after starting the task.

Workflow Only

Specification for whether or not to apply the Wait To Start and Delay On Start specifications only if the task is in a Workflow.
 
Options are:

Time Options

This section contains time-related specifications for the task.

Late Start

If enabled, and if the task instance starts after the time or period specified, the task instance is flagged as late. You can specify a time or duration to determine a late start (see Late Start Type). To determine whether a task instance started late, open the task instance and locate the Started Late field; the field is checked if the instance started after the specified time. The Started Late field displays in the task instance Details only if the user specified a Late Start in the task Details.

Late Start Type

Required if Late Start is enabled.

Options:

  • Time - Flag the task if it starts after the specified time.
  • Duration - Flag the task if it starts a certain amount of time after the programmed start time. The task must have a specific start time.

Late Start Time

If Late Start Type = Time; Time after which the task start time is considered late. Use HH:MM, 24-hour time.

Late Start Day Constraint

If Late Start Type = Time; Specification for whether or not to advance the late start time to another day.
 
Valid values:

  • -- None --
    Advance to the next day if the specified late start time is before the Created time of the task instance.
  • Same Day
    Do not advance day.
  • Next Day
    Advance to the next day.
  • Next Business Day
    Advance to the next business day.
  • Sunday
    If today is not Sunday, advance to next Sunday.
  • Monday
    If today is not Monday, advance to next Monday.
  • Tuesday
    If today is not Tuesday, advance to next Tuesday.
  • Wednesday
    If today is not Wednesday, advance to next Wednesday.
  • Thursday
    If today is not Thursday, advance to next Thursday.
  • Friday
    If today is not Friday, advance to next Friday.
  • Saturday
    If today is not Saturday, advance to next Saturday.
  • Nth Day
    Advance to a specific number of days in the future.

Default is – None --.

Late Start Nth Amount

If Late Start Day Constraint = Nth Day; Number of days to advance.

Late Start Duration

If Late Start Type = Duration; Duration (amount of relative time) after which the task is considered to have started late.

For a task within a workflow, the duration is the period between the time the workflow starts and the time the task itself starts. For example, a task might have a Late Start Duration of 60 minutes. If the workflow starts at 9:00 a.m. but the task itself does not start until 10:30, the task has started late.

For a task that is not within a workflow, Late Start Duration has meaning only if the task has been held upon starting. For example, if a task has a Late Start Duration of 60 minutes and the Hold on Start field is enabled, if the task is not released from hold within the amount of time specified in the Late Start Duration field, the task has started late.

Late Finish

If enabled, and if the task instance finishes after the time or period specified, the task instance is flagged as late. You can specify a time or duration to determine a late finish (see Late Finish Type). To determine whether a task instance finished late, open the task instance and locate the Finished Late field; the field is checked if the instance finished after the specified time or lasted longer than expected. This field only appears on the task instance if the user specified a Late Finish in the task definition.

Late Finish Type