Schedules
Last updated
Last updated
Schedules can be assigned to scripts and allow you to define frequency and other parameters for a script such as run as credentials.
Schedules are stored in the schedules.ps1 configuration file.
To schedule a job, you can do so from the Automation / Schedules page and by clicking the New Schedule button. You can also schedule a script by click the Schedule option from the script's page.
Schedules can be defined based on simple selections like Every Minute or Every Hour or you can define CRON expressions yourself for more configurable schedules. You can also run One Time schedules that run once at a later date.
You can also define which user the scheduled job will run under as well as which PowerShell version to use.
Simple schedules are really just helpers for various standard CRON schedules. When you select one, it will define a CRON schedule for your script.
CRON schedules use CRON expressions to define schedules. PowerShell Universal takes advantage of Chronos. For examples of valid expressions, click here.
One time schedules will run once in the future. You can select the time and day of when they will run.
Continuous schedules will run over and over again. You can define a delay between each scheduled job run.
Schedules support setting parameters for scripts. For example, if you have a script that accepts a parameter, you can choose to pass a value to the parameter during the schedule.
Within the modal for defining the schedule, you will have the option to set the parameter value.
When editing schedules from PowerShell, you can define the parameters on the New-PSUSchedule cmdlet. This cmdlet accepts dynamic parameters so that you can pass the values in for your schedule.
When creating a schedule, you have the option to specify the environment for your job to run. By default, it will use the default environment. You can define an environment in the UI by using the Environment drop down. You can define an environment using the -Environment parameter in New-PSUSchedule.
You can define which user to run the schedule as by using the Run As selector in the UI. The Run As selector contains a list of PSCredential variables you have defined. You will need to define a PSCredential variable before the Run As selector is visible. By default, scheduled jobs will run under the credentials of the user that is running PowerShell Universal.
You can define a Run As user in a script by using the -Credential parameter. The value should be the name of the variable that contains your credential.
You can select the computer or computers to run the schedule on. By default, schedules will run on any available computer. If you select All Computers, the schedule will run on all computers connect to the PSU cluster. If you select a specific computer, the schedule will run on only that computer.
Conditions can be defined that determine whether a schedule should be run. This is useful if you are using the same repository scripts for multiple environments. Currently, conditions cannot be defined within the admin console. Conditions are passed the current script and schedule as parameters. The condition scriptblock is run within the integrated environment.
The condition needs to return true or false. Below is an example of a condition where the schedule will only run if there is an environment variable named Slot that contains the value production.
You can pause a schedule by setting the Paused property. When a schedule is paused, it will not run. This is useful to stop a schedule from running but not delete it.
You can set a time out for scheduled jobs. The time out is the number of minutes before the scheduled job is canceled.
The Random Delay property causes a schedule to start anywhere between 0 and 60 seconds from the scheduled time. This is useful when running many schedules at the same time. For example, if you had 10 schedules that start at midnight, you may want to set a random delay to limit resource contention on the PowerShell Universal service.
