Setting job priority

Assign job priorities to segregate critical jobs from those which are non-critical, and to ensure jobs with high priority are given preference during execution.

This topic includes the following sections:

• Job priority levels
• To set job priority for a job type
• To set job priority for a specific job or job instance
• To set job priority from the Schedule tab
• To set the PRIORITY property for a specific job
• To change the priority of a running job

Job priority levels

You can set job priority in the following ways:

• Globally for each job type (using the PRIORITY* property)

• Individually for a job instance (for example, when creating a job, creating a job schedule, editing an existing schedule, or pausing a running job and changing the runtime job property)

  Tip

  For a list of the permissions and authorizations required to modify job priority, see Setting-up-authorizations-for-changing-job-priority.

To set job priority for a job type

1. Select Configuration > Property Dictionary View. The Property Dictionary opens.
2. Expand the job built-in property class.
3. Navigate to the job type for which you want to set the job priority.
4. Select the PRIORITY* property and click Edit Property.
5. On the Modify Property dialog box, click Use the default value and then select a priority level. Available priority levels are Critical, High, Normal, Low, and Lowest. The default value for the PRIORITY* property is Normal.
6. Click OK.

To set job priority for a specific job or job instance

1. You can set the priority for a specific job or job instance in any of the following ways.
   • When creating a job, creating a Job Schedule, or editing an existing Schedule, you can set the priority for that job using the Priority field on the Schedule tab.
   • By changing the PRIORITY* property for a job.
   • By pausing a running job and changing the priority.

To set job priority from the Schedule tab

Setting the priority at the schedule level provides great flexibility, as you can schedule the same job at different times with different priorities.

From the Schedule tab, you can select an execution priority level from the drop-down list. You cannot select a priority level higher than the maximum runtime level that is set for your role, which is indicated next to the drop-down list.

To set the PRIORITY property for a specific job

1. In the Jobs folder, select a job.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Right-click the job and select Set Property. The Set Job Properties window is displayed. Select PRIORITY* from the Name drop-down list.
   • In the Properties tab, select PRIORITY* from the Extended Properties list.
3. Select a priority level from the drop-down list (available priority levels are Critical, High, Normal, Low, and Lowest). The default value for the PRIORITY* property is Normal.
4. Click OK.

To change the priority of a running job

You can pause a running job from the Progress Status panel (provided you have the appropriate authorization), update the priority of a critical job so that resources can be dedicated to that job, and then resume the paused job.

Pausing a running job places all waiting work items on hold until the job is resumed. If all of the work items for a running job have already begun processing, then pausing the running job has no functional impact.

After pausing the job, you can run the job with a higher or lower priority.

1. Select one or more jobs listed in the Tasks in Progress view. To select multiple tasks, use Shift-click or Control-click.
2. Click Pause.
3. To change the execution priority for a job, click Modify Runtime Priority.
4. To resume a job, click Resume Execution.