Managing ETL and System tasks


Tasks are BMC Helix Continuous Optimization activities that can be run manually or scheduled for automatic run.

All tasks are grouped into two categories: System tasks and ETL tasks. You can access these tasks by navigating to Administration > ETL & System Tasks. On the main page for each category, tasks are summarized in a table that shows the status of all the tasks in that category.

Related topics

Understanding the task summary table

The main component of the System tasks and ETL tasks pages is the task status summary table, which lists all configured tasks and their execution results.

You can filter the list of tasks by Task group and Deploy status.

Tip

In BMC Helix Continuous Optimization, a task can be configured to be executed in the Test or in the Production environment. When a task is created and a Run configuration has been assigned to it, the task will appear in all of the environments for which a Run configuration exists.

23.1_etl_tasks_page.png

For each task, the summary table shows the following details:

Column

Description

Id

A unique identification number

Name

The unique name defined for the task

Type

The type of the task. For more information, see Maintaining-System-tasks and Maintaining-ETL-tasks.

Status

The current status of the task can be one of the following:

  • RUNNING: The task is being executed.
  • SERVICE_ON: This status is related to service ETLs. The task is currently running (SERVICE_ON).
  • SERVICE_OFF: This status is related to service ETLs. The task is currently paused (SERVICE_OFF).
  • WAITING: The task is waiting to be executed at the specified time (meaning, the next execution has already been scheduled).
  • ENDED: The execution of the task was terminated, and it has not been rescheduled.
  • ABORTED: The execution of the task was aborted.
  • no value: The task has never been executed nor has it been scheduled.

Last exit

The result of the latest execution of the task can be one of the following:

  • OK: The latest execution of the task terminated successfully.
  • WARNING: The latest execution of the task was terminated, but minor errors occurred.
  • FAILED: The latest execution of the task failed.
  • no value: No data is available.

The color code used in this column helps to improve the effectiveness of the summary and to identify issues easily.

Scheduled

Indicates whether the task has already been scheduled for automatic execution, either no or the scheduled execution time.

Last exec time

The date and time of the latest execution of the task

Next exec time

The date and time of the next execution (if scheduled)

Active run configuration

The run configuration associated with the task

Scheduler name

The name of the scheduler that manages the task

To add a task, click Add. For descriptions of the available task types, see Maintaining-System-tasks and Maintaining-ETL-tasks.

Task execution logs

To closely inspect the execution of a specific task by viewing its log, clickclick to view details.pngcorresponding to the task. 

Task log page

log details.png

Each log displays one or more rows that detail the task execution. For each row, the following is displayed:

  • Timestamp: When the message was recorded
  • Type: The message type
  • Message: The content of the log message

Under the list of messages, you can navigate through the log by clicking the forward and backward arrows, and configure the Page Size.

To update the log messages for a task that is running, click Refresh.

The log page automatically highlights table rows using different colors to identify errors and warnings easily.

Important

ETL tasks can be configured to log their execution at different levels of detail.

Viewing the task details page

To view the details of a task, click the task name in the main summary table (or click Task details on the task log page). A similar page is displayed for system tasks and ETL tasks. The only difference is that a link for Lookup tables is displayed on an ETL task detail page. You can use the options available at the top of the task detail page to run commands.

23.1_edit_etl_task.png

Editing a task

To edit the properties of a task, click its name in the task summary table. The task detail page is displayed. Click one of the following to edit the task:

  • Edit: You can modify the general configuration of the task, such as the task name and description, and its scheduling properties.
  • Edit this run configurationedit.png in the Run configurations table: You can modify the task's Run configuration, which is the task's specific properties, and is determined by the task type.
  • You can manually edit ETL properties from this page link at the bottom of the Run configurationtab (for BMC Helix Continuous Optimization administrators and expert users only): You can add or remove customized configuration properties (for example, when creating custom ETL tasks). For details, see Custom properties.

After you create a task or modify its scheduling, you must manually reschedule it.

Important

You can edit the run configuration of an ETL even if it is running or is scheduled to run.

You can edit the following properties for any type of task on the Edit task page:

Task property

Description

Name

A unique name for the task.

Tip: Since you can configure multiple ETL/system tasks using the same ETL module or system task type, it's important to assign a unique and descriptive name to each task. For example, if you're using the VMware Extractor Service module for different locations, you can name one task London VMware vCenter Servers and another Paris VMware vCenter Servers. Using clear or purpose-based naming helps improve task identification, monitoring, and troubleshooting, especially in large-scale environments where multiple ETL tasks are in use. 

Description

A description of the task.

Maximum execution time before warningSet the maximum execution time before warning in the specified format (minutes, hours, and days).

Frequency

The type of frequency to schedule task execution (Predefined or Custom).

  • If you selected Predefined, specify the following details:
    • Predefined frequency: The predefined frequency for scheduling task execution (Each Day, Each Week, or Each Month).
    • Start timestamp: The hour, minute, day of the week (for weekly tasks), and day of the month (for monthly tasks) the task is first scheduled for execution.
  • If you selected Custom, specify the following details:
    • Custom frequency: The custom frequency for scheduling task execution, in minutes, hours, days, or weeks.
    • Custom start timestamp: The date and time the task is first scheduled for execution, in the following format yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm.

Task group

(For ETL and service ETL tasks only)

The task group to which the task is assigned. You can assign tasks to groups and restrict user access according to the task group for security reasons.

Running on scheduler

The scheduler to which the task is assigned.

Run configuration

A task is defined by properties that define the parameters of the task's execution. All properties defined for a task and their corresponding values are displayed on the run configuration tab for a task. 

Important

For information about what is displayed on a run configuration tab for a task chain, see Task chains.

Custom properties

To create, add, or delete custom task properties, or to manually edit their values, click the You can manually edit ETL properties from this page link in the Run configuration tab.

Important

You create, add, or delete custom task properties, and manually edit their values when you create custom tasks with properties unavailable on the Run configuration tab. BMC recommends that only BMC Helix Continuous Optimization administrators with a deep understanding of the system create, add, delete, or edit custom task properties.

Adding, editing, and deleting custom properties

custom prop.png

To change or define a value for an existing task property

  1. Enter a new value for each property that you are modifying.
    If the value requires more space:
    1. Click ....
    2. In the Editing property window, enter a value for the property.
    3. Click Save.
  2. Click Save.

To remove a property, click Delete delete.png corresponding to the property you are removing.

To create or add a property

  1. In the Add new property field at the bottom of the page, type the name of the new property.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Locate the new property in the list of properties, and then type a value.
  4. Click Save.

To copy a task's properties

  1. To view a textual representation of all the task properties, click Export.
  2. Copy the text.

Tips

  • One way to debug an ETL task is by copying a task's properties into a text file and then manually loading it through a command line interface.
  • Also, when you contact BMC Customer Support regarding an ETL task, you may be asked to provide this information.

Task chains

Task chains run a list of other tasks, in parallel or serial order, according to properties that you define. A task of the type ChainController is a task chain, and task chains can be defined for both ETL tasks and System tasks.

To modify the task chain properties, in the Run configurations table, click Edit this run configuration  edit.png.

Basic options

Run Configuration

Name

A unique name for the task chain

Deploy status

Select if the task should be executed in the Test or Production environment.

Description

A description of the task

Tasks sequence

Select tasks from Available tasks and click >> to add them to Tasks included in chain. You can reorder the tasks.

Advanced options

Run Configuration

Parallelism

Enter the number of tasks that can be executed simultaneously. This can be set per process or available cores.

Continue on error

Select if you want to ETL task to continue or stop execution when an error is encountered.

Scheduling options

 

Hour mask (leave empty for no mask)

Select the time of the day when the task is scheduled to run.

Day of week mask (leave empty for no mask)

Select the days of the week to schedule the task.

Day of month mask (leave empty for no mask)

Select the days of the month to schedule the task.

Apply mask validation

Select whether you want to mask the validation.

Execute after time

Specify the time period after which the scheduler task must be executed.

Enqueueable

Select whether you want the task to be enqueued if other tasks are being executed.

Click Save to add the task chain to Run configurations and it will be set to Active.

You can run this configuration using runRC.png. The task executions are displayed in Run History with Date, Last exit state, number of warnings, number of errors, number of failures, and run time details. To delete a task chain, click ETL_delete.png.

 

 

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