Schedules

Schedules enable you to define times when Policies can run. For example, there may be times when it is inappropriate to run some Policies, such as running a backup Policy on a main server during regular business hours. You can use Schedules to enforce optimal use of your IT infrastructure resources.

You can also create a schedule that will run according to a complex interval, such as the first and third Mondays and Thursdays of every month, except when they fall on holidays.

Creating a Schedule with conditional links

To use a Schedule, create one according to the instructions below. Then, in your Policy, insert the Monitor Date/Time object as the first object and configure how often it should start the Policy. Then insert a Check Schedule object. Configure the Check Schedule object to verify the Schedule that you created. The Monitor Date/Time object starts according to its configured interval and passes the Policy execution to the Check Schedule object. The Check Schedule object verifies that the Policy is allowed to run at the current time.

If the Policy is permitted to run at that time, the Check Schedule object returns a Published Data value of True. It passes the Policy execution to the next object if there is a link to the next object with a trigger condition of “Conforms to schedule from Check Schedule equals true”. If the Policy is not permitted to run at that time, the Check Schedule object returns a Published Data value of False. It passes the Policy execution to the next object if there is a link to the next object with a trigger condition of “Conforms to schedule from Check Schedule equals false”. This is useful when you want to implement conditional link branches according to the results of the Schedule verification.

Creating a Schedule without conditional links

If your Policy does not use conditional link branches, or if you do not want to process any of your Policy if the Schedule does not permit it, you can assign a Schedule directly to a Policy. See Assigning Schedules to Policies for instructions.

Which system time does the Schedule verify?

Schedules use the system clock of the operating system on the computer that runs the Action Server, and not Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), to verify the Policy’s launch time. This enables Schedules to function in virtual machine environments, and to continue running even when the system clock is adjusted because of the move into or out of Daylight Savings Time. However, if a Policy is supposed to start during an hour that is skipped when the system clock is adjusted forwards by one hour, that starting time is skipped, and the Policy starts at the next scheduled time. If a Policy is supposed to start during an hour that occurs twice because the system clock is adjusted backwards by one hour, the Policy launches twice.

Warning! Because of the change in how Schedules verify time, you must adjust any Schedules that you created in Opalis Integration Server 5.3 or earlier to work in the new version. For example, if you created a Schedule in Opalis Integration Server 5.3 that allowed a Policy to run between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., that Schedule may appear in the current version of Opalis Integration Server as 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., especially if your time zone is set to Daylight Savings Time. You must adjust the time of each Schedule that appears to be incorrect to the correct time to ensure that the Policies will run when they are allowed.

Policies, start times and uninterrupted processing

Policies that start before a prohibited time will run until finished, even if they are still processing when the prohibited time arrives. They will not be interrupted once processing has started.

To create a Schedule:

1.	Click the Schedules folder or a sub-folder of the Schedules folder.

2.	Click . The New Schedule dialog appears.

3.	In the Name field, type a name for the Schedule.

4.	In the Description field, type a description that explains what the Schedule is for.

5.	Click the Details tab.

6.	Select the days that this Schedule will allow Policies to run on:

•	Days of week - Select this option and choose the days of the week when this Schedule will allow Policies to run.

•	Occurrence - Select the weeks of the month when the Schedule will allow Policies to run.

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Days of month - Select this option and choose the days of the month when this Schedule will allow Policies to run. Specify the days of the month by entering the number of the day. You can use hyphens to describe ranges and commas to separate entries. For example, typing '1,3' will include the first and third day of the month. Typing '1-21' will include the first through to the twenty-first day of the month. You can combine both to create complex descriptions of the days of the month. For example, typing '1,3,6-11,21-25' will include the first, third, sixth through eleventh, and twenty-first to twenty-fifth day of the month. Type 'all' to specify all the days of the month. Type 'last' to specify the last day of the month. You cannot use ‘all’ and ‘last’ as part of a range of days.

Additionally, if you typed a range of 5-31, this range works correctly for all months, including those with 28, 29, 30, and 31 days.

7.	Click Hours. The Schedule Hours dialog appears.

8.	Click and drag to select a group of hours in a week. The text at the bottom of the dialog shows the time period that you selected.

9.	Select one of the following:

•	Permit (blue) – assign the time period that you selected as a time when Policies are allowed to run.

•	Deny (white) – assign the time period that you selected as a time when Policies are not allowed to run.

10.

Click OK.

11.	Click the Exceptions tab. The list displays all the days that are exceptions to the rules defined in the Details tab.

12.	Click Add. The Date dialog appears.

13.	Specify the date and select Allow or Disallow to allow or disallow the Policy to run on that day.

14.	Click OK. The entry appears in the list. To modify it, select it and click Modify. To remove the entry, select it and click Remove.

15.	Click Finish.

To modify a Schedule, double-click the Schedule.

To remove a Schedule, select it and press Delete.

Assigning Schedules to Policies

Use this option when you do not want to execute any of the Policy if the Schedule does not allow the Policy to run.

1.	Right-click the Policy tab.

2.	Click Properties. The Policy Properties dialog appears.

3.	On the General tab, click the ellipsis (...) button. The Select a Schedule dialog appears.

4.	Select the Schedule and click OK.

5.	Click Finish.

Every time the Policy is launched, it will check the Schedule to verify that it is allowed to run. If it is not allowed to run, it will stop and will not restart until the next time it is launched.

Removing Schedules from Policies

Follow this procedure when you want to remove a Schedule from a Policy.

1.	Right-click the Policy tab.

2.	Click Properties. The Policy Properties dialog appears.

3.	On the General tab, click the ellipsis (...) button. The Select a Schedule dialog appears.

4.	Do not select a Schedule, and click OK.

5.	Click Finish. The Schedule is removed from the Policy.