Installing the JobScheduler Agent

• Prerequisites
  • A Java Runtime Environment starting from version 1.8 is required.
  • Choose the JobScheduler Agent for your platform from the Downloads section.
• Installation
  • Unzip the downloaded file to an arbitrary directory.
  • Directory Structure
    • bin
      • jobscheduler_agent.cmd
        • The start script for Windows platforms.
      • jobscheduler_agent.sh
        • The start script for Unix platforms.
    • lib
      • The directory for Java libraries.
      • Consider the settings in logback.xml should you want to adjust the log output format. 

Running the JobScheduler Agent

• SOS does not recommend to run the JobScheduler Agent as root (for Unix) or as Administrator (for Windows).
• Instead the user account should be used that jobs are executed for. Should jobs be executed for a number of user accounts then consider the chapter Running multiple instances of JobScheduler Agent.

Usage

Running the start script without parameters shows the usage clause:

Usage: jobscheduler_agent.cmd|sh command [options]
  command:
    start [options]
    stop [options]
    restart [options]
    status [options]
  options:
    -http-port=<number> | default: 4445

Start the Agent

jobscheduler_agent.cmd|sh start [options]

Stop the Agent

jobscheduler_agent.cmd|sh stop [options]

Restart the Agent

jobscheduler_agent.cmd|sh restart [options]

Query the Agent Status

jobscheduler_agent.cmd|sh status [options]

Should the Agent be up and running then this command will result in some output such as:

...JobScheduler Agent(4445) is running with pid=12112!

Should the Agent not be running then some output is provided such as:

...JobScheduler Agent(4445) is down!

Logging

• Log File
  • On startup the Agent creates a log file in the directory that is pointed to by the environment variable SCHEDULER_LOG_DIR or in the logs subdirectory of the Agent installation directory.
  • Log file names are created from a prefix and the port used by the Agent like this:
    • jobscheduler_agent_4445.log
  • Log files are overwritten on each startup of the Agent.
• Pid File
  • On startup the Agent creates a pid file in the directory that is pointed to by the environment variable SCHEDULER_PID_FILE_DIR or in the log directory. The pid file contains the Process ID of the system process that the Agent is running in.
  • The pid file is used in order to prevent the Agent to be started twice with the same settings and it can be used for shutdown scripts that require the pid to terminate the process.
  • Pid file names are created from a prefix and from the port used by the Agent like this:
    • jobscheduler_agent_4445.pid

Command Line Options

• The only available option is the http port that the Agent is listening to in order to receive requests from a JobScheduler Master:

  • jobscheduler_agent.cmd|sh command -http-port=####

  • where #### is the numeric port.
• Without this option being used the port defaults to 4445.
• Should you want to specify a port then the following precedence applies:
  • First precedence: command line option
  • Second precedence: environment variable
  • Third precedence: use of default value

Environment Variables

The following environment variables can be used:

• JAVA_HOME
  • points to the location of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).
  • Without setting this environment variable Java will be used from the location specified by the system path.
  • Please consider that JAVA_HOME does not point to the location of a JDK but to a JRE directory where the bin/java executable resides.
• SCHEDULER_HOME
  
  • points to the directory where the JobScheduler Agent has been installed.
  • Without setting this environment variable the default value is the parent directory of the start script.
  • Should you want to start the Agent from a directory different to the Agent installation directory, e.g. by copying the start script to some other location, then this environment variable has to be set in order to locate the JobScheduler Agent installation directory.
• SCHEDULER_HTTP_PORT
  • sets the port that the JobScheduler Agent is listening to.
  • Without setting this environment variable the port defaults to 4445.
• SCHEDULER_USER
  • sets the user account that the JobScheduler Agent is operated for. This includes running jobs with the permissions of the specified user.
  • This setting is available for Unix systems only. For Windows systems the user account that runs the start script is used.
  • Without setting this environment variable the user acount that runs the start script is used.
  • This setting can be used when running the Agent start script in system start-up and shutdown configurations that are executed by root, e.g. in /etc/init.d or corresponding locations.
• SCHEDULER_LOG_DIR
  • sets the directory where the JobScheduler Agent log file is created.
  • This setting defaults to the directory logs in the Agent installation directory.
  • For Windows systems for which the Agent is installed in the program directory that is pointed to by the %ProgramFiles% environment variable it is recommended not to use the default setting. Instead specify a different path via the SCHEDULER_LOG_DIR environment variable, e.g. some location in the data directory that is pointed to by the %ProgramData% environment variable.
• SCHEDULER_PID_FILE_DIR
  • sets the directory where the JobScheduler Agent pid file is created.
  • This setting defaults to the directory that is specified with the SCHEDULER_LOG_DIR environment variable or the according default value.

Usage Examples

Running the JobScheduler Agent on Windows

For Windows® operating systems the location of the Java Runtime Environment and of the log directory can be specified like this:

set JAVA_HOME=%ProgramFiles%\Java\jre8
set SCHEDULER_LOG_DIR=%ProgramData%\sos-berlin.com\agent\jobscheduler_agent_1.10-TP1\logs
 
"%ProgramFiles%\sos-berlin.com\agent\jobscheduler_agent_1.10-TP1\bin\jobscheduler_agent.cmd" start

Running the JobScheduler Agent on Mac OS X

For Mac® OS X the location of the Java Runtime Environment can be specified like this:

JAVA_HOME=/Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home
export JAVA_HOME
/Users/ap/Documents/jobscheduler_agent/bin/jobscheduler_agent.sh start

Automated Start-up and Shutdown of JobScheduler Agent

• For Unix systems the start-up and shutdown configurations apply that are executed by root, e.g. in /etc/init.d or corresponding locations.
  • Consider use of the SCHEDULER_USER environment variable to run an Agent that is started by root for a different user account.
• For Windows systems the start-up of the Agent by use of the Windows registry is recommended.
  • Consider available options from the Microsoft Technet article Understand and Control Startup Apps with the System Configuration Utility, e.g. by
    • adding the JobScheduler Agent start command to the registry key: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
    • adding the JobScheduler Agent start command to the Windows Task Scheduler to be executed at startup.
  • Operating the Agent as a Windows service is currently not in scope of the Agent roadmap. 

Running multiple instances of JobScheduler Agent

• Multiple instances of the JobScheduler Agent on the same computer can be operated, e.g. for different user accounts that jobs should be executed for.
• Any number of Agent instances can be started from the same installation, however, different ports have to be used that the Agent is listening to for requests of a JobScheduler Master.
• Running the Agent for different user accounts and ports 
  • Use the environment variable SCHEDULER_USER to operate the Agent for a user account that is different from the one that starts the Agent.
  • Use the environment variable SCHEDULER_HTTP_PORT or the option -http-port=#### to start the Agent for a port that is different from the default setting.

• Add the startup options as given in the following examples to your individual startup script.

Examples for Windows

set JAVA_HOME=%ProgramFiles%\Java\jre8
set SCHEDULER_LOG_DIR=%ProgramData%\sos-berlin.com\agent\jobscheduler_agent_1.10-TP1\logs
set SCHEDULER_HTTP_PORT=4446
 
"%ProgramFiles%\sos-berlin.com\agent\jobscheduler_agent_1.10-TP1\bin\jobscheduler_agent.cmd" start

Examples for Unix

su - js
jobscheduler_agent.sh start -http-port=4446

SCHEDULER_USER=js
SCHEDULER_HTTP_PORT=4446
export SCHEDULER_USER SCHEDULER_HTTP_PORT

jobscheduler_agent.sh start