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]

For production releases this command will safely terminate the Agent waiting for running processes to be completed.

Alternatively the Agent process can be terminated by use of operating system mechanisms. Consider that these mechanisms are unaware of running processes that would be terminated with the Agent.

• Automatically on system shutdown
• By terminating the Agent, e.g.
  • Windows taskkill utility

    • Examples

      Run the utility for a specific Agent pid

      taskkill.exe /pid 1234

      Run the utiilty for the Agent pid that was saved on startup and enforce termination

      SET /P PID_FROM_FILE= < %SCHEDULER_LOG_DIR%\jobscheduler_agent_%SCHEDULER_HTTP_PORT%.pid
      taskkill.exe /pid %PID_FROM_FILE% /f

  • Unix kill utility

    • Examples

      Run the utility for a specific Agent pid

      kill -15 1234

      Run the utiilty for the Agent pid that was saved on startup and enforce termination

      kill -9 $(cat ${SCHEDULER_LOG_DIR}/jobscheduler_agent_${SCHEDULER_HTTP_PORT}.pid)

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 rotated for each day and are kept for one week (see ./lib/logback.xml).
  • Rotated log files get the name of the form jobscheduler_agent_4445.<yyyy-MM-dd>.log
• 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 log directory 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.
  • Make sure that the directories SCHEDULER_LOG_DIR and SCHEDULER_PID_FILE_DIR are readable and writable for the different user accounts

• 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

Testing the JobScheduler Agent 

A simple way to test if the installed and running JobScheduler Agent works as expected is to carry out a test using Process Classes. The Process Class and the corresponding Job will be defined in your JobScheduler, which will test the JobScheduler Agent. SOS recommends to do the test locally so that there are no problems with connection between servers, since the goal of the test is to see whether the JobScheduler Agent is working properly.

Process Class and Standalone Job

First create a Process Class, for example the following (find an example attached: agent1.process_class.xml):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>

<process_class  max_processes="10" remote_scheduler="http://localhost:4445"/>

Important! When defining the host, it is required to add http://, e.g. like above http://localhost.

Second, you should define a Standalone Job and associate the Process Class defined above to the Job (find an example attached: standalone_hello.job.xml):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>

<job  process_class="agent1">
    <script  language="shell">
        <![CDATA[
echo "hello world"
        ]]>
    </script>
    <run_time />
</job>

Finally:

• place both XML files (agent1.process_class.xml and  standalone_hello.job.xml) together in the JobScheduler Live folder, under .../scheduler/scheduler_data/config/live. 
• start the Job in JOC (Start task immediately). 

Logs

The easiest way to check if the test was successful is to have a look at the Job Logs in JOC and see if the Job was successfully finished. Otherwise, an error will be shown in JOC.

For a double check you can see the Logs from the JobScheduler Agent. If the JobScheduler Agent is running and the steps above were correctly done you should see something like this in the JobScheduler Agent Logs:

2015-04-28 16:11:24.462 +0200 [DEBUG] akka.io.TcpListener - New connection accepted
......
......
2015-04-28 16:13:39.231 +0200 [DEBUG] spray.can.server.HttpServerConnection - TcpConnection terminated, stopping

Failed Tests

In case you got an error in JOC when running the Job, inform us through SourceForge doing the following:

1. Create a Ticket in SourceForge
2. Send us the following logs: scheduler.log (from JobScheduler) and jobscheduler_agent_<port>.log (from JobScheduler Agent)