Scheduling Processes

Processes are scheduled using InterAction Administrator. You can schedule a process from any workstation that has InterAction Administrator with includes Automated Processes installed. However, you do not have to schedule the process to run on the workstation from which you schedule it. Instead, specify the workstation that should be used to run the process when you set up the schedule for the process.

For instance, you can schedule a process to run on a machine in a network server room either from the machine itself or from the administrator computer in your office.

You should typically have one or more designated workstations on which you schedule processes to run. For details about determining the workstation on which process should be run, see On Which Workstations Should I Schedule Processes to Run?

For more information about scheduling processes, see the following sections:

• Schedule a Process
• Process Scheduling and Security
• Setting the Default Task User Account and Email Settings
• Email Notification for Processes
• Process Scheduling Recommendations

Each process you schedule has several components that must be specified. Note that some processes may have additional settings available, depending on the type of process you are scheduling.

Scheduled and Continuous Process Settings

Component	Description
Workstation	Specifies the workstation on which you want the process to run. For help in selecting a workstation, see On Which Workstations Should I Schedule Processes to Run?.
Process	Specifies the type of process that is run. Only processes that are installed on the current workstation display.
Process Name	Specifies the name of the process that displays on the Manage Process Schedule dialog box and the Process Results dialog box. You can customize this name to make it easier to sort processes or to identify a specific process in a long list.
Enabled	Specifies if the process is run at the scheduled time. You may wish to disable a process while performing maintenance or disaster recovery.
Process Settings (for scheduled processes only)
Purge old log files	Select to automatically remove log files after a specified number of days.
Purge after <x> days	This displays only if you select to purge old log files. To purge log files, you need to also specify the timeframes for the purge: between 1 and 999 days.
Log level	The level of logging you have set regarding the process. The options are: - Low - Standard - High - Troubleshoot
Schedule (settings for scheduled processes only)
Frequency	When you add a new scheduled process, you can select one of the following: On Demand - Set up a process that you can run immediately when you need to run it. Once - Set up a process to run once at a specified time. Daily - Schedule a process to run on an on-going, regularly scheduled basis.
Schedule using time zone	The time zone used as a basis for scheduling the process. This may be different from the time zone of the Process Manager machine. For example, if you schedule a process to run at 2 AM in Chicago and the Process Manager machine resides in Los Angeles, the process runs at midnight in Los Angeles.
Run on <x/xx/xxxx> at <x:xx> <AM/PM> (for Once only)	The day and time the process will run.
Stop after: <x:xx> <AM/PM> <x> <Hours/Minutes>	Specifies the time or timeframe after which the process is stopped if it has not completed by the designated time.
Days of the week (for Daily only)	The days the process runs.
Once at <x:xx> <AM/PM> (for Daily only)	The one time during the day the daily process runs.
Every <x> <Hours/Minutes> Beginning at <x:xx> <AM/PM> Ending at <x:xx> <AM/PM>	The intervals at which the process runs and its start and stop times.
Process will run on <Process Manager machine>	A summary of the Process Manager machine, the time zone when the process is set to run, and the schedule for the process. The times reflected here correspond to the time zone of the Process Manager machine.
Process Settings (for continued processes only)
Maximum Instances	Specifies the limit on the number of instances the process can run at a given time.
Mail Server	The name of the Exchange, Domino, or other SMTP server that delivers the messages for this process.
Port	The port number of the SMTP server that delivers the messages for the process.
Purge old log files	Select to automatically remove log files after a specified number of days.
Purge after <x> days	This displays only if you select to purge old log files. To purge log files, you need to also specify the timeframes for the purge: between 1 and 999 days.
Log level	The level of logging you have set regarding the process. The options are: - Low - Standard - High - Troubleshoot
Schedule (settings for continuous processes only)
Frequency	When you add a new continuous process (Reminder Delivery and Report Delivery processes only), you can select one of the following: Run continuously - Process runs at all times. Run only during a specified time period - Runs continuously during a specified block of time.
Start running at: <x:xx> <AM/PM> Stop running at: <x:xx> <AM/PM> (Continuous processes only)	For a continuous process with a scheduled blackout period, these start and stop times designate the block of time when the process will run continuously.
Process will run on <Process Manager machine>	A summary of the Process Manager machine, the time zone when the process is set to run, and the schedule for the process. The times reflected here correspond to the time zone of the Process Manager machine.
Task User (for scheduled processes only)
User Name	Specifies the Windows user account used to run the process. The task user account specified must meet certain criteria. For more information, see Process Scheduling and Security. You can specify a default task user account that is used for all processes. For more information, see Setting the Default Task User Account and Email Settings.
Domain Name	The name of the domain to which the task user belongs.
Password	The task user’s Windows password.
Confirm Password	A confirmation of the task user’s Windows password.
Send a Message (scheduled processes only)
Always send e-mail messages	When selected, every time this process runs, the user specified in the To: field is sent an email message containing the task completion status.
Only send a message if the process fails	When selected, the only time the user specified in the To: field is sent an email message is when this process attempts to run and fails to complete.
Never send e-mail messages	When selected, whenever this process runs, the user specified in the To field is never sent an email message.
To:	The email address where email messages regarding this process are sent. This should be a monitored inbox. You can specify default email message settings that are used for all processes. For more information, see Setting the Default Task User Account and Email Settings
From:	The email address designated as the sender of messages regarding this process. You can specify default email message settings that are used for all processes. For more information, see Setting the Default Task User Account and Email Settings.
Send a Message (continuous processes only)
If items are queued longer than <x> minutes	When selected, the user specified in the To field is sent an email message whenever a Reminder or Report Delivery work item that was just processed is in the InterAction Queue longer than the specified number of minutes. For more information on the InterAction Queue, see Managing the Work Items of Continuous Processes.
If fewer than 95% complete within <x> minutes	When selected, the user specified in the To field is sent an email message if less than 95% of the Reminder or Report Delivery work items complete in the specified time. For more information on the InterAction Queue, see Managing the Work Items of Continuous Processes
If utilization goes above <x> percent	When selected, the user specified in the To field is sent an email message when work item utilization reaches the specified threshold. For more information on the InterAction Queue, see Managing the Work Items of Continuous Processes.
To:	The email address where email messages regarding this process are sent. This should be a monitored inbox. You can specify default email message settings that are used for all processes. For more information, see Setting the Default Task User Account and Email Settings.
From:	The email address designated as the sender of messages regarding this process. You can specify default email message settings that are used for all processes. For more information, see Setting the Default Task User Account and Email Settings.
Process-specific Settings (all processes)
Process-specific Settings	Depending on the type of process, you may need to provide different information. For example, when scheduling a maintenance script to run, you must specify the file name of the script. For more information on scheduling processes to complete specific tasks, see the following sections: For synchronizing user contact lists with the firm list see, User to Firm Contact Sync Process. For synchronizing user and group information with Active Directory, see Scheduling Active Directory Through Process Manager. For purging expired activities, see Data Maintenance Script. Automating the process of adding contacts to a folder or removing contacts from folders through the Folder Dependency Analyzer.  Pre-calculating and storing a set of detailed access rights for a group of users and opportunities on an ongoing basis. This utility is primarily used with InterAction Opportunities. Deliver email messages with reports as attachments to users who choose to email reports to themselves or other InterAction users using the Send to Me option in the Web Client or Windows Client.  Harvesting reminders for end users.  Delivering reminder messages to end users.  Running other applications in conjunction with other scheduled processes, see Why Would I Schedule a Process to Run Applications from a Command Line?

Schedule a Process

1. From the main entity list in InterAction Administrator, double-click Processes - Schedule and Results.

   You can schedule processes from any workstation with InterAction Administrator and the requested automated server process installed. If you are synchronizing with Outlook, you also need to have Outlook to InterAction Sync installed.

2. On the Manage Process Schedule dialog box, choose New. The New Scheduled Process dialog opens.

   

3. To set which workstation is used to run the process, choose Select, enter the name of the computer or choose Browse to search the network for the computer, then choose OK.

   InterAction does not support running scheduled processes on unsupported Windows operating systems. For specific version information, see the InterAction Version Compatibility Matrix on the InterAction Support Center web site.

   

   See On Which Workstations Should I Schedule Processes to Run? for more information.

4. Select the process in the Process drop-down list on the New Scheduled Process dialog box.

5. Enter the Process Name.

   By default, the name of the process you selected in the drop-down list populates the Process Name box. For recommendations on process naming, see Recommendations for Naming Processes.

6. If you do not want the process to run yet, clear the Enabled check box.

   A disabled process is still added to the schedule, but when Process Manager attempts to run it, it determines that the process is disabled and does not run it.

7. If the process chosen requires process type-specific settings, choose Edit under the Process Settings section.

   Instructions on specifying settings for each process type are covered in the sections about each process.

8. Select the frequency with which you wish to run the process. You can choose one of the following for scheduled processes:

   • On Demand
   • Once
   • Daily

   Choose one of these options for continuous processes:

   • Run continuously
   • Run only during a specified time period

9. If you chose On Demand, Once, Daily, or Run only during a specified time period, enter the required scheduling information.

   For recommendations, see Process Scheduling Recommendations.

10. For scheduled processes, enter the following for a user who is an administrator on the Process Manager workstation in the Task User area:

    • The user’s Windows user name
    • The user’s domain
    • The user’s Windows password

    By default, the Task User fields are populated with the default task user information. For instructions on setting this default, see Setting the Default Task User Account and Email Settings.

    To edit the schedule on the Process Manager workstation, your Windows account must be included in the Administrators local group on the Process Manager workstation.

11. In the Send a Message area, select when you want a specified user to receive email messages regarding the process. For scheduled processes, the options are:

    • Always send e-mail messages
    • Only send a message if the process fails
    • Never send e-mail messages

    For the Reminder Delivery and Report Delivery continuous processes, the options are:

    • If items are queued longer than <x> minutes
    • If fewer than 95% complete within <x> minutes
    • If utilization goes above <x> percent

12. Once you have configured your email message options, enter the appropriate email addresses in the To and From fields.

    By default, the email message settings are all populated with the default email message settings you have defined for processes. For instructions on setting these defaults, see Setting the Default Task User Account and Email Settings.

    At a minimum, always configure a process to send an email notification if the process has failed. For more information, see Why Should I Configure a Process to Send an Email Notification If It Fails?

13. When finished, choose OK.

On Which Workstations Should I Schedule Processes to Run?

Minimally, you should have at least one dedicated workstation that you use to run most scheduled processes. When you schedule a new process, always select this workstation.

To maximize performance, this workstation should have the fastest possible connection with the server that contains the InterAction database. For example, the workstation should always be on the same LAN (local area network) as your InterAction server.

Avoid scheduling other tasks on this workstation that run at the same time as the InterAction Process Manager, since this degrades performance.

On this workstation, install InterAction Administrator, InterAction Windows Client, and your email client (if you are running Outlook synchronization processes). Having these items installed on the workstation can be very beneficial when troubleshooting a problem with a process.

Never schedule processes to run from your workstation (the laptop or desktop that you use in your office). Not only does performance degrade, because Process Manager must share processing speed with the applications you are running, but if you ever turn your workstation off or take it out of the office, your scheduled processes do not run!

If you are running Outlook Sync, the recommendations for the workstation that runs the sync process are different. 

Depending on various factors, your environment may need to distribute different scheduled processes over multiple Process Manager workstations. Some of these factors include:

• Number of active users enabled for a specific process
• Number of user and firm contacts in the database
• Volume and size of reports being delivered via Send to Me

For more information on selecting a workstation, see the InterAction System Resource Guidelines document available on the Support Center Web site.

InterAction does not support running scheduled processes on unsupported Windows operating systems. For information on supported configurations, see the InterAction Compatability Matrix on the InterAction Support Center web site.

Recommendations for Naming Processes

The names of processes are automatically populated by the process type you select in the Process drop-down list on the New Scheduled Process dialog box. To distinguish multiple processes of the same type and to more easily find processes, make the names of the processes more meaningful. For example, you can keep the process type in the name but also include important parameters, such as, Calendar or Express, and also have the schedule, such as Weekly, Nightly, or Hourly.

Keep these guidelines in mind when you name processes:

- Make sure the name includes any words necessary to distinguish processes of the same type from each other.

- Remember that you can sort the jobs by name, so you need to take into account how you begin the names of processes.

- Use abbreviations if it helps you include more keywords while still letting you view the entire name in the list of processes.

Why Isn't My Process Running Even Though It Seems to Be Set Up Correctly?

Processes scheduled to run in the future or on a periodic basis use the Windows Task Scheduler to launch the Process Manager application. If you have changed the properties of the Windows Task Scheduler from the default selections, you may encounter problems when processes are scheduled to run.

To ensure the Windows Task Scheduler has the correct properties set:

1. On the workstation on which you run processes, access the Windows Task Scheduler utility.
2. Right-click Schedule or Task Scheduler from the Services list and choose Properties.

3. For the Startup Type, select Automatic.

   Note that InterAction Administrator automatically sets this the first time you configure the Process Schedule on this machine.

4. Access the Log On tab. In the Log on as field, select Local System account.
5. Choose OK to close the Properties dialog box, then exit the Services utility.

Continuous processes run using the InterAction Broker Service, which is installed and enabled when you install Continuous Process Services with InterAction Automated Server Processes during the InterAction Administrator installation.

To ensure the InterAction Broker Service has the correct properties set:

1. On the workstation on which you run processes, access the Windows Task Scheduler utility.
2. Right-click InterAction Broker Service from the Services list and choose Properties.

3. For the Startup Type, select Automatic.

   Note that InterAction Administrator automatically sets this the first time you configure the Process Schedule on this machine.

4. Access the Log On tab. In the Log on as field, select This account and enter AUTHORITY\NetworkService as the account name.
5. Choose OK to close the Properties dialog box, then exit the Services utility.

Process Scheduling and Security

This section covers the following topics:

• Checking the Task User Information Entered
• Security on the Workstation Running the Process

Checking the Task User Information Entered

InterAction fully supports using different task users for each scheduled process. When you enter task user information, InterAction attempts to verify if the information is correct. If it is not correct, a message displays to indicate that you have entered an incorrect password, user name, or domain name.

Security on the Workstation Running the Process

To edit the schedule of processes, your Windows account name must be included in the Administrators local group on the workstation on which the process is scheduled to run.

What do I do When the Password for My Task User Account is Changed?

Because the user account that is used for running processes often has administrative access to several workstations, change the password for this account frequently. When you change the password to the user account, you must also update all processes that use that account as the task user for the processes to run.

You can quickly update all affected processes from the Manage Process Schedule dialog box by marking the processes that are affected, selecting Update Task User Account and choosing Apply. For more information on marked operations from this window, see Updating Settings for Multiple Process at Once.

Also periodically update the default Task User Account information. This ensures that any new processes you add use an updated default user name and password. For more information, see Setting the Default Task User Account and Email Settings.

Why Would I Want to Use Different Task Users?

The Microsoft Outlook to InterAction Sync processes require a task user account with access to every user’s contact (and possibly calendar) information. It is not necessary to use such a high security account for other processes, such as Folder Dependency Analyzer. You should specify task user accounts with privileges that are appropriate for the processes you are scheduling.

Setting the Default Task User Account and Email Settings

To simplify the task of scheduling a new process, you can define a default task user account and email settings that are used whenever a new process is scheduled. This information is only used when creating new scheduled processes. If you later update the default user account and email settings, the processes that you created using the default are not automatically updated.

Set the Default Task User and Email Settings

To update the task user account for several processes at the same time, you can mark the processes in the Manage Process Schedule dialog box and select Update Task User Account or Update E-mail Notification and choose Apply.

1. From the main entity list of InterAction Administrator, double-click Process - Schedule and Results.

2. On the Manage Process Schedule dialog box, choose Defaults. The Set Process Defaults dialog opens.

   

3. Enter the information in the Task User and Messaging areas. For more information on these fields, see the table of “Scheduled and Continuous Process Settings” above.
4. When finished, choose OK.

Process Scheduling Recommendations

This section covers the following topics:

• General Recommendations
• Scheduling Overlapping Processes

General Recommendations

• Carefully schedule the processes you run during business hours. Some processes, such as User to Firm Contact Sync should run on a regular basis throughout the day. However intensive processes should run at a time when users are not on the system.
• Consider your backup schedule when scheduling processes. You should avoid running a process during this time or consider using the Run Program from Command Line scheduled process to incorporate your backup schedule into the overall InterAction process schedule.
• A “day” to the Process Manager is midnight to midnight. That is, a job scheduled on Monday at 12:00 AM takes place early Monday morning and only includes changes from the weekend. To process Monday’s changes, you need to schedule the job to run on Tuesday at 12:00 AM.
• Scheduled processes work properly as long as the Windows Task Scheduler is running and has the following Properties configured:
  • Startup Type on the General tab set to Automatic
  • Log on as on the Log On tab set to Local System account
• A user does not need to be logged in to the Process Manager workstation for processes to run.
• You do not have to use the same task user for each process. InterAction fully supports using different task users for each scheduled process. For more information, see Why Would I Want to Use Different Task Users?
• The User to Firm Contact Sync and Microsoft Outlook to InterAction Sync processes let you process subsets of users by specifying server groups. See Using Server Groups for more information.

Scheduling Overlapping Processes

There are two approaches to scheduling multiple processes:

• Schedule the processes close together. If one process is running when the next process is scheduled to start, the second one is added to the queue and starts as soon as the first process completes.

• Estimate the time for each process to run and leave that amount of time between each process.

  The Process Results dialog box can help you determine how long each process takes to run. For details, see Review Process Results for Processes.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach:

• Overlapping schedules are more efficient. If the first process takes only 30 minutes, the second process can start immediately after the previous one finishes.

  If the processes are scheduled two hours apart, Process Manager is idle for an hour and a half before starting the next process.

• Well-spaced schedules are more conservative and provide an automatic “backup” in case of problems since processes are not saved the event of a restart or failure.

  For instance, assume the first process in the schedule started at 10 PM and completed by 10:30. The next one is scheduled for 12 midnight, and a third is scheduled for 2 AM. If the Process Manager workstation is restarted sometime between 10:30 and 12 midnight, the next process still starts normally.

  On the other hand, if the processes are scheduled to begin one after the other, the processes waiting in the queue are lost and never run.

If you choose to schedule overlapping processes, you should set start times that allow at least 15 minutes after the end time of the previous process.

Process Manager Window

Use the Process Manager window to see the list of jobs currently in the queue. This window automatically displays on the Process Manager workstation whenever the Windows Task Scheduler launches a process, provided:

• The user currently logged into the workstation is the task user for the process
• You did not log into the workstation through terminal services
• A task is not already running as a different user

You can use this window to view the current processes. However, the window only displays when a job is running - it does not display between process cycles. Therefore, it is not a useful tool for determining whether each process has been set up correctly.

You can only review the Process Manager window on the computer that is running process manager if the task user for the process is the user currently logged into the workstation. However, you can review completed processes from the Process Schedule dialog box on any workstation with InterAction Administrator and Automated Processes installed.

The Process Manager window displays the following:

• Completed, pending, or in progress processes, ordered by request time. For completed processes, only the most recently completed process is included.
• The current processing for the currently running task. For example, it displays the user contact list that is currently being processed.

Email Notification for Processes

InterAction can send an email message whenever a scheduled process runs. You can configure this to always send messages when a process runs or only when the process fails.

In the case of continuous processes, if the process is not clearing work items above certain thresholds you can configure InterAction to send notification when items are queued too long, take too long to complete, or utilization goes above a certain percentage.

You set email notification individually for each process you schedule. For example, you may set User to Firm Contact Sync to send a message when it fails, but set a script that runs once a week to always send a message.

To use this feature, you need to configure InterAction’s email messaging settings.

InterAction Email Messaging Settings

You need to configure the email messaging settings in InterAction Administrator before InterAction can send any type of email messages, including:

• Company Domain Name
• SMTP Server Name and Port Number
• SMTP Authentication Settings
• Default E-Mail Accounts

These settings are covered in Setting Up Email Messaging.

Why Should I Configure a Process to Send an Email Notification If It Fails?

Unless you regularly review the error logs or process schedule, you may not be aware that a process has failed until it fails several times in a row. This is especially applicable to User to Firm Contact Sync and Outlook to InterAction Sync because these processes should be scheduled to run several times a day. If a problem occurs, several failed synchronization attempts may go by before a user notices that the contact information is not being updated.

To prevent repeated failures from occurring, you should always configure processes to send an email message to a group of administrators who can troubleshoot the problem if a process fails. Always configure the email message to be sent to a group instead of to one user to account for administrators being out of the office.