Utilities > Scheduling > Scheduled tasks > The scheduled tasks

01 The scheduled tasks

What scheduled tasks are

Scheduled tasks are a useful tool for managing Cloud Servers and Cloud VPS. From the dedicated section, you can schedule tasks to be performed on the selected Cloud Server or Cloud VPS at the date and time you choose. There are two types of scheduled tasks:
  • single task - a task that is performed only once at a scheduled date and time;
  • recurring task - a task that is repeated over time (hourly, daily, weekly or monthly) at a scheduled time.
You can manage or delete a scheduled task at any time, whether it is a single or recurring task.

What recurring scheduled tasks are

When you create or edit a scheduled task, you can enable the Recurring task option to repeat it automatically over time. When you enable this option, you can choose how often the task is repeated. The scheduled task is repeated within a defined time period: you must set a start date and, if you want to limit its duration, an end date.
You must choose one of the five recurrence types:
  • Hourly - the selected task will be repeated after the number of hours you specify;
  • Daily - the selected task will be repeated every day at the time specified in Start date;
  • Weekly - choose the days of the week on which you want the task to be performed;
  • Monthly - choose the days of the month on which you want the task to be performed;
  • Monthly 2 - choose whether to perform the task on the first or last day of the month.
If you do not specify an end date (End date), the task will be repeated automatically until it is disabled or deleted.
 
The Start date and End date fields are used to define the period during which the recurring task is repeated: for example, if you want a Cloud Server to be switched off at weekends for the next 5 months, you will need to create two separate recurring scheduled tasks: one to switch it off on Friday evening and one to switch it on on Monday morning.

Virtual machines that support scheduled tasks

VDC - Cloud Server
VMware Cloud Server [1]
OpenStack Cloud Server [1]
Cloud VPS VMware
Cloud VPS OpenStack
Cloud VPS Hyper-V [1]
1. You cannot schedule a task if the virtual machine is archived.

Actions available with scheduled tasks

You can use scheduled tasks to schedule the following actions on the Cloud Server:
 
  VMware Cloud Server OpenStack Cloud Server Cloud VPS VMware Cloud VPS OpenStack Cloud VPS Hyper-V
Switch on
Force power off
Shut down
Edit resources
Create snapshot [1]
Restore snapshot [1]
Delete snapshot [1]
1. Feature not available for OpenStack Cloud VPS migrated from VMware Cloud VPS.

Possible scheduled task statuses

A scheduled task (single or recurring) can have one of two statuses:
  • Enabled - the scheduled task is performed;
  • Disabled - the scheduled task is suspended (but remains visible).
You can set the status of a scheduled task both when creating it and when editing it.

How long a scheduled task remains active

The calendar and list views display all scheduled tasks planned for the next 12 months.

A scheduled task remains displayed in the calendar until it is performed, even if it has been disabled in the meantime. Once performed, the scheduled task is removed from the view, although it remains available in the data center logs.

Recurring scheduled tasks are displayed for the entire scheduled period (Start date and End date), regardless of their status (Enabled or Disabled). If you do not specify an End date for a recurring scheduled task, the system will continue to schedule the task without an expiry date.