2320572 - Platform - Job scheduler tips & tricks from Support for Partners and Consultants.

• Setting up a job (schedule job generic sections).
• Editing an existing job.
• Triggering jobs manually and effect on dependent jobs
• Server time zones: where to find / check.
• Common errors that can be typically fixed without support assistance.
• Job behavior after failure / job triggering multiple times.
• SF FTP time zone versus job scheduler server time zones.

SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite

This article is related to Job Configuration under Provisioning

• Setting up a job (schedule job generic sections):
  See: KBA 2212605 - Scheduled job setup - Partner & Support - understanding and using the generic sections : "Job Definition", "Server Access", "File Access", and "Job Occurence & Notification"

• Editing an existing job:
  You can only do this from the manage scheduled jobs section.

1. Cancel the job that you need to edit
2. Edit the job and make the required changes to job specific setup, owner, scheduling, etc..
3. Make sure to update the start date, as the job will not save with a start date in the past. Pay attention to the format of the start date as explained in the above KBA, to avoid mixing up month and day.
4. Save and submit the new job.
   
   
• Trigger an existing job manually:
  You can use "run now" to trigger the job and test it if you need to.
  Note that using "Run now" will not trigger any dependent jobs as it is not using the same internal job request ID than the one that the dependent job is set to trigger on. ("Run Now" creates a one time only job request ID)
  See KBA 2237471 - Does the dependent jobs in provisioning executes when user runs first job in Admin Tools UI.
  The same behavior applies when triggering from provisioning.
  
  

• Server time zones:
  When setting up a job, or checking job details from "monitor jobs" or "manage scheduled jobs" in provisioning, you will be able to see the current server time.
  It will look like so: "Jobs are scheduled based on local time for this server which is currently: Wed May 18 12:15:39 EDT 2016"
  
  Use this to verify that you are setting up the job to run at the right time. If you are importing a file into the SF instance then make sure you run the job after the time and date the file is placed on the FTP for import.

• Common errors.
  Here are some common errors with reason for failure, which you can check and fix without support assistance.

1. KB-2: FTP File cannot be found.
   Reason: File was not found on the FTP server.
   Common checks for fix: Please ensure on the FTP if the file is present and if the name matches the one setup in the job. Also check if the file was present at the time the job was due to run.

2. KB-3: Invalid Job Owner.
   Reason: The job owner for this job is no longer active or could be purged
   Common checks for fix: Check the job owner in the front end application and ensure that this user is active in the system. You can also try to run the job with another job owner and see if this resolves the issue.

• Job behavior after failure:
  You may notice that many jobs are triggered again after failure. Not all types of failures will trigger the job to run again, but when it does it will trigger up to 3 times total, with a ten minute interval between the failure and the next run.
  This is normal behavior.
  
  You do however need to keep this in mind when setting up new jobs. For example, if you trigger a job that is picking up a file for import based on the date the job is running, this job will dynamically adjust and look for the file base on the date.
  So if the job triggers close to midnight (server time) and has to trigger again for whatever reason, it may be that the job re-triggers the next day. Thus, even if the job is able to run successfully, it will not find the file as it will be looking for the next day.
  
  Best practice: Don't trigger any jobs after 23:15 PM in order to avoid this scenario
  
  

• SF FTP time zone:
  At times you may see a job failing due to it not finding the file on the FTP server (error KB-2).
  Typically the first reflex is to check the last modified date for the file on the FTP server and compare to the job run time.
  If you are doing this please bear the following in mind: 
  
  When comparing timings for jobs setup and checking for files placed in the SF FTP servers via web interface, the time displayed on the FTP server may be displaying in UTC time zone.
  You can test this by uploading a test file to see if the time is UTC or if it matches the server location timezone.
  Bear this in mind when you are comparing execution times and file last modified time.

Job scheduler tips, Job Configuration, Setting up a job, job in Provisioning, schedule job, Editing an existing job, Triggering jobs, Server time zones, Job behavior, SF FTP time zone
, KBA , LOD-SF-PLT-JOBS , Scheduled Jobs , LOD-SF-PLT-TLS , Tools , Problem