The Schedules are used to automate job execution. You can use the Schedules workspace to schedule one-off or recurring jobs to monitor your environment, run jobs continuously at any time, disable schedules and skip jobs, or run a scheduled job.

See SaltStack Config jobs workflow for an overview of how to use the Jobs workspace along with the other workspaces in SaltStack Config to create and use jobs for configuration management.

SaltStack Config includes a range of scheduling options, allowing you to build custom schedules based on your organization’s needs. Scheduling is also available through the SaltStack Config Scheduler API.

You can access your scheduled jobs by the job’s status (such as upcoming or completed), in the Activity workspace in the Upcoming section. See Activity for more information. Also see Jobs for instructions on defining job settings.

You can create schedules to run jobs at set intervals over a defined time period. The Schedules workspace also has controls you can use to run or skip a job or disable an entire schedule.

Accessing the Schedules workspace

To use the Schedules workspace, click Config > Schedules on the side menu.

Creating a schedule

To configure a job to run on a specific schedule:

  1. In the Schedules workspace, click Create Schedule.
  2. Enter a schedule name and define custom settings. See Schedule settings for more information.
  3. Click Save.

Checking job status

To check the status of a job that is running on a schedule:

  1. In the Schedules workspace, click on a schedule name.
  2. You can select the different status tabs to view completed, in progress, and upcoming jobs associated with the schedule. For more about the different statuses, see Statuses.
Note: You can also view the status of scheduled jobs in the Activity workspace. See Activity.

Editing a schedule

To change a schedule:

  1. In the Schedules workspace, click on a schedule name.
  2. Click Edit Schedule.
  3. Edit the schedule settings as needed. See Schedule settings for more information.
  4. Click Save.

Running a scheduled job

To run a scheduled job:

  1. In the Schedules workspace, select the checkbox associated with the scheduled job.
    Note: You can select more than one schedule to run multiple jobs at once.
  2. Click Run now.
  3. In the confirmation popup, click Run now.
    Note: If the Run now button appears disabled to you, you might not have permission to run schedules on this target or within the SaltStack Config user interface in general. Contact your SaltStack Config administrator to request access.

Skipping a scheduled job instance

To skip an instance of a job that has been scheduled:

  1. In the Schedules workspace, click on a schedule name and go to the Upcoming tab.
  2. Select the checkbox associated with the job instance you want to skip.
  3. Click Skip.
  4. In the confirmation dialog, click Skip.

Disabling an entire schedule

To disable an entire schedule to prevent it from running:

  1. In the Schedules workspace, select the checkbox associated with the schedule.
  2. Click Disable.
  3. In the confirmation dialog, click Disable.
Note: You can also disable or enable a schedule inside a specific schedule itself.

Schedule settings

Define schedule settings based on the following.

Job

Specify the job to include in the schedule. See Jobs for more information.

Target

A target is the group of minions, across one or many Salt masters, that a job’s Salt command applies to. A Salt master can also be managed like a minion and can be a target if it is running the minion service. This field allows you to choose either a target group or Salt master, depending on the selected command.

Timezone

Jobs included in the schedule run based on the time zone indicated in this field. Jobs are saved as UTC, which means jobs will run at the specified UTC time no matter which time zone the RaaS server may be in. The time zone is saved for translation to or from UTC to your local time.

SaltStack Config automatically detects your local time zone from your browser and uses this time zone as your default. You cannot change your local time zone.

Schedule frequency

Choose the schedule frequency from Recurring, Repeat Date & Time, Once, or Cron Expression. Additional options are available, depending on the scheduled activity, and on the schedule frequency you choose.

Recurring
Set an interval for repeating the schedule, with optional fields for start or end date, splay, and maximum number of parallel jobs.
Repeat Date & Time
Choose to repeat the schedule weekly or daily, with optional fields for start or end date, and maximum number of parallel jobs.
Once
Specify a date and time to run the job.
Cron
Enter a cron expression to define a custom schedule based on Croniter syntax. See the CronTab editor for syntax guidelines. For best results, avoid scheduling jobs fewer than 60 seconds apart when defining a custom cron expression.

Statuses

The Schedules workspace displays the current status for each schedule. When you view details for a schedule, you can also see the current status for each scheduled job.

Schedule

Schedules can be either enabled or disabled.

Enabled
All jobs will continue to run according to schedule settings without interruption.
Disabled
All jobs included in the schedule are disabled and will not run.

Scheduled jobs

Schedules can include completed, in progress, and upcoming jobs. See Activity for more information.