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Scheduled Tasks

A scheduled task (also called a scheduled spec in the web console) is a recurring operation: a command, a target set, and a schedule bound together. The update windows of firmware tracks are scheduled tasks too, of a kind that belongs to the track. Once created, it fires automatically on every tick of the attached schedule until you disable or remove it.

Scheduled tasks are created implicitly when you attach a schedule to an operation:

Choose On schedule on Run or on Synchronize, or set the schedule on the S3 Backup Configuration card on Backups.

Each of these produces a scheduled task that you can see, pause, and remove.

Viewing scheduled tasks

Section titled “Viewing scheduled tasks”

The Tasks page has a Scheduled specs tab listing all recurring tasks in the active organization. Each row shows the task’s code, its schedule, its kind, what it runs, whether it is enabled, and when it last fired. See Scheduled specs.

Enabling and disabling scheduled tasks

Section titled “Enabling and disabling scheduled tasks”

You can pause a specific recurring task without touching its schedule. This is useful when you want to stop one automated operation while keeping others that share the same schedule running.

On the Scheduled specs tab of Tasks, choose Disable or Enable from the row’s … menu.

Removing a scheduled task

Section titled “Removing a scheduled task”

On the Scheduled specs tab of Tasks, choose Remove from the row’s … menu and confirm.

Removing a scheduled task stops future executions permanently. The schedule itself is not affected and can be reused for other operations.

How execution works

Section titled “How execution works”

When a schedule fires:

  1. NetDefense resolves the target set defined at creation time — the OU members, device list, or --all flag that was in effect when the task was created.
  2. One task per resolved device is enqueued with status PENDING.
  3. Each task flows through the normal dispatch pipeline — you can monitor them on the Tasks page or via ndcli task list.

A firmware track’s window is the exception. It has no fixed target set: each time it fires, it acts on the devices that are in the track at that moment.

Filtering ndcli task list for scheduled executions

Section titled “Filtering ndcli task list for scheduled executions”

Each execution of a recurring task produces normal task records, marked with the schedule that fired them. To see the runs of one schedule, name it. To see one firing on its own, use its run: every task of a firing shares a run code, which ndcli task describe shows on its Run line. Or filter by type:

Terminal window
# Every task the scheduled tasks of the "nightly" schedule created
ndcli task list --schedule nightly


# Tasks from any schedule in the last day
ndcli task list --origin SCHEDULE --created-after 24h


# One firing of a scheduled task
ndcli task list --run Rs1Fr2Ab


# All recent SYNC tasks
ndcli task list --type SYNC --created-after 24h


# All tasks from the last hour across all types
ndcli task list --created-after 1h


# Filter by multiple statuses — see failed or expired recurring tasks
ndcli task list --type BACKUP --status FAILED,EXPIRED
ndcli task list --status EXPIRED --created-after 7d

Multi-value filtering: --status and --type take one value, several values (repeat the flag or separate them with commas) or all. Use --created-after to narrow the window if you need to spot specific patterns. --schedule, --origin and --run need ndcli 1.40.0 or later; see task list for every filter.

Reference

Section titled “Reference”
CommandDescription
ndcli schedule tasks listList all scheduled tasks in the organization
ndcli schedule tasks enable <code>Enable a scheduled task
ndcli schedule tasks disable <code>Disable a scheduled task
ndcli schedule tasks remove <code>Remove a scheduled task permanently

See also Schedules for managing the named cadences that drive scheduled tasks.