Configuring prototype job retention policy

Among the various types of batch job components, the ability to set up the disposal of information related to a previously executed job is unique to a job prototype component. When a batch provisioning job is disposed of, any associated files stored on the Supervisor are deleted, and the job removed from the various job list views.

Disposal is especially important for jobs with backup steps, each of which results in an associated backup .dist file to be stored for each station. Although a Supervisor platform has large amounts of hard disk storage, over time, retaining all .dist files can consume huge amounts of file space. As a best practice, you should periodically back up all files to removable media and set the job retention to automatically delete old backups.

By default (as copied from the provisioningNiagara palette), a job prototype component’s retention is set for all of its jobs to be permanently retained (until manually disposed of). However, you can (and often should) modify a job prototype’s retention policy such that some executed jobs are automatically disposed of—depending on either elapsed time or by reaching some number of job executions.

You can access the job retention properties from either the Prototype Job List view (this procedure) or from the component’s property sheet.

Perform the following steps:

Double-click the NiagaraNetworkPrototypeJob container.
The system displays the Niagara Network Prototype View.
Click the drop-down list in the upper right corner of the view and click Prototype Job List.

The system displays the Prototype Job List.
Click the file folder to the right of the Retention policy property and select the retention policy.
- Retain permanently
- Dispose after a specified amount of time (default is 7 days)
- Keep a limited number of executions (default is 10) with Count only successful executions deselected or selected.
- Keep a limited number of executions per device
  Successful executions to keep per device (defaults to 5)
  
  Unsuccessful executions to keep per device (defaults to 1)
To understand how to apply the different retention policies, take a look at the following information:

Retain permanently: All successful and unsuccessful job executions are retained.

Dispose after a specified amount of time: All successful and unsuccessful job executions are disposed of after a defined period of time.

Keep a limited number of executions and deselect Count only successful executions: This policy keeps a defined number of job executions regardless of their status, causing the files for the latest successful backups of certain stations to be disposed of when the limit is reached.

Keep a limited number of executions and select Count only successful executions. This policy keeps a defined number of job executions with a successful job status, causing files for a large number of job executions to be retained.

Keep a limited number of executions per device and define the number of Successful executions to keep per device and Unsuccessful executions to keep per device: This policy keeps per station the specified number of successful and unsuccessful job executions. Only when in each station the status limits are exceeded, the job is safe to be disposed of. If the status limit for even one job step is under its limit for its station, the job is retained.

Example: Keep by device, three successful executions and two unsuccessful executions

In the right column, the shaded entries indicate that the status limits for all steps in the job are exceeded, and the job is safe to be disposed of (Apr 15). If the status for even one step in a job is at or under its limit for its station, the entire job is retained (Apr 25).

NOTE: Keep in mind that if you configure retention properties and then duplicate the job prototype for the purpose of creating a new provisioning job, all copied job components will have that same retention configuration.

Configuring prototype job retention policy

Related Links