What's New in adTempus 3
adTempus 3.0 is the next step in the evolution of adTempus. It includes many major
enhancements, even more minor changes to improve usability and functionality, and
architectural changes to make it easier for customers and developers to integrate
with adTempus.
adTempus 3.0 fully supports Windows Vista and Windows Longhorn, and is also available for 64-bit versions of Windows.
This page presents an overview of the significant changes in this version. See the
Release Notes for a more extensive
list.
adTempus has many new features to improve usability. Following are a few of the
major changes; for complete information see the
Release Notes.
Job Queues
Newly-introduced Job
Queues allow you to set limits on the number of jobs that
can be run concurrently, enabling you to better manage resource usage
on a server. For example, you may have two jobs that use so much CPU time
that you don't want to let them run at the same time. Previously this
required setting conditions between the jobs, and could be difficult to
enforce, especially if jobs were run manually. Now you can simply assign
both jobs to the same queue, and limit the queue to one job at a time.
If a second job is submitted for the queue, it will be held until the
first job finishes.
Job Variables
The new Job
Variable feature makes it easier to change parameters for
job tasks and to "templatize" jobs so they can be easily duplicated
or copied from server to server. Job Variables are user-defined variables
that can be used in many places within a job (in the same way that environment
variables can be used in earlier versions). The values can be changed
easily to simplify changes to jobs.
For example, you may have a group of jobs that all act on files in a
particular directory. Within each job, you call a program, passing it
the directory name. Instead of "hard-coding" the path on the
command line for each job or job step, you can now use a Job Variable
(such as "%TargetPath%") that is defined for the group. At runtime,
the "%TargetPath%" token is replaced with the actual path you
have specified. If you subsequently need to change the path (or copy the
jobs to another server where the path is different), you can change the
path in a single place and all jobs will use the new value.
Job Variables can be inherited (from server-level variables to group-level
to job-level to step-level) and overridden at any level.
Users running a job manually can also override variable values. This
allows you to set up parameterized on-demand jobs, where a user can specify
parameters such as selection criteria without needing to modify the job
definition.
Credential Profiles
Credential
Profiles allow users to schedule jobs under a Windows security
account without needing to know the password for that account, provided
that they have been granted permission to use the Profile. This allows
administrators to set up a standard "batch" account that is
used by all jobs, without having to give adTempus users the password for
this account.
Improved Scripting
adTempus now supports scripts
written in VB.NET and C#, and features a much-improved script
editor. Now many routine administrative tasks can be easily automated
through .NET programs that are written and maintained within adTempus.
There's no need to write (and keep track of) a standalone program or to
suffer with creaky VBScript scripts.
Improved Desktop Selection
adTempus allows jobs to run "interactively" (visible to the
user), but in previous versions an interactive job was only visible from
the computer's console session, and not from Remote Desktop sessions.
Changes in the desktop
selection options now make it possible to run a job in the
console session, the session of the user whose account is used on the
job, or the session of the user who is running the job manually.
Security Inheritance
The adTempus security framework has been overhauled to support security
inheritance, similar to the security inheritance of folders
and files in Windows. This greatly simplifies security administration
compared to the old model, which required that security changes be made
separately to each job.
Web Request Task
A new
Web Request Task has been added that allows your job to request
a Web URL. This can be used to request a page that triggers processing
on the remote server, or to download content from the server. The page
or file returned by the Web server can be saved to disk and/or saved as
a captured file in the job's history.
SQL Server Job Task
In previous versions of adTempus, the Job Wizard could
be used to generate a script that could run and monitor SQL Server Agent
jobs. In adTempus 3.0 this has been replaced by a full-fledged
SQL Server Job Task that
offers the same functionality but is easier to configure.
More Flexibility When Running Jobs Manually
More options are now available when a user runs a job
manually from the Console, offering better control over job execution.
The user can now select which step(s) of the job should run, and determine
whether Responses for the job should be executed.
Responses Based on Execution Time
Responses can now be triggered based on the length
of time a task has been running. For example, you can now configure a
Response to send a notification message if a program runs for more than
one hour. Previously, the only action that could be taken based on task
execution time was to terminate the task after a specified time had elapsed.
Job Management and Monitoring Enhancements
Failure Acknowledgment
Previous versions of adTempus allowed you to "acknowledge"
failed job instances shown in the failed job view by changing the filter
date to exclude those instances. adTempus 3.0 introduces true acknowledgment:
a user can selectively and permanently "acknowledge" the failure
of any instance, and doing so removes the instance from the failed jobs
view of all other users as well.
History Comments
System operators or other authorized users can now add
comments to a job's history. For example, if a job fails, the operator
may want to record details of what caused the failure and what error resolution
steps were taken. Comments for each instance are viewed and edited on
the new Comments page of the Job Instance Details window
(displayed when you view the details from an instance on the History
page of the main job list).
Job Status Override
System operators or other authorized users can override
the status of a completed job, forcing adTempus to show a "Succeeded"
or "Failed" status for the instance. This can be used when you
need to let jobs that depend on the job execute despite a failure.
Manual History Purge
In previous versions of adTempus, a job's history (execution history,
log messages, and captured files) could only be purged through the automatic
process controlled by the retention settings for the job. The adTempus
Console now provides the option to purge the job's history complete on
demand, and optionally to reset the statistics for the job as well. This
new option can be found on the Statistics tab when the job is selected
in the main job list.
User Interface Improvements
Many changes have been made to the adTempus Console to improve usability:
Support for Windows Vista and Longhorn
adTempus is now fully compatible with Windows Vista and Windows Longhorn.
Some visible changes to support these operating systems include:
When configuring a job that runs under an administrator
account, you can specify that the job should be run "with highest
privileges," which is equivalent to running the program "As
Administrator" from the Windows shell. adTempus will then run the
program with full administrator privileges enabled, without a user access
control (UAC) prompt.
XML-Based Export/Import
Previous versions of adTempus used an undocumented binary file format
for exporting and importing data. adTempus now uses XML for exports and
imports, making it easier for customers to modify exported data before
it is imported into adTempus.
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