AutoSys : All you need to know about the Best Job Scheduler

What is AutoSys?

AutoSys can be said as a Job scheduler; which is basically a computer program used for controlling the unattended execution of a batch processing instructions which includes series of a program being executed at once. AutoSys services are mainly used for commercial purposes.

The application is compatible with servers like Windows, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, and AIX. Since its introduction, it has gone through a series of development and improvements. At present, CA Inc. provides services of AutoSys.

History

William Arntz was the person, who invented this job scheduling software, but unfortunately, he could not do much marketing of the AutoSys software, as a result, back in 1995, the AutoSys tool was sold to Platinum International Company. Nevertheless, the Platinum Company also did not have a long run, though, they brought in some new features and improvement, but in 1999, Computer Associates International bought the company for 3.5 Billion dollars. And since then, CA Inc. has been the owner and service provider of this software.

The first version of the AutoSys came out in 1992, during that time; it used to be called as the  AutoSystem Version 1. Since then, various version of the software have been released, the latest version of it was released in 2010, and it is referred as AutoSystem version 11.3.

How AutoSys does really works?

As you know the application can run on several servers, but when a client needs to use it, he needs to have Windows or Linux/UNIX computer; the applications offer a Graphical User Interface (G.U.I), tasks can be programmed using Java or UNIX script programming. A task is defined with some initial set of conditions. Therefore, whenever, a new information appears, it executes the scheduled jobs, and collects the information and supplies it during management of the same kind of task. The AutoSys application requires license purchase from CA Inc.; so you will not get any kind of hack for getting this system.

Main components of AutoSys

AutoSys consist of 3-tier architecture; there are 3 main components of this system, which are the Event Server, Agent Server, and an Event Processor.

1. Event Processor: The event processor can be regarded as the most important component of the AutoSys system. Its main task is scanning executing the processing all the information it reads from the Database. When a user starts the process, the Event processor will scan the whole database and will check for new events, if it finds a new event, the processor will check the condition and then execute the event. A client can run the event processor on Windows or UNIX server machine. 

2. Event Server: The Event Server can be regarded as the database of the AutoSys, which can be based on Windows or UNIX server and can have multiple numbers of databases. The Event Server contains all kinds of information related to the system; it also monitors and reports information.

3. Agent Server: The Agent Server is nothing but a process or service, which may vary from a Windows or UNIX machine, but the functions, is same. The process is triggered on a Client’s machine for doing some specific job scheduling.

What is need of AutoSys?

As you know, AutoSys is job scheduling software, which helps in managing workload, the job scheduling task is done in Windows-AT or UNIX Corn, the jobs gets activated at certain scheduled times. Other than activating scheduler jobs, it can be also be used to turn on events, timer, alerts. A user just needs to specify the day or week during which an event or a script to get started.

Ways to define jobs in AutoSys

To define a job in AutoSys you need to use either Job Information Language (JIL) or using its Graphical User Interface (GUI).

AutoSys GUI

Using the GUI of AutoSys is quite simple and the commands are fairly similar to the command used in JIL, a user needs to define certain parameters for a job or event, and after that, he needs to set a scheduled time when and where the event is going to get started.

JIL

The JIL contains a set of commands, which allows users to define a set of conditions and parameters for creating an AutoSys job, which is then saved in the Event Server.

Creating a Job in AutoSys

To create a job in AutoSys, you need to use the following attributes-

• insert_job:
• job_type:
• description:
• owner:
• machine:
• date_condtions:
• days_of_week:
• max_run_alarm:
• avg_runtime:
• date_condtions:
• start_times:
• run_calendar:

Other Job Scheduling applications

This is not the only job scheduling software available in the market, there are other applications available, and some of their names are mentioned below-

• Control M- Owned by BMC, USA.
• ActiveBatch- Advance System Concepts, USA
• Flux- Flux Software, USA
• Global ECS- Vinzat Software, USA
• Opcon- Owned by SMA Solutions, Europe, and the USA
• Batchman- Owned by Honico, Germany
• DollarUniverse- Automic, USA

Advantages of AutoSys

It is one of the best job scheduling software system available in the market. The application provides a wider range of functionalities and features, so, in this regard, here are some advantages of using this best workload automation software

• Versatile, for creating a task, you can either use JAVA or UNIX scripting language, so you just have to know any of these languages, and you’ll be to create your own tasks and events.
• AutoSys provides a user-friendly interface, along with some predefined attributes, so creating events, schedule events, and timers is pretty much easy if you know the format and the attributes.
• Several processes may run at a time, and there is no denying that, some of the processes may get crashed or interrupted due to some error, and during that kind of scenarios, it automatically triggers alarms and takes the necessary steps to fix the issue.
• AutoSys also generates reports when some tasks are being processed, or even if some process is interrupted. The application also lets the user view all the kinds of reports through the command line.
• AutoSys also provides backup in case of a system crash or any kind of errors, that happens during a server crash, restarts all the process that were interrupted, and for more reliability and safety from crashes, a user can use it simultaneously on two different machines.

Liked the Article? Please share and spread. Also, Read

• JIL (Job Information Language) Tutorial
• Reference Guide – Tutorial for Beginners
• Command List with Examples