Schedule a notebook task

You can create tasks to schedule the automated run of a notebook. Each time the notebook is run according to the schedule you set, the site opens a new container and runs the notebook without you needing to open the notebook. You can have a maximum of five active tasks across all your notebooks.

In the Tasks pane in the notebook editor, you can create one or multiple scheduled tasks to run the notebook. You can schedule it to run once in the future or on a recurring basis—from once every 15 minutes to once every 6 months.

If you are preparing a notebook for automated run, such as on a recurring basis, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Prepare the notebook

You can configure input and output parameters for a notebook. Input parameters correspond to input variables in a notebook that you want to externalize for a scheduled task. When a scheduled task runs, input parameters are inserted into the notebook at the top of the notebook, similar to global variables. This allows you to author generic notebooks and modify the values for input variables at run time.

Task parameters are injected by default into a cell at the beginning of a notebook. Alternatively, you can use the Tags cell option on the toolbar, which allows you to create and manage tags for each cell in the notebook workspace, to create a tag for a cell named injected-parameters. Task parameters are injected into the cell that follows the injected-parameters tag. To enable tags, you can change the cell toolbar options by clicking View, clicking Cell Toolbar, and clicking Tags.

Considerations for content

Other than the parameters cell it can insert, scheduling a notebook does not support user interaction with notebooks. Avoid adding content that requires user interaction while the notebook runs, such as clicking a point on a map.

Any credentials or new variables you want added at the time of an automated run must be inserted in the parameters cell, as indicated above. Ensure the notebook does not contain content that will stop the notebook from completing.

Note:

When authoring notebooks, use full paths to directories and files in the workspace directory.

For example, use /arcgis/home/test.gdb instead of home/test.gdb.

Create a task

When the notebook is ready, you can create a task to schedule its run. Using the Tasks pane in the notebook editor, you can create one or multiple tasks to automate runs of the notebook and specify the task's schedule.

1. Verify that you are signed in with privileges to create and schedule notebooks.
2. Save the notebook with a title, if you haven't already.

   The Tasks button becomes available on the top ribbon of the notebook editor.

3. On the top ribbon of the notebook editor, click Tasks.
4. Click Create task to open the dialog box.

   Note:

   You can also create tasks from the Tasks tab of the notebook's item details page.

5. Provide a title in the Title text box to describe the task schedule, such as Weekly data cleaning run.
6. If you have not previously configured parameters for the notebook and there are parameters you want to add to the notebook when it is run by the task, provide them in the Parameters section. Give a key in the Key setting and its paired value in the Value setting for each parameter, and click Add to save the parameter.
7. Click Next.
8. On the Set task schedule details page, specify the schedule for the task.

   Tip:

   When you change the value for Repeat type, the options below change to fit that denomination. For example, if you choose Week, check boxes appear for each day of the week.

9. Use the Update Notebook on Completion toggle button to save the notebook after each run. To update the notebook with the results of each run, turn on the toggle button. If you do not want the notebook to be automatically updated, turn off the toggle button.
10. Optionally, expand the Advanced section to enter the maximum amount of minutes that the task can run.
11. In the Advanced section, a Save parameters to notebook toggle button will appear if you have added parameters. Optionally, you can turn this on to save the inserted cell with your new parameters to the notebook when it is run.
12. In the Advanced section, turn the Update notebook on completion toggle button on if you want to update the notebook with the results of each run.
13. When you are satisfied with your title, optional parameters, and task schedule, click Create Task.

    The task is active and runs the notebook according to the schedule you've set.

If you want to have multiple schedules, you can create more tasks for the notebook using the same workflow. You can have a maximum of five active tasks across all your notebooks. Pause or delete active tasks if you already have five active tasks and want to schedule more.

Work with existing tasks

Once you have created a task for a notebook, you can view the task's details and edit or delete it at any time. You can make changes to tasks either in the Tasks pane of the notebook editor or from the Tasks tab of the notebook's item details page. In both places, you can view all tasks for the notebook with the time each task was created, when it was last modified, and its current status.

1. Verify that you are signed in with privileges to create notebooks.
2. From the top ribbon of the notebook editor, click Tasks.
3. In the Scheduled Tasks section, find the task that you want to work with.
4. Click Actions next to the task and do any of the following:
   • Click Details to view the details and status of each run of the task. To view the run results, click the Results button. A task's status can be one of the following:
     • Succeeded—The task completed successfully.
     • Executing—The task is currently running.
     • Failed—The task failed to run successfully. If a task fails five times, it is completely stopped.
     • Skipped—The task was skipped because a previous run was still running.
   • Click Edit to change the title, parameters, or schedule of the task.
   • Click Pause to pause an active task. When paused, click Resume to resume the task.
   • Click Delete to remove the task.

     Note:

     Deleting a task also deletes the run history of the task. To preserve an active task's history, consider pausing the task to stop further runs.

Changing ownership of a notebook also changes the ownership of that notebook's tasks. The tasks are transferred to the new user in an inactive state. The new owner can enable the tasks in the Tasks pane of the notebook editor or from the Tasks tab of the notebook's item details page.