Tasks Overview

Caution: When working with tasks, do not open multiple tabs or browsers. Opening multiple tabs might cause a change in one tab to overwrite changes made in another.

Task are used to automate the processes which build, update, and maintain the information in IdentityIQ. Tasks perform periodic operations such as aggregating data from applications, refreshing Identity Cubes to update entitlements and roles, running rules, performing system maintenance, and more.

IdentityIQ offers many predefined tasks to handle typical IdentityIQ operations. Tasks are categorized by type and function, to help you find the right task to accomplish what you need. In most cases, you can set specific parameters for a task to control its behavior and results. You can also create custom tasks to meet specialized needs of your organization.

Template-Style Tasks and Special-Purpose Tasks

Most of the tasks IdentityIQ provides as standard types are designed to be used as templates. This means that you can create multiple instances of a particular type of task, and use parameters to determine what the task does and how it behaves. For example, you can set up a unique instance of an Account Aggregation task for each of your applications – such as one task for your LDAP application, a different one for your procurement system, etc. As another example, you could set up one instance of an Identity Refresh task that runs daily to update entitlements and roles, and a different instance of Identity Refresh that runs weekly to do analysis of policy violations.

Other tasks have a specialized purpose and do not support parameters or multiple instances. An example of this type of task is the Check Expired Work Items task.

How Tasks Are Run

Tasks can be run on demand from the Task UI, by right-clicking on a task in the Task tabs and choosing Execute in Background, or by choosing Save and Execute after you have configured a particular task.

Tasks can be scheduled by right-clicking on a configured task in the Tasks tab and choosing Schedule. For more information, see How to Schedule a Task and Working with Schedules.

There is a specialized task called the Sequential Task Launcher that lets you run a series of tasks sequentially, without having to schedule each of them individually. For more information, see Sequential Task Launcher.

Note: Access to the Tasks feature, and the ability to run tasks or only view tasks, are controlled by IdentityIQ Capabilities and scopes. Talk to your system administrator if you do not have access to the Task features you need.

Process Overview for Creating Tasks

The basic process for creating a new instance of task is as follows. Specific details about parameters and options for each type of task is in Task Types.

  • Choose the type of task you want to run from the New Task dropdown.

  • Give the task instance and name, and configure the task parameters to define the behavior you want.

  • Save the task. If you want to run the task immediately, choose Save and Execute. If you want to save the task without running it yet, choose Save. When you save a task, an entry is created for it on the Tasks tab of the Tasks Page.

  • If you want to schedule the task to run at a specific time, or to repeat on a specific schedule, right-click the task in the Tasks tab of the Tasks Page and choose Schedule. Scheduled tasks are listed on the Scheduled Tasks Page. For more information on how to schedule tasks, see How to Schedule a Task and Working with Schedules.

  • When a task has completed, you can see task results from the Task Results Page.