Working with Tasks

To run or execute a task, right-click on the task name and select Execute or Execute in background. Execute displays a pop-up progress window and opens the Task Result page when it is complete. Execute in background launches the task in the background and you must go to the Tasks Results Page page to track progress or view the finished task.

Tasks that require sign off generate work items and email notifications that are assigned to the designated signers. Sign off decisions are retained with the task results for tracking purposes. See How to Complete Task Work Items.

To create a new task, use the Create new task dropdown list to select a task type and display the New Task page.

Note

The predefined tasks are not templates that can be used to create new tasks. Changes made to these tasks overwrite existing information. To create new task you must use the Create New Task dropdown menu at the bottom of the page.

To edit an existing task, click a task or right-click and select Edit to display the Edit Task Page.

To schedule a task, right-click and select Schedule from the dropdown list to display the New Schedule dialog. You can schedule task to run once, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually to meet the requirements of your enterprise and auditors. Go to the Scheduled Tasks tab to view or edit existing schedules. See How to Schedule a Task and Scheduled Tasks Page.

To terminate a currently running task, access the Task Results page, right-click on the task to terminate and select Terminate from the dropdown menu. You are asked to confirm the termination request. Task that are currently running are flagged as pending in the Date Complete column of the Task Results table.

To delete a task, right-click the task and select Delete from the dropdown menu. Click Yes on the confirmation pop-up to delete the task. When you delete a task from the Tasks table, all associated task results are deleted as well.

How to Create a New Task

Use the New Task page to create a task based on the task types provided. Tasks can be as general or specific as required.

See Task Types for the complete list of tasks types available in IdentityIQ.

Select the Setup tab and select Tasks to open the Tasks page.
Select a task type from the New Task dropdown list to open the New Task page.
Enter a Name and brief Description for the new task. This information is displayed on the Tasks table when the new task is saved.
Select a Previous Result Action from the dropdown list. Delete is selected by default. Previous result actions determine how subsequent runs of this tasks react to existing task results.
1. Delete -- overwrite the previous task results with the new information.
2. Rename Old -- append a numeral to the name of the old task result and preserve both.
3. Rename New -- append a numeral to the name of the new task result and preserve both.
4. Cancel -- cancel the new run of the task.
5. Optional: Allow concurrency. Select Allow Concurrency to enable two identical tasks to run at the same time. If enabled, allow concurrency appends a numeric value to the name of the task that started second. If disabled, the second task is canceled and an exception sent to the requestor.
Optional: Require sign off.
1. Select Required sign off to expand the Signoff Properties section.
2. Select an email notification template from the Initial Notification Email dropdown list. For example, the Task Result Signoff template. Templates are created and defined when the application is configured.
3. Specify the escalation criteria for the sign off request. Use the options displayed to set your escalation parameters.
  
  None -- no reminder emails are sent and no escalation is performed for this work item.
  
  Send Reminders -- email reminders are sent at the configured interval.
  
  Reminders then Escalation -- the configured number of reminders are sent and then the work item is escalated to the signers manager.
  
  Escalation only -- this work item is escalated after the configured interval with no reminders being sent.
4. Specify the required signers. Enter the first letter, or letters, of an identity or workgroup to display a selection list of valid identities or workgroups containing that letter string or click the arrow to the right of the field to display all identities and workgroups and select a signer. You can add as many signers as required.
Optional: Host. If you want to choose a specific host or set of hosts to run the task on, add a comma separated list of host names. If multiple hosts are specified, the task manager selects the first active host If there are no active hosts, or if an incorrect host name is given, the task terminates, and an error message is left in the result.
Email Task Alerts. Choose an Email Notification type, if you want to send email notifications upon task completion, to the recipients whose email is being registered to receive the task status. These settings overwrite the email notification configured at the IdentityIQ Configuration level setting. Use these options to set your notification:

Caution

If your installation has enabled the task reanimator service on the host where this task is run, be aware that when a task hangs and is restarted by the reanimator service, email task alert notifications may not be sent. For more information on the task reanimator service, see Hosts.
- Disabled -- no email notification will be sent.
- Warning -- email notification will be sent in case of any warning after completion of task.
- Failure -- email notification will be sent in case of task Failure.
- Always -- email notification will be sent at completion of task irrespective of the task status.
- Email Notification Template -- (Applicable only if **Disabled* is not selected) Select Task Status template to send emails on task completion. Templates are customizable.
- Email Recipients -- (Applicable only if Disabled is not selected) Select the identity to register them to receive task status notification on emails associated with it.
Specify the task options required for the task you are creating. Each task type displays unique task options. See the Tasks Page for details on each type.
Select Save to save the new task to the Tasks table, or select Save and Execute to save the task to the Tasks table and run it immediately. The Task Results Page displays when the task completes.

How to Edit a Task

Use the Edit Task page to make changes to an existing task.

Note

There is no Save As function on the Edit Task page. Any changes made to an existing task overwrite the task you are editing. You must use the Create New Task dropdown menu to create a new task.

Select or mouse over the Monitor tab and select Tasks to open the Tasks page.
Select on a task, or right-click on a task and select Edit from the dropdown list to open the Edit Task page.
Edit the Name and Description section as needed.

Note

Changing the name does not save this as a new task and preserve the task being edited. Anything entered here overwrites the existing information.
Select a Previous Result Action from the dropdown list. Delete is select by default.

Previous result actions determine how subsequent runs of this tasks react to existing task results.
- Delete -- overwrite the previous task results with the new information.
- Rename Old -- append a numeral to the name of the old task result and preserve both.
- Rename New -- append a numeral to the name of the new task result and preserve both.
- Cancel -- cancel the new run of the task.
Optional: Allow concurrency. Select Allow Concurrency to enable two identical tasks to run at the same time.

If enabled, allow concurrency appends a numeric value to the name of the task that started second.

If disabled, the second task is canceled and an exception sent to the requestor.
Optional: Require sign off.
1. Select Required sign off to expand the Signoff Properties section.
2. Select an email notification template from the Initial Notification Email drop-down list. For example, the Task Result Signoff template. Templates are created and defined when the application is configured.
3. Specify the escalation criteria for the sign off request. Use the options displayed to set your escalation parameters.
  
  None -- no reminder emails are sent and no escalation is performed for this work item.
  
  Send Reminders -- email reminders are sent at the configured interval.
  
  Reminders then Escalation -- the configured number of reminders are sent and then the work item is escalated to the signers manager.
  
  Escalation only -- this work item is escalated after the configured interval with no reminders being sent.
4. Specify the required signers. Enter the first letter, or letters, of an identity or workgroup to display a selection list of valid identities or workgroups containing that letter string or click the arrow to the right of the field to display all identities and workgroups and select a signer. You can add as many signers as required.
Optional: Host. If you want to choose a specific host or set of hosts to run the task on, add a comma separated list of host names. If multiple hosts are specified, the task manager selects the first active host If there are no active hosts, or if an incorrect host name is given, the task terminates, and an error message is left in the result.
Email Task Alerts. Choose an Email Notification type, if you want to send email notifications upon task completion, to the recipients whose email is being registered to receive the task status. These settings overwrite the email notification configured at the IdentityIQ Configuration level setting. Use these options to set your notification:

Important

If your installation has enabled the task reanimator service on the host where this task is run, be aware that when a task hangs and is restarted by the reanimator service, email task alert notifications may not be sent. For more information on the task reanimator service, see Hosts.
- Disabled -- no email notification will be sent.
- Warning -- email notification will be sent in case of any warning after completion of task.
- Failure -- email notification will be sent in case of task Failure.
- Always -- email notification will be sent at completion of task irrespective of the task status.
- Email Notification Template -- (Applicable only if Disabled is not selected) Select Task Status template to send emails on task completion. Templates are customizable.
- Email Recipients -- (Applicable only if Disabled is not selected) Select the identity to register them to receive task status notification on emails associated with it.
Specify the task options required for the task you are creating. Each task type displays unique task options. See the Tasks Page for details on each type.
Select Save to save the new task to the Tasks table, or select **Save and Execute**to save the task to the Tasks table and run it immediately. The Tasks Results page displays when the task completes.

See Task Types for details on each type.
Select Save to save the new task to the Tasks table.

--- OR ---

Select Save and Execute to save the task to the Tasks table and run it immediately. The Task Results Page displays when the task completes.

How to Schedule a Task

Use the New Schedule dialog to schedule tasks to run during times of low business activity. Schedule recurring tasks as needed to maintain routine compliance within your enterprise.

The New Schedule dialog enables you to assign a unique name and description to the task schedule. This information is stored on the Scheduled Tasks page and displays in the Task Results table.

See Scheduled Tasks Page and Task Results Page.

Select the Monitor tab and select Tasks to open the Tasks page.
Right-click on a task name and select Schedule from the dropdown list to open the New Schedule dialog.
Enter a unique name and description for this schedule task.

Note

Task that run across time zones run at the time scheduled, relative to the time zone in which they are scheduled. For example, a task scheduled to run at 4:00 PDT runs at 1:00 EDT.
Enter the date and time to launch the first execution of this task.

You can enter the date manually, or click the [...] icon to select a date from the calendar.

--- OR ---

Select the Run Now field to schedule the task to run immediately after clicking Schedule. For recurring tasks, the task runs at the current time at the specified Execution Frequency.
Specify how often this task should run with the Execution Frequency drop-down list. Subsequent executions of this task occur at the time specified in the First Execution fields.
Select Schedule to save this scheduled task. You can go to the Scheduled Tasks Page to view a list of all scheduled tasks.