Setting up content distribution resources

Creating jobs

About jobs

All content distribution through ContentDirector is defined and regulated by jobs. Jobs are sets of parameters that determine the content, destinations, and schedule for a distribution task. You can schedule a job to run periodically and perform the same distribution task at regular intervals. Each distribution task is governed by a single job.

Any administrator can create jobs, and regular users can also create them if their user group rights permit it.

Importance of good job design

Because jobs define what, where, and when you distribute, they are key to realizing your objectives with ContentDirector. Consider two primary factors when designing a job:

Sizing
Scheduling

Sizing considerations

Planning how to distribute content requires that you decide on criteria for sizing jobs. Be sure to take into account the following criteria:

The wire speed at which you can distribute content
How content storage is split over multiple destinations

For optimal efficiency, split your content into smaller jobs rather than combining it into larger jobs. This makes the best use of your system resources, and minimizes the impact of any distribution problems.

Scheduling considerations

Consider the following factors when scheduling jobs:

Bandwidth conservation
A common objective when scheduling jobs is to conserve bandwidth during peak hours of network traffic. ContentDirector's scheduling function enables you to time content distribution for off-peak periods such as night, early morning, or weekends.
Frequency of updates
Another important factor is how frequently the content needs to be updated. The interval of the schedule should reflect this frequency, and can range from once a month to every few minutes.
Ensuring that related content is available simultaneously
If you split related content across multiple jobs, be sure to schedule the jobs so that the content will be available simultaneously.

Simultaneous jobs to the same destination are queued, so it is most efficient to schedule them sequentially.

Before you start

The Job tab of the Preferences screen contains settings that populate fields in each new job. Before creating jobs, be sure to set these preferences appropriately for your needs. For more information, see Setting content distribution preferences .

Opening the New Job screen and filling in the Details tab

Each job consists of Details, Content, Filters, and Schedule tabs.

To create a job, complete the following steps to fill in the tabs.

Step	Action
1	At the top of the ContentDirector main screen, click Jobs.
2	Click New.
3	In the Job Name field, enter a descriptive name for this job.
4	In the Import job field, click the drop down menu and select an existing job to use as a template. If you do not want to use a template, skip this step.
5	In the Description field, enter an optional description of this job.
6	In the Policy field, click the drop down menu and select the policy for this job, or create a new policy.
7	If you have logged into ContentDirector as a system administrator, you can set the workspace for this job. Otherwise, skip this step and the next one. You can move the workspace to save space on the local drive. For more information, see Reducing local disk space requirements. Note You must have write and delete rights to the drive where the workspace is located.
8	Next to Workspace, click the Browse button and select a new location for the workspace.
9	Click OK.

Filling in the Content tab

The Content tab designates the source and the destinations for this job.

To select the content source, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Click the Content tab.
2	In the Source field, click the drop-down menu and select the source that provides the content for this job.
3	Click Add to select the source directory. In the Browse screen, select the source location for the content on the local file system.
4	Click the Destination tab.
5	You can select whole destination groups or individual devices as destinations: To select a whole destination group, at the Select Destinations in Group field, click the drop-down menu and select the group To select individual destinations instead of a whole group, click the destination name on the Available Servers panel, then click Add To remove a destination, click the its name on the Current Servers panel, then click Remove.

Filling in the Filters tab

The Filters tab enables you to choose a subset of the source content you designated on the Content tab. You can select only changed files, choose whether to include subdirectories or not, and select file types to include or exclude. All settings on the Filters tab are optional.

To fill in the Filters tab, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Click the Filters tab.
2	Select the check box for Include Only Files That Have Changed to send only files that have been modified or added since the last time the job was run.
3	Select the check box for Include All Subdirectories to send all subdirectories within the location you specified in the Content tab. Deselect the check box to send only the top level directory.
4	Under From Source Location, set specific types of files to include or exclude, if your preferences have not already set them: To distribute any type of file, leave the File Names panel blank. To exclude only a few types of files, and distribute all others: click Exclude, click File Types, select the types of file to exclude, then click OK. To include only a few types of files and exclude all others, select Include, click File Types, select the types of file to include, then click OK. To clear your list of selected file types, click Clear.

Filling in the Schedule tab

The Schedule tab enables you to choose the frequency, interval, and corresponding specifics for when to run the job.

To fill in the Schedule tab, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Click the Schedule tab.
2	At the Execute This Job Field, click the drop-down menu and select Manual or the interval for running this job. To set a time, type in the time in 12-hour (civilian) format, followed by AM or PM.
3	To set a date, click the drop-down menu next to the date field. Use the left and right arrows to set the month. Double-click a day to select the day and close the calendar. Manual: a user must initiate running the job from the core application. One time only: runs the job once. Select the start time and date. Every N minutes: runs the job at intervals of up to one hour. Set the start time, start date, and end date, choose to run every day or weekdays only, and set the interval in minutes. Hourly: runs the job at intervals of up to 24 hours. Set the start time, start date, and end date, choose to run every day or weekdays only, and set the interval in hours. Daily: runs the job once a day. Set the start time, start date, and end date, and choose to run every day or weekdays only. Weekly: runs the job once a week. Set the start time, start date, and end date, and choose the days of the week on which to run the job. Monthly: runs the job once a month. Set the start time, start date, and end date. Under Interval, set the interval for the job: To run the job every n days, click Day and select the number of days. To run the job once a week on a selected day, click Every, then click the drop-down menu next to the day and select the day. Under Of the months, select the months in which you want the job to run.
4	Click OK to save the job. Result: The new job appears in the Jobs view of the main screen.