Starting and Stopping ActiveBatch Services

Before you can start ActiveBatch you must have installed and configured the Job Scheduler on a Windows Server version supported by the latest version of ActiveBatch.

 

Starting the Job Scheduler

 

When we speak of “starting” ActiveBatch, we refer specifically to starting the Job Scheduler portion of the product. Most companies will have at least one machine that will act as the Job Scheduler system. One or more client systems will access that machine. On other systems the Execution Agent is installed, and this is the component that runs jobs.

 

Note: There is always an Execution Agent installed on the Job Scheduler system, to run built-in jobs that are part of the ActiveBatch product. After the Execution Agent is configured, it will be started automatically.

 

The Job Scheduler component is implemented as an Windows Service (“AbatJSS”) and is installed as part of the product installation/configuration process. The Service is configured (by default) to start automatically when the machine is booted and uses an Administrator level account. The Service is also automatically started after an installation and configuration.

 

 

The Windows Execution Agent is also implemented as an Windows Service (“AbatEAgent”) and this service is also configured (by default) to startup when the machine is booted. On non-Microsoft based machines (e.g Unix/Linux), the Execution Agent is started as part of the script(s) associated with system startup.

 

The common ingredient is that the Execution Agent must be started in order for the Job Scheduler to schedule jobs for it to execute. Once the Job Scheduler and at least one Execution Agent have been started you are ready to use the product through the user interfaces.

 

Note: If the Job Scheduler service is in a “Paused” state, then the service has entered a stand-by failover mode. For more information on stand-by, see ActiveBatch High-Availability.

 

Job Scheduler Service Account Security

 

The Job Scheduler must run under an Administrator level account. If you change the password to this account, you will also have to update the account password referenced as part of the service. The Job Scheduler account must be granted the “Act as a part of the Operating System” and “Replace a Process Token” rights to perform necessary user logon and other security credential checking. For Windows Server 2012 R2 (and later) the account must also include the right to “Impersonate Client after Authentication”.

 

Note: By default, when you perform a complete installation (or at least the Job Scheduler component) ActiveBatch will use the Job Scheduler’s service account for the Execution Agent service as well.

 

Execution Agent Service Account Security

 

The Windows Execution Agent must run under an Administrator level account. If you change the password to this account, you will also have to update the account password referenced as part of the service. The Execution Agent account must be granted the “Act as a part of the Operating System” and “Replace a Process Token” rights to perform necessary user logon and other security credential checking. For Windows Server 2008 (and later) the account must also include the right to “Impersonate Client after Authentication”.

 

Note: We do not recommend using local-only accounts (regardless of rights). Expert Windows Administrators can use the “Local System” account, after installation, if they grant the associated computer account access to any the database and/or network resources that may be needed. Both the Job Scheduler and ExecutionAgent typically require some aspect of the network (for example, Active Directory) which local-only accounts would be denied access. If you use LocalSystem (without making the necessary changes) or a local-only account - you may lose access to those features.

 

Stopping ActiveBatch Services

 

To stop an ActiveBatch service, use the ActiveBatch Console and navigate to the Tools > Service Manager option, or access Windows Services through Windows (on the target system where the service is running). Look for the Service named “ActiveBatch Job Scheduler” and/or “ActiveBatch Execution Agent”. As a best practice, try to stop the Job Scheduler when ActiveBatch jobs are not running. Stopping the Job Scheduler will not impact any jobs that are currently running since the Execution Agents are running the job(s), not the Scheduler. When stopping an Execution Agent (Windows or otherwise), you should (attempt) to do so when no jobs are running. When an Execution Agent is stopped, the Scheduler will not able to dispatch jobs to it until it starts again.