Periodic Services

The ISAM Agent, JSON Agent, and SQL Agent each support Periodic Services, which allows you to configure one or more recurring background tasks that run on a cron-style schedule alongside normal agent processing.

Each service entry defines a name, an external command to run, a schedule, and whether the service is enabled. This makes it possible to attach routine operational tasks to the agent, such as maintenance work, validation steps, or custom integration utilities, without needing a separate scheduler.

Periodic Services are designed to work safely with the agent’s replication lifecycle. They do not begin scheduling work until the agent has completed startup processing and is fully ready for messages. When a periodic task runs, the agent temporarily quiesces replication activity so the task can execute in a controlled state. If an administrator pauses the agent through the UI or API, periodic scheduling is suspended as well, and missed runs are skipped rather than replayed immediately when processing resumes.

The feature also includes visibility and control-oriented status reporting. ISAMAgent exposes configured periodic services through both the API and the main status page, showing details such as the service name, run frequency, next scheduled run time, execution counts, success and error counts, and whether a service is currently running or disabled.

When multiple services are due at the same time, configured priority values determine which one runs first. This gives administrators a simple way to monitor recurring tasks and understand how they relate to the agent’s overall state. If multiple jobs with the same priority are scheduled at the same time, there is no guarantee as to which job runs first. Once any job begins to run, it will run through completion, even if a higher priority job becomes due; only one job can be scheduled to run at any point in time.