Jobs

• 1: Job Detail
• 2: Job History

1 - Job Detail

This page lets you review, create, and edit a scheduled job and its settings. Jobs can execute a T-SQL query against one or more instances or run an arbitrary command on one or more agents.

Job properties

• Name: descriptive job name.
• Type: choose the job type:
  • Execute Query — runs the specified SQL text against selected SQL instances.
  • Execute Command — runs the specified command on one or more agents.

Execute Query controls

• Instance selection:
  • First dropdown: choose selection mode (Instance, Instance Group, or Tag).
  • Second dropdown: pick one Instance, Group, or Tag depending on the selection mode. Use groups or tags to target many instances.
• Max Concurrent Instances: maximum parallel executions:
  • 1 = run sequentially (no parallelism).
  • 0 = run against all selected instances in parallel.
  • Choose a limit to avoid saturating CPU, I/O, or network (for example, limit concurrent backups to 5 to avoid disk flooding).
• Retries: number of retry attempts on failure.
• Retry delay (s): delay, in seconds, between retry attempts.

Execute Command controls

• Agent target: choose All Agents or select a specific agent to run the command. Commands are executed by the agent process on the host running the selected agent(s).

Common controls (both job types)

• Enabled: checkbox that enables or disables the job without deleting it.
• Command: text area containing the T-SQL script or shell command to execute.
  • For Execute Query jobs, SQL text runs against the target instances.
  • For Execute Command jobs, the text is executed by the agent on the host.
• Schedule: click “Edit Schedule” to expand schedule settings:
  • Type: Recurring or One-time.
  • Cron Expression: enter a cron expression to define recurring schedules.
    • Help: the Help button opens documentation that assists in crafting valid cron expressions.
  • End Date: optional date when the schedule stops running.

Actions (bottom toolbar)

• Save: persist job definition and schedule.
• Run Now: immediately queue the job for execution (bypasses the schedule).
• Job Logs: open the job logs page to inspect past runs and execution output.
• Cancel: discard unsaved changes and return to the Jobs list.

Notes and tips

• Use small, targeted schedules during testing and run “Run Now” to validate behavior before enabling wide production schedules.
• Restrict Max Concurrent Instances for heavy operations (backups, restores, large ETL) to prevent resource contention.
• Commands executed by agents require appropriate agent permissions on the host
• Sysadmin acknowledgement
  • If an agent connects to a SQL instance using sysadmin credentials, the job will only run if the instance definition includes the “Acknowledge you are running jobs as a sysadmin” checkbox. This guard prevents accidental execution of high-privilege operations on instances where explicit consent has not been given.
  • Toggle the acknowledgement on the Instance Details page. Jobs that require sysadmin rights will display a warning if the acknowledgement is not enabled for the target instance.

2 - Job History

The Job History page displays past executions of scheduled jobs and their status so you can inspect runs, troubleshoot failures, and audit activity.

History table

• Columns:
  • Date and time: when the execution started (or completed).
  • Status: running, succeeded, or error (iconized for quick scanning).
  • Agent name: the agent that performed the execution.
• The list is ordered by date (newest first) and supports infinite scroll

Row details

• Click a row to expand detailed execution information:
  • A chronological list of log entries and messages produced during the run.
  • Standard output and standard error snippets (when available).
  • Execution duration, exit code, and retry attempts.
• Use expanded details to diagnose failures, identify error messages, and locate the exact step that failed.