Background Tasks
last updated on: May 28, 2024
When a user requests an Access Anywhere operation, in some cases the operation will be executed immediately while the user waits. Renaming a file is an example of an operation that is always executed immediately. In other cases when a user requests an action Access Anywhere will schedule the operation for execution and return control to the user, often before the operation has started. Operations that are executed this way are run as “background tasks”. Deleting a folder is an example of an operation that is performed as a background task.
Some operations may either be performed immediately or as a background task, depending on context of the request. Copying files, for example, may be executed immediately or may be executed as a background task depending on how many files are being copied.
Appliance Administrator Settings
Site Functionality
The appliance administrator can set the maximum number of provider initial sync and re-sync tasks, which are always performed as background tasks, that can run concurrently (organization) on the Site Functionality page. This limit is applied per Access Anywhere tenant.
Maximum Number of Sync Tasks
Setting the maximum count of parallel cloud sync tasks too high can lead to severe performance degradation for interactive users of Access Anywhere.
Maximum Number of Background Tasks
Controls on the maximum numbers of other types of background operations are available. Changes to these settings are seldom needed and should only be used with care. For more information contact Support.
Organization Administrator Settings
Tab Visibility
From the User Interface tab of the Organization Policies page the org. admin can control whether or not the Background Tasks tab is available in the File Manager for organization members.
Audit Logging
From the Security tab of the Organization Policies page the org. admin can control whether or not audit log records are created for background tasks.
NAA recommends that audit logging be enabled for all types of Access Anywhere events.
Pages and Tabs
The Access Anywhere's web interface provides a page for appliance administrators, organization administrators and organization members to manage some kinds of background tasks. It also provides a File Manager tab for organization administrators and members to manage some kinds of background tasks.
Active and Completed Tasks
The File Manager's Tasks tab shows two lists: “Active Cloud Tasks” and “Completed Cloud Tasks”.
The list of active tasks may be too long for all of them to be displayed. Starting with Access Anywhere version 2106.04, tasks that are running will always appear at the top of the list.
Instead of appearing on the list of completed tasks, some kinds of background tasks disappear from the page after they have been completed.
Task Actions
Cancelling Tasks
Some kinds of background tasks can be cancelled using a button next to the task or at the bottom of the page.
Cancelling a background task may leave the changes it was making in a partially done state.
Restarting Tasks
Some kinds of background tasks can be restarted. Restarting a background task that has failed or been cancelled causes it to execute again from the beginning; the task does not resume from the point at which it was cancelled.
Deleting Tasks
When a task is no longer running its record can be removed from the list of tasks by selecting the task and pressing the Delete button at the bottom of the page or by pressing the Delete button next to the task.
Tasks Selection Filter
The File Manager's Task Tab contains a filter control that allows all of the matching tasks in the Completed section of the visible page to be selected by clicking on the appropriate filter value. The tasks selected this way can then be deleted or restarted en masse with the buttons beneath the filter.
