Scheduler

This mode allows you to create schedules for six types of tasks: network scanning, table reports, change log reports, Active Directory synchronization, storage backups, and data import.
TNI automatically performs these tasks according to the configured schedule.
Tasks can be scheduled to run on a specific day and at a specific time, or daily, weekly, or monthly using flexible rules.

When creating a task, you must first select its type. You can create multiple tasks of the same type.

To schedule a task, click Add task on the Scheduler tab, select a task type from the drop-down menu, and configure the task as needed. Alternatively, you can import a task from a file into the list of scheduled tasks. This and other task management operations can be performed using the context menu.

This page provides detailed information about creating scheduled tasks and managing them.

Important
For scheduled tasks to run as planned, TNI must be running and the Storage must be open.

Creating a scheduled scan task

The Scheduler allows you to configure a schedule for running saved scan tasks or scanning groups in your Storage. For additional information on how to create a scan task, see:

On the Scheduler tab, click Add task and select the Scan section:

You can also add a task using the context menu.

In the Creating task window, specify the task name and configure its schedule.

Advanced settings allow you to specify how often the task repeats and optionally limit the period during which it is repeated.

Run skipped tasks executes the task when TNI starts if it was scheduled to run while TNI was closed.

Silent mode suppresses notifications and logging for the current task.

The following options are available only for scan tasks. They allow you to choose Storage groups to scan and/or select tasks from the list of saved scan tasks.

If you enable the Wait for the scan to complete option, the task will be considered complete only after the scan has finished. Other tasks will be suspended until the current task finishes.
Disabling this option allows scans to run simultaneously.

Another way to schedule a scan task is to hover over the task in the Scanner’s sidebar and click Schedule this task when the buttons appear:

This creates a scheduled scan task. Then you can configure the desired schedule as shown here.

Creating a scheduled report task

Reports can be automatically generated and exported in TXT, CSV, HTML, or XLSX format, then sent by e-mail, FTP, or SFTP, or saved to a network share.

The report scheduler works with Standard and Custom table report templates. For information on how to create custom report templates, see:

To create a scheduled report task, click Add task and select the Table report section. Then set up a schedule.

In the Creating task window, specify the task name and configure the schedule.

A button for quickly creating a scheduled task is also available in the Table reports tab.

In the bottom section of the window, select a report template by clicking the corresponding field or the pencil icon . Then select one or several groups from your storage for which the report should be generated. Then select the required export format.

Add a timestamp to the report’s file name: the timestamp will prevent the generated report file from being overwritten.

Send report: automatically sends the report after it has been generated. Make sure to create at least one data transfer method for this option to be available. You can do this in the Data transfer section of the last tab.

If you need to collect reports locally on the server where TNI is installed, create an SMB data transfer method and specify the path to the local folder. For these tasks, you usually won’t need to specify a username and password.

Keep sent data in the “Sent” folder: allows you to disable automatic deletion of report files after they are sent. Files can be found in the subfolder ScheduledReports in TNI’s settings folder.
As with scan tasks, report tasks can be added not only from the Scheduler’s report tasks section but also from the sidebar in Table reports:

Creating a scheduled Change log report task

This feature allows you to automatically generate reports on all hardware and software changes.

Reports can be automatically generated, exported to TXT, CSV, or HTML, sent via e-mail or FTP, or saved to a network share. The available sending methods depend on the configured Data transfer methods.

To create a scheduled Change Log report task, add a new Change log report task in the Scheduler. You can also quickly create a scheduled task from the Change log tab.

In the window that opens, set the task execution time and specify additional parameters, if necessary.

Repeat task: specifies the interval (in minutes, hours, days, or weeks) at which the task will be repeated;

Limit repetition: specifies the period (in minutes, hours, days, or weeks) after which the task will stop repeating;

Run after opening the storage: an additional setting that allows you to start the task after opening the storage and serves as an additional trigger for the main task;

The execution of the Run after opening the storage option can be limited by the main option Active until the scheduled task.

Run skipped tasks: runs the task when TNI starts if it was scheduled to run while TNI was closed;

Silent mode: stops notifications and logging for the current task.

Set the following schedule settings:

Specify the number of snapshots to analyze when generating the Change log report. Otherwise, you can set the date range during which the snapshots will be analyzed and the report created.

The Hide intermediate results option excludes changes that occurred between snapshots from the report if more than two snapshots are selected.

By clicking on the corresponding field or the pencil icon , select the required Categories and Storage Groups for which you want to generate a report.

Select the required Export format for the report. Available formats: HTML, TXT, or CSV.

Add a timestamp to the report file name: a timestamp is added to prevent the report file from being overwritten.

Send report: allows you to select how the report will be sent. When creating a scheduled task, make sure that the appropriate data transfer method has been created. To do this, switch to the Data transfer mode, then add and configure the required method.

Creating a scheduled AD synchronization task

To synchronize the Storage with AD, you must first specify the AD object’s LDAP address in the properties of the Storage root or any group.

In the Scheduler mode, click Add task, select AD synchronization, and set a schedule.

In the bottom section of the window, you can select which objects and groups should be synchronized with AD.

If the “Synchronize with AD group object” option is enabled for the root node of your storage, this option will be grayed out for all the groups in your network tree, as they are considered subgroups of the root node.

Creating a scheduled storage backup task

To schedule regular backups of the current storage, open the Scheduler and add a new Storage backup task.

After setting up a schedule for this task, you also need to specify the folder where the backups will be saved.

Add timestamp to the file name: adds a timestamp that prevents overwriting the generated backup file.
You can restore a backup using the context menu on the root of your Storage.

To learn how to back up the program settings, see our FAQ.

Creating a scheduled data import task

This feature allows you to import assets into TNI on a schedule. You can find more information on importing data here.

To schedule an import task, open the Scheduler and add a new Data import task.

After setting up the schedule for this task, you also need to specify the folder to import the data from.

You can enable the following options:

Import from subfolders: allows you to import files from subfolders of the specified folder;

Import folder structure: if enabled, the imported assets will be moved into groups corresponding to subfolders in the specified folder. Otherwise, they will be placed in the Storage root;

Delete files after import: deletes each file from the folder after it is imported.

Setting a schedule

When creating a scheduled task, you can configure the task to run at a specific time or at a specified interval.

You can set the following schedule settings:

Once
On a specified date.

Daily
Every day at a specific time, or once every N days.

Weekly
On specific weekdays every N weeks.

Monthly
On specific days of selected months.

Monthly
On specific weeks of selected months.

The exact time when the task should run can be specified using the corresponding field.

For repeated tasks, the starting date can also be specified. The task will not be executed before this date.

The Active until option allows you to specify the time until which the task will remain active.

Run log

Each scheduled task has a separate run log.

The run log for all tasks can be viewed in the Application Events window.

The run log for a specific task can be viewed by hovering over the task and clicking the Task events button.

Every time a task is run or skipped, TNI adds an appropriate descriptive entry to the corresponding log.

By default, when you close TNI while tasks are scheduled to run within the next week, you will be notified and asked to confirm that you want to close the program.
This confirmation can be disabled in Options (Advanced settings) in the Confirmations section.

Run logs can be cleared using the context menu in the Application events window.

Managing scheduled tasks

When you add a task, select the section corresponding to the required operation. In each section, you can create and manage multiple tasks of the corresponding type. The task list will display all previously created tasks.

When you hover over a task, the following options become available:

Run — starts the scheduled task immediately. Manually starting the task does not affect subsequent scheduled runs. You can also start the task if it is disabled.

Task events — opens the event log for the selected task. In the events window, you can select the period of messages and their types.

Delete — removes the selected task. Clicking the icon opens a confirmation window.

You can enable or disable a task by selecting or clearing the box on the right side of the task. You can temporarily disable a task so that it doesn’t run at its scheduled times, and then re-enable it at any time.

To import or export a task, use the context menu. Files of scheduled tasks have the *.tsk extension. No other files can be imported or exported.

To copy a task, use the context menu or Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V. Make sure that the main area of the scheduler is selected when you copy a task.

Recommendations
1. If you have a network with a large number of devices, it is recommended to create separate scanning tasks with smaller IP ranges and enable synchronization by activating the Wait for scan to complete option in the task settings. In this case, the scans will be executed in small blocks. This reduces the load on the local network and the main TNI module.
2. If import or scan tasks are set to run synchronously, we recommend generating reports only after those tasks are completed. This will allow you to build reports only on the latest data, after the data collection is complete.

All Scheduler tasks can be divided into synchronous and asynchronous tasks.
Synchronous tasks are always queued and run only after other synchronous tasks have finished. Even manually starting another synchronous task will be automatically queued after the current synchronous task finishes. This type includes Table report and Change log report tasks, AD synchronization tasks, and Storage backup tasks.
Any number of asynchronous tasks can run simultaneously. Data Import and Scan tasks are asynchronous by default. If necessary, you can change these tasks to run synchronously. The options in task settings “Wait for scan to complete” and “Wait for import to complete” enable synchronous mode for the corresponding task.