10.2 Initiating a Quick Task

Quick Tasks are available for the Devices, Bundles, and Policies lists in ZENworks Control Center. The following procedure provides an example of how to initiate a Quick Task from the Device list. The procedures for applying a Quick Task from the Bundles or Policies list is similar.

  1. In ZENworks Control Center, click Devices, then locate the device to which you want to apply a Quick Task.

  2. Select the check box next to the device, click Quick Tasks, then click Refresh Policies (or if you want to initiate a different Quick Task, click that task).

  3. Configure the Quick Task options:

    Option

    Steps

    Select the Primary Server to send the Quick Task notification

    Depending on the Primary Server that you want to send the quick task notification to, do one of the following:

    • Current primary server: Select this option to enable the Primary Server of the ZENworks Control Center that you are accessing to send the quick task notification.

    • Any primary server: Select this option to enable any Primary Server in the Management Zone to send the quick task notification.

      For example, you might want to use this option when the current Primary Server is busy performing other tasks.

    • Select one or more primary servers: Select this option to choose one or more Primary Servers in the Management Zone to send the quick task notification.

      For example, if you choose to use a single Primary Server to send the quick task notification to many devices, the workload on the server might increase because it must send the notification to all the devices. You can select multiple Primary Servers so that the load of notifying many devices is distributed among the servers.

      Click Add to select and add the Primary Servers. Click Remove to remove any previously added Primary Server.

    QuickTask Notification Options

    Select one of the following:

    • Notify all the devices immediately: Select this option to send the quick task notification to all the devices immediately.

      For example, you might want to select this option when the quick task notification is sent to a smaller number of devices and the Primary Server can handle all the quick task requests from all the devices at the same time.

    • Notify all the devices within _ mins: Select this option to send the quick task notification to all the devices within the specified time. By default, the notification time is set to 5 minutes. You can choose to specify the notification time according to your requirements.

      For example, you might want to select this option when the quick task notification is sent to a larger number of devices and the Primary Server might not be able to handle all the quick task requests from all the devices at the same time.

    QuickTask Expiry Option

    Select one of the following:

    • Expires immediately when failed to notify the device: Select this option to immediately expire the quick task when the quick task notification to the devices fails.

      For example, you might want to select this option to send a Reboot/Shut Down Devices quick task for rebooting or shutting down a device. If the device is already shut down, you don’t want to execute the quick task on the device when the device restarts.

    • Never Expires: Select this option if you never want the quick task to expire.

      For example, you might want to select this option when you send an Install Bundle quick task to install an application on a device that might not be running at that time.

    • Expires after _ mins of the quick task creation: Select this option to expire the quick task a certain amount of time after it is created. By default, the expiration time is set to 5 minutes. You can choose to specify the expiration time according to your requirement.

      For example, you might want to select this option when you need to launch an application on multiple devices that are either in the process of booting up or are likely to be started within the stipulated time.

  4. Click Start to initiate the notification of the quick task.

  5. Click the QuickTask Status tab to monitor the status of the task.

    Status

    Description

    New

    The Primary Server has not started the process of notifying the device.

    Connecting

    The Primary Server is attempting to connect to the device.

    Connected

    The Primary Server is connected to the device.

    Connection Failed

    The Primary Server is unable to connect to the device.

    Connection Failed (Expired)

    The Primary Server is unable to connect to the device, and the quick task assignment has expired.

    Stopped

    The quick task notification was stopped before it was sent to the device. You can do this only if the quick task has not yet been assigned to the device.

    Assigned

    The quick task has been assigned to the device.

    Done

    The quick task has been executed on the device.