Administrator’s Guide

Chapter 5
Scheduling administrative tasks
You can use the FileMaker Server Task Scheduling assistant
(Windows) or Schedules (Mac
OS) to define three kinds of tasks and
set the times that they execute. You can:
1 schedule database backups
1 run script files
1 send messages to clients of hosted databases
A new scheduled task is enabled by default, which means the task
will run at its scheduled time after you close the Schedules window.
For more information about enabling and disabling scheduled tasks,
see
page 47.
You can define up to 50 schedules in FileMaker Server. If you set up
schedules that overlap, FileMaker
Server starts the first task and
holds the next task in a queue. When the first task has completed, the
next task will begin.
You can perform many actions related to scheduled tasks from the
command line interface in Windows or Mac
OS. For more
information, see
“Using the command line to automate tasks” on
page 42. You can also use utilities such as the Scheduled Task Wizard
(Windows OS) or cron (Mac OS command line interface) for
running automated tasks similar to those provided by FileMaker
Server.
Note See Help for step-by-step procedures concerning defining and
managing scheduled tasks.
Scheduling database backups
You can:
1 back up all hosted open databases
1 back up hosted databases that are in a selected folder
Database backups are saved in the default backup folder or in a folder
that you specify. To set the default backup folder, choose
Properties
menu
> Default Folders (Windows) or Configure menu > Default Folders
(Mac
OS).
During backups, FileMaker Server copies the database while it is
active and users continue to make modifications. When the copy is
complete, the database is paused to synchronize backup files with the
current database and then the database is resumed.
The destination disk that stores your hosted files and backups must
have plenty of free space. If the hard disk runs out of space while a
file is being modified or if a database file reaches the 8 Terabytes size
limit, the file will be compressed.
If the hard disk runs out of space during a backup, the backup stops,
the backup file is deleted, and FileMaker
Server logs an error in the
Application log (Windows) or Event.log (Mac
OS). You should
check the schedules list for error conditions, which are reported in
the
Last Run column. To avoid running out of disk space when
backing up files, choose tape or a different hard disk as your backup
destination.
Running script files
You can use a script to automate administrative tasks performed by
FileMaker
Server. See FileMaker Server Help for information on
where to place script files you want to run, and where to find example
scripts.