Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations : Active periods in batch jobs

Friends,
In this blog post, I want to highlight the option of defining active period on a batch jobs. Microsoft released this feature it in platform update 21 (Link can be found Here)

When used properly this option helps to fine tune batch jobs so that the system resources can be used optimally.

Architects should identify business tasks running in batch jobs or system maintenance tasks which can be performed after hours and should configure batch jobs smartly. Some scenarios where this configuration is useful can be batch processes which are running consolidations at end of day or emailing out list of activities to be performed next day by field technicians or system maintenance tasks to clean up staging tables.

Active periods can be defined from System maintenance >> Setup >> Active period for batch jobs menu item 

Multiple active periods can be defined as per the use case, it is very important for architects to discuss this with there clients and understand the need of batch jobs execution time frame:

Once active periods are defined they can be linked to a batch job as shown below : 

Few important points:

1. Recurrence settings which are defined on the batch job are applied only within the active period define for the batch job.

2. This setting should not be used as an alternative for recurrence setting.

3. Active period does not go over midnight. 

4. The batch jobs are put to waiting status once active time is crossed and then again put back to executing status when the active time is reached. The reference code can be found in below highlighted class.

5. There is a default period define from 12:00:00 AM to 11:59:59 PM. Do not modify time or delete it , as system will check for a default active period and if this is deleted then system recreates it. The reference code can be found in below highlighted class.

It is always a good practice to:

• Understand and discuss the need for defining active periods on batch jobs with your customers.
• Define active periods and test batch jobs in tier 2 environments before applying to Production. 
• Have correct understanding of this setup and identify options to  reduce the load on system during business hours when most of the business users are logged on. 

Thanks for reading the blog..please feel free to share your thoughts on the same topic.