Can AutoSys Send Email? Exploring AutoSys Job Notifications

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AutoSys is a popular job scheduling and workload automation tool used for managing and scheduling jobs in enterprise environments. One of the key features that organizations often need is the ability to receive notifications when a job completes, fails, or enters a specific state. AutoSys can indeed send email notifications as part of its job management capabilities, allowing system administrators to stay informed about job statuses and take action when necessary.

In this article, we'll explore how to configure AutoSys to send email notifications, the types of events you can trigger notifications for, and examples of setting up these notifications.

## Email Notification Basics in AutoSys

AutoSys allows you to send email alerts by defining specific conditions in a job's Job Information Language (JIL) file. This is typically done through the `notification` attribute, which specifies the email address, the event that triggers the notification, and the message content.

### Events that Trigger Email Notifications

AutoSys can send an email based on various events. Some common job events that might trigger an email notification include:

- **Job Start**: When a job starts running.

- **Job Success**: When a job finishes successfully.

- **Job Failure**: When a job fails due to some error.

- **Job Termination**: When a job is manually terminated.

- **Job Box Status Change**: When a job box status changes.

You can customize the notification settings based on the specific needs of your workflow, sending emails only for failure or termination events or for every status change.

## How to Configure AutoSys to Send Emails

Configuring email notifications in AutoSys involves adding specific attributes to the job’s JIL file. These attributes are:

- **notification_emailaddress**: The email address to send the notification to.

- **notification_msg**: The custom message to include in the email.

- **notification_on**: Specifies the event that triggers the notification.

### JIL File Example for Email Notifications

Here is an example of a JIL file configuration where email notifications are set up for a job failure:

```JIL

insert_job: my_job

job_type: c

command: /path/to/my/script.sh

machine: my_machine

owner: myuser

notification_emailaddress: "admin@example.com"

notification_msg: "Job failed. Please investigate."

notification_on: FAILURE

```

In this example:

- The `notification_emailaddress` field is set to `admin@example.com`, meaning the administrator will receive an email if the job fails.

- The `notification_msg` contains a custom message that will be included in the email.

- The `notification_on` is set to `FAILURE`, meaning the email is sent only if the job fails.

### Configuring Multiple Email Addresses

You can send notifications to multiple email addresses by separating them with commas, as shown in the following example:

```JIL

notification_emailaddress: "admin1@example.com,admin2@example.com"

notification_on: FAILURE

```

This ensures that multiple team members are informed if the job encounters an issue.

## Customizing Notification Messages

The `notification_msg` attribute allows you to customize the content of the email that will be sent. By default, AutoSys sends a system-generated message, but you can add specific details or instructions relevant to the event. For example, if you want to include specific instructions for troubleshooting in the event of a failure, you can modify the message:

```JIL

notification_msg: "The job failed due to a script error. Please check the log file at /path/to/logs."

```

This way, the email can provide actionable information to the recipient.

## Global Notification Settings

In addition to job-specific notifications, you can also configure global notification settings at the AutoSys system level. These settings apply across the board and are configured in the AutoSys configuration file (e.g., `config.ACE` or `autosys_secure`). This method is used when you want to standardize email notifications for all jobs without configuring individual JIL files.

Example settings might look like this:

```bash

DEFAULT_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL = "ops_team@example.com"

DEFAULT_NOTIFICATION_ON = "FAILURE"

```

These settings will ensure that all jobs on the system send notifications to the `ops_team@example.com` address in the event of a failure.

## Setting Up Email Server (SMTP)

For AutoSys to send emails, it must be configured to communicate with an SMTP server. The details of the SMTP server can be set up in the AutoSys configuration. Typical configurations involve specifying the SMTP server address and port.

```bash

DEFAULT_MAILHOST = "smtp.example.com"

DEFAULT_MAILPORT = 25

```

Make sure your SMTP server is properly configured to handle outgoing mail and that AutoSys has the necessary network permissions to access the server.

## Conclusion

AutoSys offers robust email notification capabilities that help administrators stay informed about job statuses and take proactive measures when necessary. By adding the appropriate JIL attributes like `notification_emailaddress`, `notification_msg`, and `notification_on`, you can configure AutoSys to send email alerts for job failures, completions, or other specific events. Additionally, global email settings provide an option to apply uniform notification rules across the system. With these features, AutoSys becomes a more powerful tool for managing enterprise workloads efficiently.