Most commonly asked AutoSys interview questions

 Here are the most commonly asked AutoSys interview questions (from beginner to advanced), along with short guidance on what interviewers expect in answers.

---

🔹 Basic AutoSys Interview Questions

1. What is AutoSys?

AutoSys is a job scheduling and workload automation tool used to define, schedule, and monitor batch jobs across servers.

---

2. What are the main components of AutoSys?

• Event Server – Stores job definitions and statuses (database).

• Event Processor (EP) – Processes events and job conditions.

• Remote Agent – Executes jobs on remote machines.

• AutoSys Client (CLI) – Used to create/manage jobs (e.g., jil, autorep).

---

3. What is JIL?

JIL (Job Information Language) is used to define jobs in AutoSys.

Example:

insert_job: test_job
job_type: c
command: /home/script.sh
machine: server1
owner: user
start_times: "10:00"

---

4. What are different job types in AutoSys?

• c – Command job

• b – Box job

• f – File watcher job

---

5. What is a Box job?

A Box is a container that groups multiple jobs for easier management.

---

6. What is a File Watcher job?

A job that starts when a specified file appears in a directory.

---

7. What is the difference between a Box and a Command job?

Box Job	Command Job
Groups jobs	Executes a command/script
Cannot execute scripts	Executes scripts

---

🔹 Intermediate Questions

8. What is a condition in AutoSys?

Defines job dependencies.

Example:

condition: success(jobA)

Other conditions:

• success(job)

• failure(job)

• done(job)

• terminated(job)

---

9. What is the difference between success() and done()?

• success(job) → Job completed successfully.

• done(job) → Job completed (success OR failure).

---

10. What is a Global Variable?

Used to store reusable values across jobs.

Example:

$ENV = PROD

---

11. What are commonly used AutoSys commands?

• autorep -j job_name → Check job status

• sendevent -E STARTJOB -J job_name

• sendevent -E KILLJOB -J job_name

• jil < file.jil

• autoping -m machine_name

---

12. What is sendevent?

Command used to send events to jobs (start, stop, force start, etc.).

---

13. What is a Job Status in AutoSys?

Common statuses:

• INACTIVE

• ACTIVATED

• STARTING

• RUNNING

• SUCCESS

• FAILURE

• TERMINATED

---

🔹 Advanced Interview Questions

14. How do you handle job failure in AutoSys?

• Use max_run_alarm

• Use n_retrys

• Add failure conditions

• Use box_success / box_failure

---

15. What is the difference between date_conditions and condition?

• date_conditions → Time/date based trigger

• condition → Dependency-based trigger

---

16. What is Run Calendar in AutoSys?

Used to define custom calendars (business days, holidays).

---

17. What is the difference between STARTJOB and FORCE_STARTJOB?

• STARTJOB → Starts job if conditions are met.

• FORCE_STARTJOB → Ignores conditions and starts job immediately.

---

18. How do you check AutoSys logs?

• $AUTOUSER/out

• $AUTOUSER/tmp

• Agent log files

---

19. How do you migrate jobs from one environment to another?

• Use autorep -J job_name -q to export

• Modify environment variables

• Import using jil

---

20. How does AutoSys handle dependencies across servers?

Through Event Server and Remote Agents.