A runbook's scheduled start marks the date and time a runbook is planned to start. In addition to the scheduled start and end times, you have the ability to set runbooks to autostart at the scheduled time you've selected. In this article, we'll cover how you can add a scheduled start and end time, schedule runbooks to auto start, and shift fixed start and end times.

Note: Whilst in planning mode, the fixed start time is the duration from the start of the runbook and not the start time of the task e.g. when planning a runbook and adding a fixed time of 11:00 is 11 hours from then the runbook is scheduled and not 11am.

Add a scheduled start and end time

A runbook's scheduled start and end times are the dates and times a runbook is planned to start and end— this can be set during the runbook creation process. To add a scheduled start and end time for your runbook, follow the steps below:

Click + Create Runbook.
Select your runbook type and name your runbook.
Click Choose Start Date.
Enter the scheduled start date and time. Optionally, enter the scheduled end date and time.

If a start date has not been selected, your runbook's scheduled start will be set to begin the day your runbook was created. For example, if your runbook is created on January 4, 2023, the scheduled start date will be January 4, 2023.

Note:

Planned start times for tasks dependent on the scheduled start of a runbook will have the same scheduled start as the runbook's scheduled start date and time. All other tasks will follow the schedule based on set dependencies and task durations.
If you would like to duplicate a runbook or use a template with specific scheduled dates and times, ensure you set the scheduled date and time to match the template or runbook you are duplicating.
- If you are duplicating a runbook that has already been executed, the execution times and history are not carried over to the newly duplicated runbook.
If a runbook has no tasks and no predicted end date, the scheduled end date is used instead. This allows empty runbooks to be plotted on a timeline well before execution, with tasks added to the runbook when appropriate.

Remove scheduled start

To remove the scheduled start time from your runbook, click the cog icon next to your runbook title > Remove scheduled start:

Removing the scheduled start will convert your runbook into an unscheduled runbook with an incremental day-time counter. All durations of tasks in the runbook will still be preserved.

Planned end

A runbook's planned end can be found in the Runbook Details panel. This is calculated based on the scheduled start of the runbook and the duration of all tasks. Additionally, this is the set date and time that the last task in a runbook is planned to finish.

For example, if a runbook has five sequential tasks that each have a one-hour duration, the runbook's planned end will automatically be set to five hours after the runbook's scheduled start time.

Note: A runbook's planned end cannot be manually set and is not the same as the scheduled end date and time.

Schedule runbooks to auto start

Scheduled runbooks can be set to automatically start at the scheduled date and time of a runbook. To autostart a runbook, you will need to first ensure that your runbook has a scheduled start date and time. Next, follow the steps below:

Click Runbook Details.
Click Auto Start.

Note: From version 2024.3, if a task cannot be started (for example if its predecessors are not complete), the system will reattempt to start for up to 7 days. After a week, attempts will cease, and the task will need to be started manually.

Shift fixed start and end times

When duplicating a runbook or changing the planned start of a runbook, tasks that have a fixed start or end will not change in relation to the newly scheduled start.

To change this, make sure to click the Shift fixed start and fixed end times checkbox. This option can be found when duplicating or editing a runbook with a scheduled start time.