Dynamics 365 – Batch Jobs, New and Improved

This just in – Batch Jobs have gotten some new sparkle with the latest Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations update!

Something every administrator loves to hate – Batch Jobs!  Everyone has regularly scheduled batch jobs to perform necessary daily tasks.  These jobs are an invaluable tool to add automation and predictability to some of the required standard processes in D365.  With the latest release of Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations (version 8.1 PU21) Microsoft has added some features to make the administration of the batch jobs easier and scheduling of batch jobs more flexible.

The new features include:

  • Copy a batch job
  • Create Active batch periods
  • Additional Batch Manager security role

Copy a Batch Job

Have multiple legal entities that need the same job run?  Ugh, setting up the same job over an over was tedious and time consuming – not to mention the small mistakes that could be made.  With the latest version of D365 for Finance and Operations a batch job can be copied with a few clicks!

Open Batch Job in the Action Pane and within Functions there is a new option to Copy batch job.

copy batch job dynamics 365

This will open the Copy batch job pane and allow a user to change the description, company account or define a different user for the job to be run by.

data cache refresh batch

A new job will be created in Withhold status so any edits can be made.  The job will need to be activated to run on the specified schedule.

Create Active Batch Periods

There are times system resources should not be used for batch jobs because resources should be dedicated elsewhere OR a job needs to run every hour during the day but should not run overnight.  In previous versions of D365 for Finance and Operations it was just not possible to for the job scheduler to handle this.  NO MORE!  With the latest updates to D365 for Finance and Operations an active batch periods can be created that will specify the time range that a job within a batch group can begin executing.

FIRST – Create the active batch periods

System Administration>Setup>Active periods for batch jobs

active periods for batch jobs

THEN – Associate the Active Period with the appropriate batch job.

associate active period appropriate batch job

Viola!  The job will kick off only during the time period you specified in the Active Period!

Additional Batch Manager Security Role

In the past batch job management fell to the System Administrator or an IT Admin limiting the users that could make changes to a small select few.  With the latest update a new security role of Batch Manager has been created.  This role has permission to copy batch jobs, change who executes a job and specify the time ranges during which jobs can execute allowing the batch maintenance work to be spread out to additional users without elevating permissions unnecessarily.

This security role includes the Batch Maintain privilege allowing a user to create an ad hoc batch job and grant privileges to other users.

security configuration batch job manager

For more information on this or other Microsoft Dynamics AX/365 inquiries or needs visit our Help Desk Support page to see how our experts can help!

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