User Case

So you want to run your Talend job automatically based on a specific schedule. If you are working on a Linux machine, then you probably know of Crontab. This article will give a full guide on how to build a job in Talend Open Studio and make it run on a schedule using Crontab, even if you have never used Crontab in the past.

Automation Process

1. Open up Talend Open Studio;
2. Select the job you wish to automatically run based on a schedule;
3. Right-click its name in the Repository tab;
4. Select Build Job option;
   1. In the pop-up window select where you would like to save the archive;
   2. Select the version of the job, if you have multiple versions;
   3. Make sure that the build type is set to Standalone Job;
   4. Tick the Extract the zip file (You will need to extract the archive anyway);
   5. Click Finish;

   

5. Once the job is generated navigate to the location where you have saved it;
6. Find the folder name the same as the job name and drill down into it;
   
7. There you will see a _run.sh file (This is the file you will need to point to in Crontab);
8. Open up a terminal;
   1. Search for it on your Linux machine;
   2. Or press ctrl+alt+t (works on most Distros);
9. Type: crontab –e;
10. Navigate to the bottom of the file and add your new task (refer to the example below);

Example:

00 12,16 * * 1-5 /home//TalendJobs///_run.sh

• 00 – oth Minute;
• 12,16 – 12PM and 4 PM;
• * – Every Day;
• * – Every Month;
• 1-5 – Monday to Friday;
• Followed by a path to the script

11. Once finished editing Crontab exit with :wq;
12. Terminal should return a success message;
13. That’s it the job should now run based on your schedule;

Note: Make sure that Java is installed on your machine and is present in the path;

Benefits and Disadvantages

Below you will find a list of Benefits and Disadvantages of using Crontab vs TAC.