Advanced options for scheduled jobs

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated May 13, 2026
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    Summary of Advanced options for scheduled jobs

    Advanced scheduling options in ServiceNow allow you to configure scheduled jobs with greater flexibility regarding start and end times, recurrence patterns, and specific run schedules. These options enable precise control over when and how often jobs execute, supporting complex scheduling needs.

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    Key Features

    • Run Types with Advanced Options: When the job’s Run field is set to certain values like Daily, Monthly, Weekly, or specific yearly patterns, an Advanced option appears to enable detailed scheduling.
    • Advanced Scheduling Fields:
      • Starting: Defines the start of a future time window for job execution.
      • Ending: Defines the end of the future time window for job execution.
      • Repeat every: Allows custom recurrence intervals (e.g., every 2 days or 3 weeks). Note that this field isn’t supported for yearly run types like Day and Month in Year or Day in Week in Month in Year.
    • Time Zone Handling: The Scheduled Job [sysauto] table uses separate Starting and Ending fields depending on time zone selection:
      • If a time zone is selected, you enter times in the enteredrunstart and enteredrunend fields, and the system converts these to local times in runstart and runend fields.
      • If no time zone is selected, times are entered directly in runstart and runend fields and are interpreted in the job runner’s time zone.

      It is important to select or clear the Time zone field before entering start and end times to avoid unintended resets.

    Practical Example

    For a daily job scheduled to start on June 1 at 00:00 and end on June 30 at 23:59, running at 9:00 a.m. each day:

    • The job will first run at 9:00 a.m. on June 1, not at midnight.
    • The Starting and Ending fields define the active window during which the job can run.
    • If Repeat every is set to 2, the job runs every other day at 9:00 a.m. (June 1, 3, 5, etc.) until June 29.
    • If the Starting field is left empty, the current time is used as the start time.

    Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    These advanced scheduling options let you tailor job execution precisely to business needs, ensuring jobs run only during desired time windows and at the right intervals. Time zone support helps coordinate jobs globally with accurate start and stop times, reducing scheduling errors and improving operational efficiency.

    Advanced scheduling options for scheduled jobs support greater flexibility in job planning and execution. You can configure jobs to start on a future date, end on a particular date, and define how the job should repeat.

    When the Run field is set to one of the following values, an Advanced option displays on the scheduled job form:
    • Daily: Runs daily, at a designated time.
    • Day and Month in Year: Runs yearly on a specific day and month (for example, July 14), at a designated time.
    • Day in Week in Month in Year: Runs yearly on a specific day of the week in a specific week of a specific month (for example, the second Monday in October), at a designated time.
    • Monthly: Runs on a monthly basis, at a designated time and day of the month.
    • Periodically: Runs on a designated repeating interval.
    • Week in Month: Runs monthly during a specific week of the month (for example, the third week of each month), on designated days and at a designated time.
    • Weekly: Runs on a weekly basis, at a designated time and day of the week.
    If you select the Advanced option, the following advanced fields display on the form:
    • Starting: Specifies the beginning of a window in the future within which the job starts running. The Time field determines the actual start time in the window.
    • Ending: Specifies the ending of a window in the future within which the job stops running. The Time field determines the actual stop time in the window.
    • Repeat every: Enables custom recurrence patterns. For example, a daily job that repeats every two days or a weekly job that repeats every three weeks.
      Note:
      The Repeat every field isn't supported with the Day and Month in Year and Day in Week in Month in Year run types.

    Starting and Ending fields

    The Scheduled Job [sysauto] table has multiple Starting and Ending fields. Each field behaves differently depending on whether a time zone is selected in the Time zone field.
    Table 1. Starting and Ending field behavior by time zone selection
    Column name Column label When used Behavior
    run_start Starting No time zone selected Stores the value you enter directly. The job starts at the entered time in the time zone of the user who runs the job. By default, the user who creates the job is the user who runs the job.
    entered_run_start Starting Time zone selected Uses the value you enter and the selected time zone to automatically calculate the value of the other Starting [run_start] field by converting your entered time to the equivalent local time as displayed in the UI.
    run_end Ending No time zone selected Stores the value you enter directly. The job stops at the entered time in the time zone of the user who runs the job. By default, the user who creates the job is the user who runs the job.
    entered_run_end Ending Time zone selected Uses the value you enter and the selected time zone to automatically calculate the value of the other Ending [run_end] field by converting your entered time to the equivalent local time as displayed in the UI.
    When setting the Starting and Ending fields, follow these guidelines based on your time zone selection:
    • Time zone selected: In the Time zone field, select a time zone, and then enter your desired starting and ending times in the Starting [entered_run_start] and Ending [entered_run_end] fields. The system automatically calculates the values of the other Starting [run_start] and Ending [run_end] fields.
    • No time zone selected: In the Time zone field, select -- None --, and then enter your desired starting and ending times in the Starting [run_start] and Ending [run_end] fields. The job runs in the time zone of the user who runs the job.
    Note:
    If you select a time zone, you must enter the starting and ending times after setting the Time zone field otherwise the times might be reset.

    Daily scheduled job with no time zone

    The following example of a daily job illustrates the behavior of the Starting, Ending, and Repeat every fields. The daily job has the following schedule:
    • Starting: June 1 at 00:00
    • Ending: June 30 at 23:59
    • Time: 9:00 a.m.
    • Repeat every: 1 day

    Although the job is scheduled to start on June 1 at 00:00, it doesn't run at that time. Instead, the job first runs at 9:00 a.m. on June 1 because that is the specified run time. The starting and ending times define the window of time during which the job is set to run. The first valid scheduled run within that window is when the job will run, in this case at 9:00 a.m. on June 1. When creating scheduled job records, if the value of the Starting field is empty, the system uses the current time.

    If you change the value of the Repeat every field to 2, the job runs every 2 days at 9:00 a.m. starting on June 1. That means it runs on June 1, June 3, June 5, and so on, continuing every other day until June 29—the last occurrence before the ending time of June 30 at 23:59.