> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://documentation.astera.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://documentation.astera.com/project-management-and-scheduling/project-management/cluster-settings.md). # Cluster Settings The *Cluster Settings* helps us manage the cluster database that you have made for Astera. ### Cluster Settings To open the Cluster Settings panel, go to the *Server Explorer > Right Click on Default > Cluster Settings*.
In the Cluster Settings panel, there are different tabs available where users can: * *General:* Configure their general cluster settings * *Mail Setup:* Setup their mailing service * *Path Mappings:* Provide alternate paths for directory * *User Authentication:* Setup different user authentication methods. * *Runtime Advanced Config:* Adjust how the server handles data flow and resource usage during runtime. Let's look at all the configuration options available in these tabs. {% tabs %} {% tab title="General" %}
* *Name*: Users can set their cluster's name here, by default the name 'DEFAULT' is set. * *Purge Frequency:* * *Purge Job Info After:* Users can specify the number of days until jobs information should be saved on the server, after which they will be purged. * *Purge Server Events After:* Users can specify the number of days until server events information should be saved on the server, after which they will be purged. * *Purge Rest Request Info After:* Users can specify the number of days until Rest request information should be saved on the server, after which they will be purged. * *Server Pause Options:* Users can check this option when they want to pause all activity on their servers and specify the time duration until this is necessary. This option is usually useful when there is a Maintenance happening on a server. * *Usage Data and Error Reporting:* Users can uncheck this option if they do not want to share usage and error reporting data with Astera. {% hint style="info" %} **Note:** Make sure to save your settings, to implement your changes, by right-clicking on *Cluster Settings > Save.* {% endhint %} {% endtab %} {% tab title="Mail Setup" %} Authentication Method*:* * *Basic Authentication*: A basic email authentication method in which users provide their email credentials. * *Modern Authentication:* A new email authentication method that uses the Microsoft Identity Platform to access emails. *Basic Authentication:* * *Sender Address:* Users can enter the sender’s email address here. * *Host:* Specify the address of the mail server here. * *Port:* This is the port designated by SMTP. Use port 587 for encrypted email transmissions. * *Timeout:* Users can set the maximum time to wait for a response from the email server. * *Max Attachment Size:* The maximum attachments size is specified here. * *Use TLS/SSL:* Check this box for secure communication with the server. * *User Credentials*: * *Logon:* Enter the username here. * *Password:* Provide the user’s password. * *Use default credentials:* Check this box to use the default credentials. * *Send Test Email:* Use this option to send a test email to the login email address.
*Modern Authentication:* * *Provider:* Select the authentication provider from the drop-down menu. Currently, we only support one Provider: Azure. * *Azure Application Credentials:* * *Client Id:* Users can enter the unique identifier here that is assigned to the registered application in Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). * *Redirect URI:* Enter the URL here that Azure AD will send the authorization response to after the user authenticates. * *Account Type:* The type of account authenticating with the application is specified here.
{% endtab %} {% tab title="Path Mappings" %} When designing workflows that involve client-side file paths, the server may lack direct access to these files. To ensure seamless job execution, path mappings are essential. By defining correspondences between client and server paths, you can effectively bridge the gap and enable the server to process the required files.
Adding a path mapping: 1. Go to the icon bar in path mappings and click on the first icon labelled Add New Mapping. 2. Once you click on the icon, you can configure the new mapping using the following options: * *Client Path:* The file path on the client machine. * *Server Path:* The corresponding file path on the server machine where the same files are available. * *Is Linux Mapping:* Check this option if the Server is hosted on a Linux machine. 3. Once your mapping has been configured, click on the Save Path Mapping icon to save your path mapping. This is how a path mapping looks like once it’s configured. *Deleting a path mapping:* Select a path mapping and click on the Delete Mapping icon.
*Exporting path mappings:* Click on the Export Path Mappings option to export all the path mappings to an XML file.
*Importing path mappings:* Click on the Import Path Mappings option to import path mappings from an XML file.
{% hint style="info" %} **Note:** Importing Path Mappings will remove all current path mappings. {% endhint %} {% endtab %} {% tab title="User Authentication" %} *Authentication Method:* Choose the authentication method from the drop-down menu. * None * *Windows Authentication:* * *LDAP Path:* Specify the LDAP path here. The LDAP path is a directory path used to locate and authenticate a specific user within an LDAP directory.
*Azure Authentication:* * *Client Id:* Users can enter the unique identifier here that is assigned to the registered application in Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). * *Redirect URI:* Enter the URL here that Azure AD will send the authorization response to after the user authenticates. * *Account Type:* The type of account authenticating with the application is specified here. * *Request Token:* After the credentials have been entered, click on Request Token to get the access token from the Azure AD.
* *Access Token*: Once you click on Request Token, the Access Token will show up here. * *Access Token Expires On:* When an Access Token is generated, this shows when that Access Token will expire. {% endtab %} {% tab title="Runtime Advanced Config" %} #### Understanding How Data Flows The server processes data in stages to handle large volumes efficiently: * Data Generation: The system creates data (such as job information, file records, or execution logs) * Temporary Storage: Data is temporarily held in memory before being saved * Writing to Database: When enough data accumulates or enough time passes, the system saves it to the database. The settings in this document control this flow, specifically, how much data can be held temporarily, and what triggers the system to save data to permanent storage. {% hint style="warning" %} **Important:** A server restart may be required for changes to take effect. {% endhint %} #### Configuration Categories **File Drop Settings** File Drop settings control how file automation data flows through the system. These settings determine how much data can be held in memory at once, when data is written to the database, and how file processing is batched.
* *Pending File Drop Bulk Writer Capacity (Records):* Maximum number of records held in memory before being written to the database. * *Pending File Drop Bulk Writer Batch Size (Records):* Number of records that triggers saving to the database. Writing occurs when this limit or the flush interval is reached, whichever comes first. * *Pending File Drop Bulk Writer Flush Interval (ms):* Time interval (in milliseconds) that triggers saving to the database. Writing occurs when this time elapses, or the batch size is reached, whichever comes first. * *Dropped File Processing Batch Size (Records):* Number of files checked at once to verify if copying is complete. Keep this value low, to reduce disk thread usage. * *Completed File Drop Job Dequeue Batch Size (Records):* Number of completed file drop jobs queued at once for processing. * *File Drop Watcher Internal Buffer Size (KB):* Memory allocated (in kilobytes) for the file drop watcher to temporarily hold file system event data before processing. \[Max limit is 64KB] **Job Info Settings** Job Info settings control how job submission data flows through the system. These settings determine how much job information can be held in memory and when it is written to the database.
* *Job Info Buffer Capacity (Records):* Maximum number of job records held in memory before being written to the database. * *Job Info Batch Size (Records):* Number of job records that triggers saving to the database. Writing occurs when this limit or the flush interval is reached, whichever comes first. * *Job Info Flush Interval (ms):* Time interval (in milliseconds) that triggers saving to the database. Writing occurs when this time elapses or the batch size is reached, whichever comes first. **Job Queue Settings** Job Queue settings control how jobs are picked up from the submission queue for processing.
* *Job Dequeue Batch Size (Records):* Number of jobs picked up from the submission queue for processing at one time. **Job Trace Settings** Job Trace settings control how execution trace data flows through the system. These settings determine how much trace information can be held in memory and when it is written to storage.
* *Job Trace Buffer Capacity (Records):* Maximum number of trace records held in memory before being written to storage. * *Job Trace Batch Size (Records):* Number of trace records that triggers saving to storage. Writing occurs when this limit or the flush interval is reached, whichever comes first. * *Job Trace Flush Interval (ms):* Time interval (in milliseconds) that triggers saving to storage. Writing occurs when this time elapses or the batch size is reached, whichever comes first. #### Performance Tuning Guidelines **High-Volume Environments** If you process large amounts of data regularly: * Increase channel capacities (*Job Info Buffer Capacity*, *Job Trace Buffer Capacity*, *Pending File Drop Bulk Writer Capacity*) – Holding more data in memory reduces how often the system needs to write to the database. * Increase batch sizes (*Job Info Batch Size*, *Job Trace Batch Size*, *Pending File Drop Bulk Writer Batch Size*) – Saving more records at once improves efficiency but requires more memory. * Use longer flush intervals – Longer time intervals between automatic saves reduce database activity and improve overall throughput. **When You Need Real-Time Updates** If you need to see job status changes or file processing updates immediately: * Decrease flush intervals (*Job Info Flush Interval*, *Job Trace Flush Interval*, *Pending File Drop Bulk Writer Flush Interval*) – Shorter intervals mean data is saved more frequently, giving you faster updates. * Use smaller batch sizes – This ensures data is saved more often rather than waiting for larger batches to accumulate in memory. * Adjust memory capacities based on your workload – Set capacities that match the typical volume of data your system generates. **Systems with Limited Memory** If your server has limited available memory: * Reduce channel capacities – Smaller capacities use less memory but require more frequent saves. * Use smaller batch sizes – Prevents large amounts of data from building up in memory. * Keep flush intervals short – Frequent saves prevent data from accumulating and consuming memory. * Lower the *Dropped File Processing Batch Size* – This operation uses disk threads, so smaller batches reduce resource usage. #### Best Practices * Start with Defaults: The default settings work well for most situations. Only adjust settings if you're experiencing specific performance issues or have unique requirements. * Test Before Going Live: Always test configuration changes in a test environment before applying them to your production server. * Make Small Changes: Adjust one or two settings at a time so you can clearly see what impact each change has on performance. * Watch System Performance: After making changes, monitor your server's CPU usage, memory usage, and disk activity to ensure the new settings are working well. {% endtab %} {% endtabs %} --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://documentation.astera.com/project-management-and-scheduling/project-management/cluster-settings.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.