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Scheduling Periodic Tasks

Modern applications often need to run specific tasks periodically. In this guide, you learn how to schedule periodic tasks.

If you need a clustered scheduler use the Quartz extension.

Prerequisites

To complete this guide, you need:

Roughly 15 minutes
An IDE
JDK 17+ installed with JAVA_HOME configured appropriately
Apache Maven 3.9.9
Optionally the Quarkus CLI if you want to use it
Optionally Mandrel or GraalVM installed and configured appropriately if you want to build a native executable (or Docker if you use a native container build)

Architecture

In this guide, we create a straightforward application accessible using HTTP to get the current value of a counter. This counter is periodically (every 10 seconds) incremented.

Solution

We recommend that you follow the instructions in the next sections and create the application step by step. However, you can go right to the completed example.

Clone the Git repository: git clone https://github.com/quarkusio/quarkus-quickstarts.git, or download an archive.

The solution is located in the scheduler-quickstart directory.

Creating the Maven project

First, we need a new project. Create a new project with the following command:

CLI

quarkus create app org.acme:scheduler-quickstart \
    --extension='rest,scheduler' \
    --no-code
cd scheduler-quickstart

To create a Gradle project, add the --gradle or --gradle-kotlin-dsl option.

For more information about how to install and use the Quarkus CLI, see the Quarkus CLI guide.

Maven

mvn io.quarkus.platform:quarkus-maven-plugin:3.16.4:create \
    -DprojectGroupId=org.acme \
    -DprojectArtifactId=scheduler-quickstart \
    -Dextensions='rest,scheduler' \
    -DnoCode
cd scheduler-quickstart

To create a Gradle project, add the -DbuildTool=gradle or -DbuildTool=gradle-kotlin-dsl option.

For Windows users:

If using cmd, (don’t use backward slash \ and put everything on the same line)
If using Powershell, wrap -D parameters in double quotes e.g. "-DprojectArtifactId=scheduler-quickstart"

It generates a new project including:

a landing page accessible on http://localhost:8080
example Dockerfile files for both native and jvm modes
the application configuration file

The project also imports the Quarkus REST (formerly RESTEasy Reactive) and scheduler extensions.

If you already have your Quarkus project configured, you can add the scheduler extension to your project by running the following command in your project base directory:

CLI

quarkus extension add scheduler

Maven

./mvnw quarkus:add-extension -Dextensions='scheduler'

Gradle

./gradlew addExtension --extensions='scheduler'

This will add the following to your build file:

pom.xml

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.quarkus</groupId>
    <artifactId>quarkus-scheduler</artifactId>
</dependency>

build.gradle

implementation("io.quarkus:quarkus-scheduler")

Creating a scheduled job

In the org.acme.scheduler package, create the CounterBean class, with the following content:

package org.acme.scheduler;

import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
import jakarta.enterprise.context.ApplicationScoped;
import io.quarkus.scheduler.Scheduled;
import io.quarkus.scheduler.ScheduledExecution;

@ApplicationScoped              (1)
public class CounterBean {

    private AtomicInteger counter = new AtomicInteger();

    public int get() {  (2)
        return counter.get();
    }

    @Scheduled(every="10s")     (3)
    void increment() {
        counter.incrementAndGet(); (4)
    }

    @Scheduled(cron="0 15 10 * * ?") (5)
    void cronJob(ScheduledExecution execution) {
        counter.incrementAndGet();
        System.out.println(execution.getScheduledFireTime());
    }

    @Scheduled(cron = "{cron.expr}") (6)
    void cronJobWithExpressionInConfig() {
       counter.incrementAndGet();
       System.out.println("Cron expression configured in application.properties");
    }
}

1	Declare the bean in the application scope
2	The `get()` method allows retrieving the current value.
3	Use the `@Scheduled` annotation to instruct Quarkus to run this method every 10 seconds provided a worker thread is available (Quarkus is using 10 worker threads for the scheduler). If it is not available the method invocation should be re-scheduled by default i.e. it should be invoked as soon as possible. The invocation of the scheduled method does not depend on the status or result of the previous invocation.
4	The code is pretty straightforward. Every 10 seconds, the counter is incremented.
5	Define a job with a cron-like expression. The annotated method is executed at 10:15am every day.
6	Define a job with a cron-like expression `cron.expr` which is configurable in `application.properties`.

Updating the application configuration file

Edit the application.properties file and add the cron.expr configuration:

# By default, the syntax used for cron expressions is based on Quartz - https://www.quartz-scheduler.org/documentation/quartz-2.3.0/tutorials/crontrigger.html
# You can change the syntax using the following property:
# quarkus.scheduler.cron-type=unix
cron.expr=*/5 * * * * ?

Creating the REST resource

Create the CountResource class as follows:

package org.acme.scheduler;

import jakarta.inject.Inject;
import jakarta.ws.rs.GET;
import jakarta.ws.rs.Path;
import jakarta.ws.rs.Produces;
import jakarta.ws.rs.core.MediaType;

@Path("/count")
public class CountResource {

    @Inject
    CounterBean counter;            (1)


    @GET
    @Produces(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN)
    public String hello() {
        return "count: " + counter.get();  (2)
    }
}

1	Inject the `CounterBean`
2	Send back the current counter value

Package and run the application

Run the application with:

CLI

quarkus dev

Maven

./mvnw quarkus:dev

Gradle

./gradlew --console=plain quarkusDev

In another terminal, run curl localhost:8080/count to check the counter value. After a few seconds, re-run curl localhost:8080/count to verify the counter has been incremented.

Observe the console to verify that the message Cron expression configured in application.properties has been displayed indicating that the cron job using an expression configured in application.properties has been triggered.

As usual, the application can be packaged using:

CLI

quarkus build

Maven

./mvnw install

Gradle

./gradlew build

And executed with java -jar target/quarkus-app/quarkus-run.jar.

You can also generate the native executable with:

CLI

quarkus build --native

Maven

./mvnw install -Dnative

Gradle

./gradlew build -Dquarkus.native.enabled=true

Scheduler Configuration Reference

Configuration property fixed at build time - All other configuration properties are overridable at runtime

Configuration property	Type	Default
`quarkus.scheduler.cron-type` The syntax used in CRON expressions. Environment variable: `QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_CRON_TYPE` Show more	`cron4j`, `quartz`, `unix`, `spring`, `spring53`	`quartz`
`quarkus.scheduler.metrics.enabled` Scheduled task metrics will be enabled if a metrics extension is present and this value is true. Environment variable: `QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_METRICS_ENABLED` Show more	boolean	`false`
`quarkus.scheduler.tracing.enabled` Controls whether tracing is enabled. If set to true and the OpenTelemetry extension is present, tracing will be enabled, creating automatic Spans for each scheduled task. Environment variable: `QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_TRACING_ENABLED` Show more	boolean	`false`
`quarkus.scheduler.use-composite-scheduler` By default, only one `Scheduler` implementation is used. If set to `true` then a composite `Scheduler` that delegates to all running implementations is used. Scheduler implementations will be started depending on the value of `quarkus.scheduler.start-mode`, i.e. the scheduler is not started unless a relevant `io.quarkus.scheduler.Scheduled` business method is found. Environment variable: `QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_USE_COMPOSITE_SCHEDULER` Show more	boolean	`false`
`quarkus.scheduler.enabled` If schedulers are enabled. Environment variable: `QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_ENABLED` Show more	boolean	`true`
`quarkus.scheduler.overdue-grace-period` Scheduled task will be flagged as overdue if next execution time is exceeded by this period. Environment variable: `QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_OVERDUE_GRACE_PERIOD` Show more	Duration	`1S`
`quarkus.scheduler.start-mode` Scheduler can be started in different modes. By default, the scheduler is not started unless a `io.quarkus.scheduler.Scheduled` business method is found. Environment variable: `QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_START_MODE` Show more	`normal`The scheduler is not started unless a `io.quarkus.scheduler.Scheduled` business method is found., `forced`The scheduler will be started even if no scheduled business methods are found. This is necessary for "pure" programmatic scheduling., `halted`Just like the `forced` mode but the scheduler will not start triggering jobs until `Scheduler#resume()` is called. This can be useful to run some initialization logic that needs to be performed before the scheduler starts.

Configuration property

Type

Default

quarkus.scheduler.cron-type

The syntax used in CRON expressions.

Environment variable: QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_CRON_TYPE

cron4j, quartz, unix, spring, spring53

quartz

quarkus.scheduler.metrics.enabled

Scheduled task metrics will be enabled if a metrics extension is present and this value is true.

Environment variable: QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_METRICS_ENABLED

boolean

false

quarkus.scheduler.tracing.enabled

Controls whether tracing is enabled. If set to true and the OpenTelemetry extension is present, tracing will be enabled, creating automatic Spans for each scheduled task.

Environment variable: QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_TRACING_ENABLED

boolean

false

quarkus.scheduler.use-composite-scheduler

By default, only one Scheduler implementation is used. If set to true then a composite Scheduler that delegates to all running implementations is used.

Scheduler implementations will be started depending on the value of quarkus.scheduler.start-mode, i.e. the scheduler is not started unless a relevant io.quarkus.scheduler.Scheduled business method is found.

Environment variable: QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_USE_COMPOSITE_SCHEDULER

boolean

false

quarkus.scheduler.enabled

If schedulers are enabled.

Environment variable: QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_ENABLED

boolean

true

quarkus.scheduler.overdue-grace-period

Scheduled task will be flagged as overdue if next execution time is exceeded by this period.

Environment variable: QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_OVERDUE_GRACE_PERIOD

Duration

1S

quarkus.scheduler.start-mode

Scheduler can be started in different modes. By default, the scheduler is not started unless a io.quarkus.scheduler.Scheduled business method is found.

Environment variable: QUARKUS_SCHEDULER_START_MODE

normalThe scheduler is not started unless a io.quarkus.scheduler.Scheduled business method is found., forcedThe scheduler will be started even if no scheduled business methods are found. This is necessary for "pure" programmatic scheduling., haltedJust like the forced mode but the scheduler will not start triggering jobs until Scheduler#resume() is called. This can be useful to run some initialization logic that needs to be performed before the scheduler starts.

About the Duration format

To write duration values, use the standard java.time.Duration format. See the Duration#parse() Java API documentation for more information.

You can also use a simplified format, starting with a number:

If the value is only a number, it represents time in seconds.
If the value is a number followed by ms, it represents time in milliseconds.

In other cases, the simplified format is translated to the java.time.Duration format for parsing:

If the value is a number followed by h, m, or s, it is prefixed with PT.
If the value is a number followed by d, it is prefixed with P.

Prerequisites
Architecture
Solution
Creating the Maven project
Creating a scheduled job
Updating the application configuration file
Creating the REST resource
Package and run the application
Scheduler Configuration Reference

Scheduling Periodic Tasks

Prerequisites

Architecture

Solution

Creating the Maven project

Creating a scheduled job

Updating the application configuration file

Creating the REST resource

Package and run the application

Scheduler Configuration Reference

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