Retrieve or Update Blocking Task Settings

Timeout settings, default actions, and related messages for blocking tasks are properties of a cloud. They apply to all organizations in the cloud. Only a system administrator can view or modify them.

When a user requests an operation that is configured to create a blocking task, the system creates a reference to the operation in the cloud's BlockingTaskReferences container. The system also sends a message about the task to the configured AMQP broker. A system administrator can retrieve the list of BlockingTaskReferences by making a GET request to the system's blockingTasks link. An AMQP client can use information in the message to construct a URL that it can use to retrieve the task. See Example: Notification Message Format.

If no action is taken on the blocking task within a specified timeout interval, it is subject to a default action. You can specify the timeout interval and default action for all blocking tasks by modifying the system's BlockingTaskSettings element. To configure an operation as a blocking task, add the operation name to the BlockingTaskOperations element contained by BlockingTaskSettings. See Task Operations.

Prerequisites

■	This operation is restricted to system administrators.
■	Retrieve the SystemSettings element. See Retrieve or Update System Settings.

Procedure

1	Examine the response to locate the link that you can use to retrieve the system's BlockingTaskSettings element. This link has a rel attribute value of `down` and a type attribute value of `application/vnd.vmware.admin.blockingTaskSettings+xml`, as shown here: <Link href="https://vcloud.example.com/api/admin/extension/settings/blockingTask" rel="down" type="application/vnd.vmware.admin.blockingTaskSettings+xml"/>
2	Retrieve the element. Make a GET request to the href value of the link.
3	(Optional) Modify the element as needed to change the settings it controls. See the schema reference.
4	(Optional) Update the modified element with the new contents. PUT the modified element to the href value of its rel="edit" link. See Example: Update Blocking Task Settings.

Example: Update Blocking Task Settings

This request modifies the blocking task settings for a cloud to set the time-out period to 24 hours and adds media upload as an operation that creates a blocking task. See Task Operations for a list of operation names.

Request:

PUT https://vcloud.example.com/api/admin/extension/settings/blockingTask
Content-Type: application/vnd.vmware.admin.blockingTaskSettings+xml
...
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<BlockingTaskSettings
   xmlns:vcloud="http://www.vmware.com/vcloud/v1.5"
   xmlns="http://www.vmware.com/vcloud/extension/v1.5">
   <TimeoutAction>abort</TimeoutAction>
   <BlockingTaskOperations>
      <vcloud:Operation>vdcUploadMedia</vcloud:Operation>
   </BlockingTaskOperations>
   <TimeoutInMilliseconds>86400000</TimeoutInMilliseconds>
</BlockingTaskSettings>

The response contains information extracted from the request, and adds the href attributes and edit links for the BlockingTaskSettings element and the BlockingTaskOperations element it contains.

Response:

200 OK 
Content-Type: application/vnd.vmware.admin.blockingTaskSettings+xml
...
<BlockingTaskSettings
   xmlns="http://www.vmware.com/vcloud/v1.5"
   TimeoutInMilliseconds="86400000"
   type="application/vnd.vmware.admin.blockingTaskSettings+xmll"
   href="https://vcloud.example.com/api/admin/extension/settings/blockingTask"
   xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" ... >
   <Link
      rel="edit"
      type="application/vnd.vmware.admin.blockingTaskSettings+xml"
      href="https://vcloud.example.com/api/admin/extension/settings/blockingTask" />
   <Link
      rel="down"
      type="application/vnd.vmware.admin.taskOperationList+xml"
      href="https://vcloud.example.com/api/admin/extension/settings/blockingTask/operations"/>
   <TimeoutAction>abort</TimeoutAction>
   <BlockingTaskOperations
      type="application/vnd.vmware.admin.taskOperationList+xml"
      href="https://vcloud.example.com/api/admin/extension/settings/blockingTask/operations">
      <Link
         rel="edit"
         type="application/vnd.vmware.admin.taskOperationList+xml"
         href="https://vcloud.example.com/api/admin/extension/settings/blockingTask/operations"/>
      <Operation>vdcUploadMedia</Operation>
   </BlockingTaskOperations>
</BlockingTaskSettings>

Subtopics

Task Operations