Overview
The M-Files Server performs various tasks for a document vault in the background. You may monitor the progress of these operations in the M-Files Admin.
Background tasks can be complex and time-consuming processes that are executed in the background so that they can be executed in parallel with other M-Files Server tasks without interfering or stalling other ongoing processes or making the end user wait for their completion.
The background tasks are triggered by various user actions, such as modifying a named access control list, certain metadata changes (adding/removing a property for example) or even by certain property value changes if the property is used to control the permissions of other objects. Tasks of different type can be executed in parallel, tasks of the same type are executed in sequence but can be executed in parallel within the same task. Occasionally tasks of the same type can also be combined which is seen as some of the tasks getting cancelled which is acceptable.
The amount of parallelism can be changed in the advanced vault settings but it is not recommended to change these settings without fully understanding possible consequences.
Monitoring background tasks
The background tasks should be monitored every now and then in case there is a task outputting an error. A task with an error will prevent all tasks of the same type from being executed and can lead to various issues, including permission changes not completing.
Complete the following steps to monitor background tasks in your document vault:
- Open M-Files Admin.
- In the left-side tree view, expand a connection to M-Files server.
- Expand Document Vaults.
- Expand a vault.
- Select Background Tasks.
Result: The Background Tasks view is opened.
You can browse the background tasks page by page by using the arrow icons.
If the list contains many items, you might want to filter it. To filter the view, open the View menu and click Filter. Enter a desired text to filter the column contents.
The background tasks that are currently in progress are listed in the Background Tasks view. You can click Refresh in the task area to refresh the view.
You can also sort the tasks by the Status column to easily look for tasks with Failed state, for example. There should never be failed tasks, contact support immediately if you notice such tasks.
