DigitSec’s Scheduler feature allows you to create Schedules that combine a description of an ad-hoc or recurring event in time AND a designation of workspaces with distinct scan settings. You can use this system on a Global level or on a Workspace level to manage scan activity in the future. Users will receive email notifications with notifications of scan activity and links to scan results.
At this time, there are three important caveats to consider.
First, a workspace may be scheduled for a scan only once per day. If a user attempts to schedule a workspace to be scanned when it is already scheduled, the new request will generate an error.
Second, scans are executed within an environment on a serial basis. Even if workspaces are part of two different schedules and are set to start at exactly the same time, one scan will wait for the other to complete before beginning. Users are advised to consider how this serial, sequential ordering will impact the delivery of scan results.
Third, schedules must be created for activity that will occur after two midnights of local time. For example, if it is 2pm ET and a user wanted to schedule a scan for 4pm ET today, it would not be possible. The earliest they would be able to schedule a scan would be after midnight tonight and then midnight tomorrow.
Glossary
A schedule consists of a group of workspaces with specific scan settings and a plan for one or more iterations that occur on a regular frequency or a specific date.
An iteration is an execution of the tasks inside a schedule. For example, if there are five workspaces that will be scanned every Wednesday for 5 weeks then every Wednesday an iteration will be run. After the first iteration, there will be four remaining. When there are remaining iterations, the status of a schedule will be "Ongoing."
Each schedule is made up of component tasks that are queued up each day. A task is a collection of scan settings applied to a workspace. For example, a customer might have 3 workspaces and wish to have all the workspaces run a SAST scan on Sunday nights at 11pm. Each iteration would have 3 tasks.
An ad-hoc event would be a schedule of tasks that would only occur once. A recurring event would be a schedule of iterations and tasks that would happen on a particular day of the week, month, or year on a repeating basis until a terminal date is reached or a terminal number of iterations have completed.
Environment
To get started at the environment level, Admins can use the Main Navigation to access “Configure” and then use the Sub Navigation to select “Scheduler”.
To create a new Schedule, simply use the +Scheduler Scan button. Learn more about scheduling options below.
Scheduler Screen
This screen also presents an overview of existing schedules, both past and future. Note that on MouseOver the cursor will change from an arrow to a pointer on the elements in the Orgs, Status, and State fields. Only the Orgs item is clickable for drill down, indicating more detail about each workspace scan in that schedule.
The Orgs column indicates the number of workspaces that are included in this scan schedule. You can click on this cell to drill down. For scans that have completed, you will see a Green Check for a successfully completed scan with a link icon to go to the Vulnerability Findings screen or a Red Warning with a link to the Scan Logs to see the error message.
The Status column indicates the Current Status of the Schedule. Valid options are:
- Hour Glass – Queued to be run – The Queue is managed on a regular basis to control the scanning order for the next scan activity interval. All scans scheduled for a particular day will be ordered on a sequential basis for that day starting from the earliest time for that day or schedule.
- Calendar Checked – Scheduled to be Queued – The Calendar is for managing schedules that are for future or recurring scans.
- Calendar Crossed – Removed from Queue – It is possible to stop a queued scan before it is executed by removing it from the queue.
- Warning Circle – Scan Schedule Error – This is shown when at least one of the Scans in a Schedule had an error.
The State Column indicates where a schedule is in it’s lifecycle. Valid options are:
- Check Mark – Completed – The Schedule has been completed. There aren’t any scans included in the schedule eligible for queuing for a future date.
- Right-Arrow – Ongoing – The Schedule has additional scans eligible to be queued in the future.
On the right-hand side of the data grid, the three-dot ellipsis menu allows a user to access the following Actions:
- Edit – Modify the schedule. This allows the user to modify the date/recurrence of the event, the selected workspaces, and the scan settings.
- Delete – Delete the Schedule entirely.
- Delete from Queue – This will remove any scans from this schedule that have been queued for the current day.
- View Logs – Jump to the Log Viewer panel with the selected scan active.
Scheduling a Scan
There are three steps to scheduling a scan. This section goes over each step. Begin by clicking the +Scheduler Scan button.
Step 1 – Define the Schedule
Begin by giving your schedule a useful name. This can be anything the user chooses. Next, select a date and time for this schedule to begin. Please remember that a schedule must begin no earlier than midnight of the next day. (At 12pm on the 5th day of the month, the earliest possible scan time would be at 12am on the 6th). Finally, select the frequency of the recurrence.
- Does not Repeat
- Daily – Will repeat each day at the same time
- Weekly – Will repeat on the same day each week, once per week.
- Monthly – Will repeat on the same numbered day of the calendar month. (5th of June, 5th of July, 5th of August, etc.)
- Annually – Will repeat once per year on the same month and day. (5th of June 2023, 5th of June 2024, 5th of June 2025)
- Weekday – Will occur once per day only on Weekdays. (Not Saturday or Sunday)
- Custom – You can set the repeat interval and have it continue endlessly, set a terminal date for the schedule, or have the schedule complete after a set number of executions.
Click Next
Step 2 – Select Workspaces to Scan
Select the Workspace(s) you wish to scan by using the pull-down menu to select a workspace. Use the +Add Workspace button to add it to the schedule. You can choose all workspaces at once by using the Add All Workspaces button.
Do not hit the Submit Button yet!
Step 3 – Modify Scan Settings
Use the 3 dot menu that appears next to each workspace to set the settings for each scan. These settings are separate from what has been set in the Workspace. The menu options follow exactly what you might see if you were manipulating the settings at the Workspace, however these settings are separate.
Scan Settings - Use these settings to control whether SAST, IAST, SCA, CONFIG, or THIRD-PARTY Scans should be run.
Scan Rules - Use these settings to control the active rules for scanning and the severity levels assigned to each rule.
Ignore List - Create a list of files that should be ignored by the scanning system.
Advanced - Modify the settings for where a QUALITY scan should be run or whether the findings for the scan should be unique to this Workspace.
Edit - Modify the title of the scan.
Tags - Assign key-value pairs to the help describe and organize the scan record.
Jira - Connect the scan results to a particular JIRA project.
Delete Workspace - Remove the workspace from the Schedule Dialog. This does not remove the workspace from your environment.
MONITORING SCHEDULE ACTIVITY
In previous sections, we have already reviewed the Scheduler screen that gives you an overview of past and future Schedules. In this section, we will review some of the features available that help monitor and review Scheduled Scan activity.
