A lot of Kayako Classic's functionality relies on a schedule of internal tasks that do things like fetch emails, perform system cleanups, execute ticket followups, etc. But this internal system doesn't run continuously; it's only triggered when the staff control panel is accessed. In a busy helpdesk, that's no problem. But if your helpdesk is activity is pretty light, then you might miss out on emails, follow-ups, or other time-sensitive activities.
For Kayako Classic OnDemand customers, we've taken care of this by setting up a task on our servers that regularly nudges your helpdesk into running its internal tasks. But if you're a Download customer, you'll need to set that up on your servers yourself.
To keep your Kayako Classic Download helpdesk firing on all cylinders, you'll need to create a scheduled task (Windows) or cron job (Linux/Unix) that loads the /cron/index.php every 10 minutes, to make sure everything keeps ticking along.
In this article, we'll cover the basics of how to put together your scheduled task or cron job, and then link to in-depth instructions for how to create it using a handful of common server configuration tools.
Setting up your scheduled task or cron job
To make sure your Download helpdesk runs more-or-less continuously, you'll need to schedule a task or cron job on the server you use to host Kayako Classic.
The specific process for creating a task/job on your server will vary significantly, depending on the platform and configuration tool you use. We'll go through the basics for Windows and Linux, followed by links to in-depth documentation for a variety of common configuration tools.
For Windows servers:
NOTE: To create a scheduled task, you'll need administrative privileges and 'wget' installed.
If you're using the command line, you'll need to create a new task with the schtasks command:
schtasks /create /sc minute /mo 10 /tn "Kayako Classic Cron" /tr C:\wget\wget.exe -q -O nul “https://YOURDOMAIN.kayako.com/cron/index.php?/Parser/ParserMinute/POP3IMAP"
NOTE: Make sure you update the path for 'wget.exe' as well as the 'YOURDOMAIN' in the Kayako URL.
If you're using the Task Scheduler application, follow the prompts to build a task that fires every 10 minutes and uses wget to load the https://YOURDOMAIN.kayako.com/cron/index.php? page.
You can read more about creating scheduled tasks in the Windows server documentation: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc748993
For Linux/Unix servers:
NOTE: To create a cron job, you'll need root-level permissions and 'wget' installed.
If you're using the command line, you'll need to add a new line to your crontab file that reads:
*/10 * * * * wget -O /dev/null --no-check-certificate https://YOURDOMAIN.kayako.com/cron/index.php?/Parser/ParserMinute/POP3IMAP
NOTE: Make sure you update the 'YOURDOMAIN' in the Kayako URL.
You can read more about cron jobs in the Unbuntu community documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CronHowto
Other server configuration tools
Many server configuration dashboards let you create server tasks with a GUI tool. Below, we've linked to the documentation for a handful of common tools:
Kelly O'Brien