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Overview

Scheduled audits run automatically on a recurring basis without manual initiation. The scheduling workflow has two steps: create an audit template that defines the goal and scope, then create a scheduled audit from that template with a cron expression or interval. Scheduled audits are ideal for nightly consolidation runs, peak-hour workload stabilization checks, and post-recovery zone rebalancing.
Prerequisites
  • Administrator privileges
  • At least one data source configured for the selected goal

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Audit Templates

Audit templates are reusable configurations that serve as the basis for both manual one-off audits and scheduled recurring audits.

Navigate to Audit Templates

Log in to the Xloud Dashboard (https://connect.<your-domain>) and navigate to Admin → Resource Optimizer → Audit Templates.

Create a template

Click Create Audit Template and fill in:
FieldDescriptionExample
NameTemplate identifierdaily-consolidation
GoalOptimization objectiveserver_consolidation
ScopeTarget scopeCLUSTER
DescriptionOptional documentation noteNightly server consolidation

Save

Click Create. The template is now available for manual audits and scheduling.
Audit template created and visible in the template list.

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Schedule a Recurring Audit

Navigate to Audit Templates and click Actions → Create Audit on your template. In the audit creation form, enable Auto Trigger and set a cron expression in the scheduling field.
Cron ExampleSchedule
0 2 * * *Daily at 02:00 AM
0 */6 * * *Every 6 hours
0 2 * * 0Weekly on Sunday at 02:00 AM
Schedule consolidation audits during off-peak hours (02:00–06:00 AM) to minimize the impact of live migrations on active workloads.

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Auto-Trigger vs Manual Approval

ModeBehaviourRecommended For
Manual approval (default)Plan requires explicit execute callProduction environments
Auto-triggerPlan executes immediately after auditDev/test, or validated strategies only
Enable auto_trigger only after thoroughly testing the strategy behaviour on your cluster topology. Auto-trigger can initiate live migrations during business hours if the schedule is misconfigured.

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Manage Scheduled Audits

List all audits
watcher audit list
Delete a scheduled audit
watcher audit delete <audit-uuid>
Delete an audit template
watcher audittemplate delete daily-consolidation

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Action Plan Expiry

Action plans become stale when the cluster state changes significantly after audit completion. Configure expiry to prevent old plans from being executed.

Open Advanced Configuration

Open XDeploy and navigate to Advanced Configuration. In the Service Tree (left panel), select watcher.

Edit the Expiry Setting

Click New File or select an existing watcher.conf from the File Browser (right panel). Add the following in the Code Editor (center panel):
/etc/xavs/config/watcher/watcher.conf
[DEFAULT]
action_plan_expiry = 24
Plans older than action_plan_expiry hours are automatically invalidated. A new audit must be run to generate a fresh plan.

Save and Apply

Click Save Current File. Return to Operations and run reconfigure to apply the expiry setting.
Action plan expiry configured and applied via XDeploy.

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Next Steps

Action Plan Policies

Configure manual vs automatic action plan execution policies.

Strategy Configuration

Tune strategy parameters for scheduled audits.

Audit History (User)

Review scheduled audit results and trends over time.

Troubleshooting

Diagnose scheduled audit failures and data source issues.