Create and Run Tasks in GUI

Last modified 24 May 2025 08:27 +02:00

The midPoint graphical user interface features a streamlined wizard, helping you configure import, reconciliation, and live synchronization tasks without needing to delve into XML configurations. You can use the wizard to set up a simulated import, for instance, and check the simulation results before running the import for real.

We suggest setting up tasks as simulations first. This helps to make sure your resource configuration works as expected before you let the task make any changes to your data.

Create a Task to Import, Synchronize, or Reconcile Resource Objects

The steps below illustrate creating a task in GUI. Adjust your resource object-related settings based on what kind of objects you are working with.

Make sure you have configured synchronization and mapping rules before you run any kind of synchronization task.

create task from resource account list
Figure 1. Create tasks using the Tasks menu in the resource account list

You will not see all the screens described below in every task type. This guide is universal, but the screens are combined into the wizards as appropriate for the selected scenario. For instance, you won’t see the Schedule screen in the wizard for import tasks. If you select a task the wizard of which doesn’t contain a certain screen included below, skip the steps that are not relevant for you.

  1. In  Resources >  All resources, select your resource.

  2. In the resource-specific left-side menu, select  Accounts.

  3. Click  Tasks ▼ and select  Create task.

  4. Click a tile based on what kind of task you want to create. For example, click  Import task to create an import task.

    • Optionally, switch on the Simulate task toggle to preview what would the task do.

  5. Click  Create task.

gui task type selection modal
Figure 2. Select the type of task you want to create

Configuration

On this screen, fill in the basic task attributes, such as the task name or a description of its purpose. We suggest giving the task a descriptive name so that you can easily recognize it later in the task list.
For example:

  • HRIS import - preview : development

  • HRIS import - real : production

  • LDAP reconciliation - simulation

  • LDAP reconciliation - preview : production

Click Next: Resource objects to continue to the next screen.

Resource Objects

Select which resource objects should be processed by the task. In most cases, you can keep the settings on this screen as they are.

If you need to change the object selection, refer to Resource Object Set Specification. You can specify objects either by the object class, or by the combination of kind and intent. Don’t use all three properties together.

Click Next: Execution to continue to the next screen.

Execution

This screen appears only if you switch on the simulation toggle at the beginning.

The task execution options dictate the modus operandi of the task. The mode and configuration give a fair number of options. Let’s cover the basics here:

  • If you want to simulate and ensure the task doesn’t modify data, select Mode: Preview and Predefined (configuration): Development.

  • If you want to actually import, reconcile, or synchronize the objects, select Mode: Undefined and Predefined (configuration): Production.

Refer to these resources for more information on the topic:

Click Next: Schedule to continue to the next screen.

Schedule

For certain tasks, like reconciliation, it makes sense to make them run periodically at set intervals.

  • Use Interval to specify time in seconds between individual runs.

  • Use Cron-like pattern to specify a more complex execution arrangement using a cron-like sequence definition.

Click Next: Distribution to continue to the next screen.

Distribution

This is the last screen. You don’t need to change the settings here unless you want to distribute the task to multiple threads. You can learn more in Distribution.

  • Click  Save & Run to run the task immediately.

  • Click  Save settings to save the task for later.

Find and Run Saved Tasks

You can find all tasks you’ve created for a resource in the resource-specific left-side menu under  Defined Tasks.

Once you find the task you want to adjust, run, or inspect, click the name of the task to open it.

The top of the task detail screen tells you all about the status of the task.

task status top bar
Figure 3. Status and action bars in the task detail screen
  • The status of the task above is  Unknown and the task is  Suspended, meaning that it has never run.

  • The type of the task is  Import task.

  • The only available Task operation is  Resume because it has never run before.

You can use the screens under  Activity to adjust settings of the task, such as the execution mode and configuration. After you make changes, click  Save or  Save & Run.

Use the  Resume button to run a task that has never been run before, such as the one in the picture above. After you run a task once, the button changes to  Run now.

Read Simulation Results

After you run a simulation task, and it finishes the processing, the top bar in the task detail screen shows a new button: Show simulation result.

gui view task simulation results button
Figure 4. View simulation results button in the top bar of the task screen details screen

Click the Show simulation result button to get an overview of the simulated changes, i.e., what would have happened if it weren’t only a simulation. Nothing of what you see in the overview has really happened, but it gives you a great option to inspect whether all your resource and object type settings behave as you wish.

gui task simulation results overview
Figure 5. Task simulation results overview
  • The numbers in the left sidebar are links you can use to inspect each category of affected objects.

  • The cards on the right are an easy-to-scan overview of important events.

  • The above screen tells that 33 users from the HRIS would have their focal objects activated, while shadows of 15 resource objects would stay unmodified because of errors.

Simulate Import of a Single Object

Before importing objects from a resource to midPoint, it’s useful to simulate the import of a single object to see whether all the mappings behave as expected.

Simulating import of a single object is particularly useful if you’re working with a resource that contains thousands of objects because it could take a long time to simulate import of them all. You’ll likely have to simulate the import of all of them eventually anyway, but it’s faster to debug your configuration on a handful of cherry-picked objects beforehand.

  1. In  Resources >  All resources, select your resource.

  2. In the resource-specific left-side menu, select  Accounts.

  3. Pick an account you want to test with.

  4. Click the drop-down menu button at the far right of the row and select Import preview.

  5. In the modal dialog that appears, select the task execution mode:

    • Simulated production if your resource or parts of its configuration you want to test are in the Active lifecycle state.

    • Simulated development if your resource or parts of its configuration you want to test are in the Proposed lifecycle state.

  6. Click Select

gui import preview single account from account list
Figure 6. Account list with the drop-down menu to create an import task for a single account

Check the Simulation Results

Once the task finishes, you’re taken to the Processed objects screen. There, you see:

  • The shadow object with no changes.

  • A new user object that would be added were it not for the simulation.
    (The type of the focus object depends on what you’re actually importing.)

Click the name of the user object to see its details, mapping results in particular.

gui import preview single account processed objects
Figure 7. List of processed objects
gui import preview single account simulation result details
Figure 8. Details of the simulated new user object
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