Built-In Command Context Variables

Tron includes some built in command context variables that can be used in command configuration for actions.

These variables can be used in the command of an action, using Python’s format syntax ({}).

Once rendered into the command, they will not change. This is especially important for datetime-based context variables. Once a run is constructed, the datetime-based variables are “frozen”, and will not change, even if the job is retried, or rerun one week later.

For example:

# myservice.yaml
myjob:
  node: localhost
  actions:
    myaction1:
      command: "Hello world! I'm {action} for job {name} running on {node}"

The command would get rendered at job runtime to:

Hello world! I'm myaction1 for myservice.myjob running on localhost
shortdate
Run date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Supports simple arithmetic of the form {shortdate+6} which returns a date 6 days in the future, {shortdate-2} which returns a date 2 days before the run date.
ym, ymd, ymdh, ymdhm
Same as shortdate but better granularity. Arithmetic works with most granular unit: ymdh+1 is +1 hours, ymdhm+1 is +1 minute.
year
Current year in YYYY format. Supports the same arithmetic operations as shortdate. For example, {year-1} would return the year previous to the run date.
month
Current month in MM format. Supports the same arithmetic operations as shortdate. For example, {month+2} would return 2 months in the future.
day
Current day in DD format. Supports the same arithmetic operations as shortdate. For example, {day+1} would return the day after the run date.
hour
Current hour in HH (0-23) format. Supports the same arithmetic operations as shortdate. For example, {hour+1} would return the hour after the run hour (mod 24).
unixtime
Current timestamp. Supports addition and subtraction of seconds. For example {unixtime+20} would return the timestamp 20 seconds after the jobs runtime.
daynumber
Current day number as an ordinal (datetime.toordinal()). Supports addition and subtraction of days. For example {daynumber-3} would be 3 days before the run date.
name
Name of the job (e.g. myservice.myjob).
actionnname
The name of the action (e.g. myaction1).
node
Hostname of the node the action is being run on (e.g. localhost).
runid
Run ID of the job run (e.g. sample_job.23)
cleanup_job_status
SUCCESS if all actions have succeeded when the cleanup action runs, FAILURE otherwise. UNKNOWN if used in an action other than the cleanup action.
last_success
The last successful run date (defaults to current date if there was no previous successful run). Supports date arithmetic using the form {last_success#shortdate-1}.
manual

true if the job was run manually. false otherwise. Manual job runs are those runs launched via the tronctl start command (as opposed to those launched by the scheduler). This variable is useful changing the behavior when jobs are run manually, like adding more verbose logging:

command: “myjob –verbose={manual}”

namespace
The namespace of the config where the job comes from. Often MASTER or servicename. Usually matches the name of service where the code runs. For example, if the job name is myservice.mycooljob.1.myaction, {namespace} would be rendered as myservice.

Built In Environment Variables

The following environment variables are also in the process environment.

These can be used like a normal linux environment variable using $, like $TRON_JOB_NAMESPACE will be expanded at runtime and replace by the appropriate string.

Note: These are different that Tron Context Variables, which are referenced using python style f-strings ({myvariable}) and are “rendered” into the command only, and not available as normal environment variables.

In all examples here, imagine running tronview like tronview myservice.myjob.42.myaction. The example variables represent aspects of that particular action:

TRON_JOB_NAMESPACE
This is the tron config namespace where the job lives. Example: myservice.
TRON_JOB_NAME
This variable is the top level key in the tron configuration file, like myjob.
TRON_RUN_NUM
This is the job run number. Example: 42.
TRON_ACTION
This is the action name of the particular job. Example: myaction.