Converting Informer 4 Schedules into Informer 5 Jobs
Informer 4 Schedules do not carry across in a content migration, but you do not have to rebuild them by hand. The IR command-line tool can read an export of your Informer 4 schedule metadata and create the matching Informer 5 Jobs in bulk.
The shape of the migration is: export the schedules from Informer 4 as a CSV, make sure the Reports they run already exist in Informer 5, then hand the CSV to IR.
Prerequisites
In Informer 4:
- Informer 4.5 or later.
- The Schedules View Plugin, which exposes the Derby schedule data in a readable form so it can be exported. There is no other way to reach the schedule configuration metadata, so this plugin is required.
In Informer 5:
- Informer 2025.2 or later.
- The IR command-line tool, installed and signed in. See Using IR and Ingest for installation and login.
- The Reports your Schedules run, already imported. Import them as packages (
.ixp); individual Report files do not migrate correctly.
Export the Schedules from Informer 4
With the Schedules View Plugin installed, create a Native SQL Report against the internal Informer 4 Derby database using this statement:
select s.*, qt.CRON_EXPRESSION
from schedules s
left join QRTZ_TRIGGERS q on s.JOBID = q.JOB_NAME
left join QRTZ_CRON_TRIGGERS qt on qt.TRIGGER_NAME = q.TRIGGER_NAME;
Save and run the Report, then export the results to CSV and note where the file lands. You need the path in the next step.
This Report returns every Schedule in the system. To migrate only some of them, add a WHERE clause to leave the rest out. Do not edit the CSV structure itself: the Schedules View Plugin produces the layout the migration expects.
Run the migration
Sign in to Informer 5 with IR, then run the migration against your export:
ir job:migrate -f 'path\to\your\schedule_export.csv' --execute --force
| Flag | Effect |
|---|---|
--execute | Creates the Jobs. Leave it off for a dry run that previews what would be created without changing anything. |
--force | Overwrites an existing Job with the same name. |
Run it once without --execute first. The preview is the cheapest way to catch a missing Report or a naming collision.
Then check the results: open Jobs in Informer 5, confirm the Schedules arrived, and run a few of the important ones manually to see that they behave.
What does not migrate
Some Informer 4 Schedule features have no direct Informer 5 equivalent yet. Schedules that use them still migrate, but these parts do not come with them, so recreate them on the Job afterward:
- Email → Message Contents → Email Text Keywords. Custom dynamic text in email bodies.
- Export to Multiple Documents. Splitting an export across several files.
- Creating an Archive from a Schedule. Archiving works differently in Informer 5.
- Export to Custom Format. Export formats specific to Informer 4.
Review your Schedules for these before you migrate, so you know which Jobs need a second pass.
Working through a migration
- Migrate to a test instance first. A non-production Informer 5 is the right place to find out what your export does.
- Take a backup before the real run. The migration only creates Jobs and never touches your Informer 4 Schedules, so a failed run leaves the originals intact. A System Bundle backup in Informer 5 still gives you a clean way back.
- Run both systems in parallel while you verify. Informer 4 and Informer 5 can run side by side during the transition. Be aware that a Schedule and its migrated Job will both fire, so recipients get two copies of anything that emails. Disable one side once you trust the other.
- Check Dataset dependencies on Jobs that produce empty output. A Job whose data is blank usually ran before its Dataset was ready. See Scheduling a Job for ordering work within a Job.
Troubleshooting
Command 'ir' not recognized. IR is not installed, or its directory is not on the system PATH. Confirm withir --version, or call the executable by its full path.- Authentication fails during
ir login. Check the URL and credentials, and confirm the account you are signing in as has permission to create Jobs. - "Report not found" during migration. A Schedule references a Report that is not in Informer 5 yet. Import it as an
.ixppackage and re-run. - Jobs are created but produce blank or missing data. Check that the Dataset dependencies are configured, and use multiple Queries on the Job to put them in the right order.
- Email actions do not send. Check the recipient addresses on the Job, then the SMTP settings on the Informer 5 server.
- A Job failed to migrate. Failures are logged with an error message. The usual causes are a missing Report, an unsupported feature, or invalid configuration in the source row. Correct the source data and re-run, or recreate that one Job by hand.