--- layout: "docs" page_title: "Job Specification" sidebar_current: "docs-jobspec" description: |- Learn about the Job specification used to submit jobs to Nomad. --- # Job Specification Jobs can be specified either in [HCL](https://github.com/hashicorp/hcl) or JSON. HCL is meant to strike a balance between human readable and editable, and machine-friendly. For machine-friendliness, Nomad can also read JSON configurations. In general, we recommend using the HCL syntax. ## HCL Syntax For a detailed description of HCL general syntax, [see this guide](https://github.com/hashicorp/hcl#syntax). Here we cover the details of the Job specification for Nomad: ``` # Define a job called my-service job "my-service" { # Job should run in the US region region = "us" # Spread tasks between us-west-1 and us-east-1 datacenters = ["us-west-1", "us-east-1"] # run this job globally type = "system" # Rolling updates should be sequential update { stagger = "30s" max_parallel = 1 } group "webs" { # We want 5 web servers count = 5 # Create a web front end using a docker image task "frontend" { driver = "docker" config { image = "hashicorp/web-frontend" } env { DB_HOST = "db01.example.com" DB_USER = "web" DB_PASSWORD = "loremipsum" } resources { cpu = 500 memory = 128 network { mbits = 100 dynamic_ports = [ "http", "https", ] } } } } } ``` This is a fairly simple example job, but demonstrates many of the features and syntax of the job specification. The primary "objects" are the job, task group, and task. Each job file has only a single job, however a job may have multiple task groups, and each task group may have multiple tasks. Task groups are a set of tasks that must be co-located on a machine. Groups with a single task and count of one can be declared outside of a group which is created implicitly. Constraints can be specified at the job, task group, or task level to restrict where a task is eligible for running. An example constraint looks like: ``` # Restrict to only nodes running linux constraint { attribute = "$attr.kernel.os" value = "linux" } ``` Jobs can also specify additional metadata at the job, task group, or task level. This metadata is opaque to Nomad and can be used for any purpose, including defining constraints on the metadata. Metadata can be specified by: ``` # Setup ELB via metadata and setup foo meta { foo = "bar" elb_mode = "tcp" elb_check_interval = "10s" } ``` ## Syntax Reference Following is a syntax reference for the possible keys that are supported and their default values if any for each type of object. ### Job The `job` object supports the following keys: * `all_at_once` - Controls if the entire set of tasks in the job must be placed atomically or if they can be scheduled incrementally. This should only be used for special circumstances. Defaults to `false`. * `constraint` - This can be provided multiple times to define additional constraints. See the constraint reference for more details. * `datacenters` - A list of datacenters in the region which are eligible for task placement. This must be provided, and does not have a default. * `group` - This can be provided multiple times to define additional task groups. See the task group reference for more details. * `meta` - Annotates the job with opaque metadata. * `priority` - Specifies the job priority which is used to prioritize scheduling and access to resources. Must be between 1 and 100 inclusively, and defaults to 50. * `region` - The region to run the job in, defaults to "global". * `task` - This can be specified multiple times to add a task as part of the job. Tasks defined directly in a job are wrapped in a task group of the same name. * `type` - Specifies the job type and switches which scheduler is used. Nomad provides the `service`, `system` and `batch` schedulers, and defaults to `service`. * `update` - Specifies the task update strategy. This requires providing `max_parallel` as an integer and `stagger` as a time duration. If stagger is provided as an integer, seconds are assumed. Otherwise the "s", "m", and "h" suffix can be used, such as "30s". Both values default to zero, which disables rolling updates. ### Task Group The `group` object supports the following keys: * `count` - Specifies the number of the task groups that should be running. Must be positive, defaults to one. * `constraint` - This can be provided multiple times to define additional constraints. See the constraint reference for more details. * `task` - This can be specified multiple times, to add a task as part of the group. * `meta` - Annotates the task group with opaque metadata. ### Task The `task` object supports the following keys: * `driver` - Specifies the task driver that should be used to run the task. See the [driver documentation](/docs/drivers/index.html) for what is available. Examples include "docker", "qemu", "java", and "exec". * `constraint` - This can be provided multiple times to define additional constraints. See the constraint reference for more details. * `config` - A map of key/value configuration passed into the driver to start the task. The details of configurations are specific to each driver. * `env` - A map of key/value representing environment variables that will be passed along to the running process. * `resources` - Provides the resource requirements of the task. See the resources reference for more details. * `meta` - Annotates the task group with opaque metadata. ### Resources The `resources` object supports the following keys: * `cpu` - The CPU required in MHz. * `disk` - The disk required in MB. * `iops` - The number of IOPS required given as a weight between 10-1000. * `memory` - The memory required in MB. * `network` - The network required. Details below. The `network` object supports the following keys: * `dynamic_ports` - List of port labels which may contain letters, numbers and underscores (`^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+$`). Each label will be assigned a dynamic port when the task starts. Ports are passed to the task environment as `NOMAD_PORT_{LABEL}`. Drivers may infer additional semantics from the label. See the relevant driver docs for details. * `mbits` - The number of MBits in bandwidth required. * `reserved_ports` - This is a list of specific ports required. For applications that cannot use a dynamic port, they can request a specific port. ### Constraint The `constraint` object supports the following keys: * `attribute` - Specifies the attribute to examine for the constraint. See the table of attributes below. * `operator` - Specifies the comparison operator. Defaults to equality, and can be `=`, `==`, `is`, `!=`, `not`, `>`, `>=`, `<`, `<=`. The ordering is compared lexically. * `value` - Specifies the value to compare the attribute against. This can be a literal value or another attribute. * `version` - Specifies a version constraint against the attribute. This sets the operator to "version" and the `value` to what is specified. This supports a comma seperated list of constraints, including the pessimistic operator. See the [go-version](https://github.com/hashicorp/go-version) repository for examples. * `regexp` - Specifies a regular expression constraint against the attribute. This sets the operator to "regexp" and the `value` to the regular expression. * `distinct_hosts` - `distinct_hosts` accepts a boolean `true`. The default is `false`. When `distinct_hosts` is `true` at the Job level, each instance of all Task Groups specified in the job is placed on a separate host. When `distinct_hosts` is `true` at the Task Group level with count > 1, each instance of a Task Group is placed on a separate host. Different task groups in the same job _may_ be co-scheduled. Tasks within a task group are always co-scheduled. Below is a table documenting the variables that can be interpreted:
Variable Description
$node.id The client node identifier
$node.datacenter The client node datacenter
$node.name The client node name
$attr.\ The attribute given by `key` on the client node.
$meta.\ The metadata value given by `key` on the client node.
Below is a table documenting common node attributes:
Attribute Description
arch CPU architecture of the client. Examples: "amd64", "386"
consul.datacenter The Consul datacenter of the client node if Consul found
cpu.numcores Number of CPU cores on the client
driver.\ See the [task drivers](/docs/drivers/index.html) for attribute documentation
hostname Hostname of the client
platform.aws.ami-id On EC2, the AMI ID of the client node
platform.aws.instance-type On EC2, the instance type of the client node
os.name Operating system of the client. Examples: "linux", "windows", "darwin"
os.version Version of the client OS
## JSON Syntax Job files can also be specified in JSON. The conversion is straightforward and self-documented. The downsides of JSON are less human readability and the lack of comments. Otherwise, the two are completely interoperable. See the API documentation for more details on the JSON structure.