Skip to main content
The setup_beat_schedule command configures django-celery-beat periodic tasks with sensible default frequencies for automatic maintenance operations.

​
What it does

This command creates or updates periodic tasks in the database for:
  • Orphaned photo cleanup - Removes incomplete photos every 6 hours
  • Full photo cleanup - Removes all orphaned photos every 7 days
  • Old incomplete photo cleanup - Removes very old incomplete photos daily

​
Basic usage

python manage.py setup_beat_schedule
Run this command once after deployment to configure automatic maintenance tasks.

​
Arguments and options

​
--dry-run
boolean
Preview what would be created/updated without making changes.Example:
python manage.py setup_beat_schedule --dry-run

​
Default periodic tasks

The command configures these tasks with default intervals:

​
1. Cleanup incomplete photos (24h)

  • Task: collection.tasks.cleanup_orphaned_photos
  • Frequency: Every 6 hours
  • Description: Removes photos from incomplete form submissions older than 24 hours

​
2. Cleanup all orphaned photos

  • Task: collection.tasks.cleanup_all_orphaned_photos
  • Frequency: Every 7 days
  • Description: Comprehensive cleanup of all photo files not referenced in database

​
3. Cleanup old incomplete photos (168h)

  • Task: collection.tasks.cleanup_old_incomplete_photos
  • Frequency: Every 1 day
  • Description: Removes very old incomplete photos (older than 7 days)

​
Example output

$ python manage.py setup_beat_schedule

Created: cleanup_orphaned_photos (incomplete, 24h) every 6 HOURS
Created: cleanup_all_orphaned_photos every 7 DAYS
Created: cleanup_old_incomplete_photos (168h) every 1 DAYS
Beat schedule updated. Celery Beat will pick up changes.
Adjust intervals in Django Admin: django_celery_beat > Periodic tasks.

​
Customizing intervals

After running the command, you can adjust task intervals in Django Admin:
1

Access Django Admin

Navigate to /admin/ and log in with your superuser account
2

Go to Periodic tasks

Click django_celery_beat → Periodic tasks
3

Edit task

Click on the task you want to modify (e.g., “cleanup_orphaned_photos”)
4

Change interval

Update the Interval field to your desired frequency
5

Save

Click Save - Celery Beat will pick up the changes automatically

​
When to run

​
After initial deployment

python manage.py migrate
python manage.py setup_beat_schedule

​
After updating FootyCollect

If new periodic tasks are added in a FootyCollect update: 
python manage.py setup_beat_schedule

​
In Docker

docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml exec django python manage.py setup_beat_schedule

​
Verifying tasks

​
Check configured tasks

python manage.py shell

from django_celery_beat.models import PeriodicTask

# List all periodic tasks
for task in PeriodicTask.objects.all():
    print(f"{task.name}: {task.enabled} - {task.interval}")

​
Monitor Celery Beat

Celery Beat logs show when tasks are scheduled: 
# Docker
docker compose logs celerybeat

# Systemd
journalctl -u celerybeat -f

​
Task implementation

The periodic tasks are defined in footycollect/collection/tasks.py: 
@shared_task
def cleanup_orphaned_photos():
    """Cleanup incomplete photos older than 24 hours."""
    call_command(
        "cleanup_orphaned_photos",
        "--incomplete-only",
        "--older-than-hours",
        "24",
    )

@shared_task
def cleanup_all_orphaned_photos():
    """Cleanup all orphaned photos."""
    call_command("cleanup_orphaned_photos")

@shared_task  
def cleanup_old_incomplete_photos():
    """Cleanup very old incomplete photos (7 days)."""
    call_command(
        "cleanup_orphaned_photos",
        "--incomplete-only",
        "--older-than-hours",
        "168",
    )

​
Disabling tasks

To temporarily disable a task without deleting it:

​
Via Django Admin

  1. Go to django_celery_beat → Periodic tasks
  2. Click on the task
  3. Uncheck Enabled
  4. Click Save

​
Via management command

python manage.py shell

from django_celery_beat.models import PeriodicTask

task = PeriodicTask.objects.get(name="cleanup_orphaned_photos (incomplete, 24h)")
task.enabled = False
task.save()

​
Troubleshooting

Verify Celery Beat is running:
# Docker
docker compose ps celerybeat

# Systemd  
systemctl status celerybeat
Check Celery Beat logs for errors:
docker compose logs celerybeat --tail=100
Verify the Celery worker is running:
# Docker
docker compose ps celeryworker

# Systemd
systemctl status celeryworker
Check worker logs:
docker compose logs celeryworker --tail=100
The command uses update_or_create to prevent duplicates. If you see duplicates, manually delete them in Django Admin and re-run the command.

cleanup_orphaned_photos

Manual photo cleanup command

Celery Tasks

Learn about background task processing