setup_beat_schedule - FootyCollect

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

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:

Access Django Admin

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

Go to Periodic tasks

Click django_celery_beat → Periodic tasks

Edit task

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

Change interval

Update the Interval field to your desired frequency

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

Go to django_celery_beat → Periodic tasks
Click on the task
Uncheck Enabled
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

Tasks not running

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

Tasks run but do nothing

Verify the Celery worker is running:

# Docker
docker compose ps celeryworker

# Systemd
systemctl status celeryworker

Check worker logs:

docker compose logs celeryworker --tail=100

Duplicate tasks created

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

​What it does

​Basic usage

​Arguments and options

​Default periodic tasks

​1. Cleanup incomplete photos (24h)

​2. Cleanup all orphaned photos

​3. Cleanup old incomplete photos (168h)

​Example output

​Customizing intervals

​When to run

​After initial deployment

​After updating FootyCollect

​In Docker

​Verifying tasks

​Check configured tasks

​Monitor Celery Beat

​Task implementation

​Disabling tasks

​Via Django Admin

​Via management command

​Troubleshooting

​Related

cleanup_orphaned_photos

Celery Tasks

What it does

Basic usage

Arguments and options

Default periodic tasks

1. Cleanup incomplete photos (24h)

2. Cleanup all orphaned photos

3. Cleanup old incomplete photos (168h)

Example output

Customizing intervals

When to run

After initial deployment

After updating FootyCollect

In Docker

Verifying tasks

Check configured tasks

Monitor Celery Beat

Task implementation

Disabling tasks

Via Django Admin

Via management command

Troubleshooting

Related