Scan schedule settings as specified UK local time (GMT and BST).

Scheduled Start Date

Optional: if no scheduled start date is specified then the scan will only run when started manually.

This setting determines when a new instance of the scan will begin.

Repeat

Optional: Select a frequency at which to repeat the scan.

If you configure this option you must also add a Scheduled Start Date.

It is advisable to run a one-off scan as a test before scheduling a repeat scan.  This will give you an idea how long the scan usually takes to complete, which is a factor to consider when scheduling. Some web application scans take several days to complete.

Scanning Window

Optional: if no scan window is specified, the scan will run continuously until it completes.

The scanning window dictates hours of the during which the scan is permitted to run.  Outside of those hours, the scan is automatically paused.  For example, if we need a scan to be active only out of business hours, we can set the following Scanning Window:

The scan will be paused automatically at 6:00am and resume at 9:00pm on weekdays.

If we need the scan to follow a different schedule during weekends, we can add the second schedule:

This schedule will resume at 6:30am and continue until 6am the following morning, meaning it will be paused for only half an hour on Saturdays and Sundays.

How Scan Schedules and Scanning Windows Interact

While the scan schedule and scan window both affect the times during which your scans are active, they operate in quite different, and in a sense separate ways.

The scan scheduler determines when a new scan instance is to be created.  It does not affect existing scan instances (if it detects the presence of an existing scan instance, it does not start another one).  It does not determine whether the current scan instance should be running or paused.

The scan window only determines whether the current scan instance should be paused or running.  The scan window never creates a new scan instance - if there is no current scan instance, then the scan window has no effect.

If the scan schedule dictates that a scan should be started, but the scan window is closed, then a scan instance will be created (by the schedule), and immediately paused (by the scan window).  The scan will resume (un-pause) once the scan window opens.

If a current scan instance exists (ie it has started but not yet completed), even if it is paused, when the Next Scan Time is reached, then the scheduler will update the Next Scan Time (setting it forwards by one increment of the scanning interval), but will not create a new scan instance.