Working with jobs

A job does the work of transcoding a media file. When you create a job, you specify the information that AWS Elemental MediaConvert requires to perform the transcoding. For example, you specify which files to transcode, what to name the transcoded files and where to save them, which advanced features to apply, and so on.

Topics

• Creating a job
• Duplicating a job
• Exporting and importing jobs
• Viewing your job history
• Searching for jobs
• Canceling a job
• Configuring jobs
• Example job
• Input settings
• Output settings

Creating a job

To create a job, you specify your input settings, output settings, and any job-wide settings. For a detailed step-by-step procedure, see Configuring jobs in MediaConvert. The following procedure is a high level overview of how to create a job using the AWS Management Console.

When you create a job, you submit it to a queue for processing. Processing begins automatically from your queues as resources allow. For information about resource allocation, see Multiple queues and performance testing.

To create a job using the MediaConvert console

1. Open the Jobs page in the MediaConvert console.

2. Choose Create job.

3. On the Create job page, provide transcode instructions and job settings. For more information, see Configuring jobs in MediaConvert.

   Make sure that you select the same Region for your job and your file storage.

4. Choose Create.

You can also create a job using a Template, Preset, duplicated job, or job settings JSON.

Duplicating a job

To create a job that is similar to one that you ran before, you can duplicate a job from your job history. You can also modify any settings if you want to change them.

To create a job based on a recent job using the MediaConvert console

1. Open the Jobs page in the MediaConvert console.

2. Choose the Job ID of the job that you want to duplicate.

3. Choose Duplicate.

4. Optionally modify any job settings.

   Settings that are likely to change from job to job include the following: input file location, output destination locations, and output name modifiers. If you run transcoding jobs for your customers who have different AWS accounts from your account, you also must change the IAM role under Job settings.

5. Choose Create at the bottom of the page.

Exporting and importing jobs

Completed MediaConvert jobs remain on the Jobs page for three months. If you want to be able to run a new job based on a completed job more than three months after you run it, export the job after it is complete and save it. Depending on how many jobs that you run, exporting and then importing a job can be simpler than finding a particular job in your list and duplicating it.

To export a job using the MediaConvert console

1. Open the Jobs page in the MediaConvert console.

2. Choose the Job ID of the job that you want to export.

3. On the Job summary page, choose the View JSON button.

4. Choose Copy to copy the JSON to your clipboard.

5. Paste into your JSON editor and save.

To import a job using the MediaConvert console

1. Open the Jobs page in the MediaConvert console.

2. Choose Import job.

Viewing your job history

You can view the recent history of MediaConvert jobs that you created with your AWS account in a given AWS Region. After three months, the service automatically deletes the record of a job.

The Jobs page shows jobs that are successfully completed, are canceled, are being processed, are waiting in the queue, and that ended in error. You can filter the job history list by the status and by the queue that the jobs were sent to. You can also choose a specific job from the list to view the job's settings.

Console

To view your jobs using the MediaConvert console

1. Open the Jobs page in the MediaConvert console.

2. Optionally, filter the list by status and queue by choosing from the dropdown lists.

3. To see details for a job, choose a Job ID to view its Job summary page.

CLI

The following list-jobs example lists up to twenty of your most recently created jobs.

aws mediaconvert list-jobs

For more information about how to cancel a job using the AWS CLI, see the AWS CLI command reference.

Searching for jobs

You can search recent jobs that you created with your AWS account in a given AWS Region according to input file name. After three months, the service automatically deletes the record of a job.

Console

To search your jobs by using the MediaConvert console:

1. Open the Search page in the MediaConvert console.

2. Optionally, filter the list by queue, job status, or input file name.

3. To see details for a job, choose a Job ID to view its Job summary page.

CLI

The following search-jobs example searches for a job with an input file name my-video.mp4 in the Default queue with a status of COMPLETE. Note that status can be SUBMITTED, PROGRESSING, COMPLETE, CANCELED, or ERROR. Leave status or queue out to search all job statuses or queues:

aws mediaconvert search-jobs \
	--input-file my-video.mp4 \
	--status COMPLETE \
	--queue Default

Optionally, you can also search for any part of the input file name string:

aws mediaconvert search-jobs --input-file s3://amzn-s3-demo-bucket/my-video.mp4
aws mediaconvert search-jobs --input-file my-video

The AWS CLI will return a JSON similar to the following example:

{
    "jobs": [
        {
            "arn": "arn:aws:mediaconvert:us-west-2:111122223333:jobs/1671543211799-abchg1",
            "id": "1671543211799-abchg1",
            "createdAt": 1715666761,
            "queue": "arn:aws:mediaconvert:us-west-2:111122223333:queues/Default",
            "status": "COMPLETE",
            "timing": {
                "submitTime": 1715666861,
                "startTime": 1715666863,
                "finishTime": 1715666900
            },
            "accelerationSettings": {
                "mode": "DISABLED"
            },
            "accelerationStatus": "NOT_APPLICABLE",
            "messages": {
                "info": [],
                "warning": []
            },
            "warnings": []
        }
    ]
}

For more information about how to search jobs by using the AWS CLI, see the AWS CLI command reference.

Canceling a job

The following procedure explains how to cancel a job using the AWS Elemental MediaConvert console.

Console

To cancel a job using the MediaConvert console

1. Open the Jobs page in the MediaConvert console.

2. Select the Job ID of the job that you want to cancel by choosing the option ( ) next to it.

3. Choose Cancel job.

CLI

The following cancel-job example cancels a job.

aws mediaconvert cancel-job \
	--id 1234567890123-efg456 

For more information about how to cancel a job using the AWS CLI, see the AWS CLI command reference.