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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: How to execute complex startup commands using Serverless Jobs |
| 3 | +description: Learn how to run complex commands at job run start and scripts using Scaleway Serverless Jobs and Secrets Manager. |
| 4 | +tags: run execute start serverless job scaleway script startup secret bash complex command pipe |
| 5 | +dates: |
| 6 | + validation: 2025-08-19 |
| 7 | + posted: 2025-08-19 |
| 8 | +--- |
| 9 | +import Requirements from '@macros/iam/requirements.mdx' |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +Scaleway Serverless Jobs allows you to execute specific startup commands when running a job. Due to technical specifications, complex commands (e.g. piped commands, `xargs` commands) may fail occasionally, preventing jobs from running successfully. |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +You can bypass this limitation by passing complex commands and scripts to a Serverless Job via a [secret reference](/serverless-jobs/concepts/#secrets-reference). You can then inject this secret as a file in your job, and call it at startup to execute the commands it contains. |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +<Requirements /> |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +- A Scaleway account logged into the [console](https://console.scaleway.com) |
| 18 | +- [Owner](/iam/concepts/#owner) status or [IAM permissions](/iam/concepts/#permission) allowing you to perform actions in the intended Organization |
| 19 | +- Created a [Serverless Job](/serverless-jobs/how-to/create-job/) |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +## How to create a secret containing your command |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +1. Click **Secret Manager** in the **Security & Identity** section of the [Scaleway console](https://console.scaleway.com/) side menu. |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +2. In the **Region** drop-down, select the [region](/secret-manager/concepts/#region) in which you want to store your secret. Secrets cannot be moved from one region to another after creation. |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +3. Click **+ Create secret**. |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +4. Select **Import secret**, choose the **Opaque** secret type, then drag and drop your file to the dedicated area. The maximum file size for your secret is 64 KiB. |
| 30 | + <Message type="note"> |
| 31 | + We recommend using a shell script (`.sh`) file containing your command. Refer to the [section below](#complex-commands-examples) for example commands. |
| 32 | + </Message> |
| 33 | + |
| 34 | +5. Choose the **Scaleway-managed encryption key**, as it requires no configuration on your side. |
| 35 | + |
| 36 | +6. Choose a [path](/secret-manager/concepts/#path) for your secret. |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +7. Enter a name for your secret, and, optionally, add a description and tags. |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +8. Click **Create secret** to confirm. |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +Your file can now be passed to your Serverless Job as a secret reference. |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +## Create a Serverless Job referencing your command as a secret |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +1. Click **Jobs** in the **Serverless** section of the side menu. The jobs page displays. |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +2. Click **Create job**. The job creation wizard displays. |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | +3. Select the **external** container registry. |
| 51 | + |
| 52 | +4. Enter the following image URL: |
| 53 | + ```sh |
| 54 | + scaleway/cli:latest |
| 55 | + ``` |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +5. Enter a name, select the desired region, and choose the smallest **resources** available. |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +6. From the **Data** tab, add your command file as a [secrets reference](/serverless-functions/concepts/#secrets). Refer to the [dedicated documentation](/serverless-jobs/how-to/reference-secret-in-job/) on secrets for more information. |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | +7. From the **Execution** tab, add the following startup command to call your file: |
| 62 | + ```sh |
| 63 | + bash /complex_command.sh start |
| 64 | + ``` |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +8. Click **Create job** to finish. |
| 67 | + |
| 68 | +You job is now ready to run. |
| 69 | + |
| 70 | +## Complex commands examples |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | +Below are examples of commands that must be passed via a secret referenced as a file in Serverless Jobs. You can find more complex command examples on the [Scaleway CLI repository](/https://github.com/scaleway/scaleway-cli/blob/master/docs/cookbook.md). |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | +**Retrieve a specific field from the output using jq** |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +```bash |
| 77 | +## Retrieve all available instance type names |
| 78 | + |
| 79 | +# Using jq |
| 80 | +scw -o json instance server-type list | jq -r '.[].name' |
| 81 | +# Using CLI templates |
| 82 | +scw instance server-type list -o template="{{ .Name }}" |
| 83 | +``` |
| 84 | + |
| 85 | +**Filter command output using jq** |
| 86 | + |
| 87 | +```bash |
| 88 | +# Retrieve all available instance type with GPUs |
| 89 | +scw -o json instance server-type list | jq '.[] | select (.gpu > 0)' |
| 90 | +``` |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +**Parallelize actions using xargs** |
| 93 | + |
| 94 | +```bash |
| 95 | +## Reboot all listed servers at the same time, 8 max concurrent actions |
| 96 | + |
| 97 | +# Using jq |
| 98 | +scw -o json instance server list | jq -r '.[].id' | xargs -L1 -P8 scw instance server reboot |
| 99 | +# Using CLI templates |
| 100 | +scw instance server list -o template="{{ .ID }}" | xargs -L1 -P8 scw instance server reboot |
| 101 | +``` |
| 102 | + |
| 103 | +**Create arguments for a CLI command and use it in xargs** |
| 104 | + |
| 105 | +```bash |
| 106 | +## List private-nics of all listed servers |
| 107 | + |
| 108 | +# Using jq |
| 109 | +scw -o json instance server list | jq -r '.[] | "server-id=\(.id)"' | xargs -L1 scw instance private-nic list |
| 110 | +# Using CLI templates |
| 111 | +scw instance server list -o template="server-id={{ .ID }}" | xargs -L1 scw instance private-nic list |
| 112 | +``` |
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