For background jobs, you often need to ensure that only one instance of a particular orchestrator runs at a time. You can ensure this kind of singleton behavior in Durable Functions or the Durable Task SDKs by assigning a specific instance ID to an orchestrator when creating it, and then checking if an instance with that ID is already running before starting a new one.
Important
Currently, the PowerShell Durable Task SDK isn't available.
Singleton example
The following example shows an HTTP-trigger function that creates a singleton background job orchestration. The code ensures that only one instance exists for a specified instance ID.
[Function("HttpStartSingle")]
public static async Task<HttpResponseData> RunSingle(
[HttpTrigger(AuthorizationLevel.Function, "post", Route = "orchestrators/{functionName}/{instanceId}")] HttpRequestData req,
[DurableClient] DurableTaskClient starter,
string functionName,
string instanceId,
FunctionContext executionContext)
{
ILogger logger = executionContext.GetLogger("HttpStartSingle");
// Check if an instance with the specified ID already exists or an existing one stopped running(completed/failed/terminated).
OrchestrationMetadata? existingInstance = await starter.GetInstancesAsync(instanceId);
if (existingInstance == null
|| existingInstance.RuntimeStatus == OrchestrationRuntimeStatus.Completed
|| existingInstance.RuntimeStatus == OrchestrationRuntimeStatus.Failed
|| existingInstance.RuntimeStatus == OrchestrationRuntimeStatus.Terminated)
{
// An instance with the specified ID doesn't exist or an existing one stopped running, create one.
string requestBody = await new StreamReader(req.Body).ReadToEndAsync();
await starter.ScheduleNewOrchestrationInstanceAsync(functionName, requestBody, new StartOrchestrationOptions { InstanceId = instanceId });
logger.LogInformation($"Started orchestration with ID = '{instanceId}'.");
return await starter.CreateCheckStatusResponseAsync(req, instanceId);
}
else
{
// An instance with the specified ID exists or an existing one still running, don't create one.
var response = req.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.Conflict);
await response.WriteStringAsync($"An instance with ID '{instanceId}' already exists.");
return response;
}
}
Note
The previous C# code is for the isolated worker model, which is the recommended model for .NET apps. For more information about the differences between the in-process and isolated worker models, see the Durable Functions versions article.
function.json
{
"bindings": [
{
"authLevel": "function",
"name": "req",
"type": "httpTrigger",
"direction": "in",
"route": "orchestrators/{functionName}/{instanceId}",
"methods": ["post"]
},
{
"name": "starter",
"type": "orchestrationClient",
"direction": "in"
},
{
"name": "$return",
"type": "http",
"direction": "out"
}
]
}
index.js
const df = require("durable-functions");
module.exports = async function(context, req) {
const client = df.getClient(context);
const instanceId = req.params.instanceId;
const functionName = req.params.functionName;
// Check if an instance with the specified ID already exists or an existing one stopped running(completed/failed/terminated).
const existingInstance = await client.getStatus(instanceId);
if (!existingInstance
|| existingInstance.runtimeStatus == "Completed"
|| existingInstance.runtimeStatus == "Failed"
|| existingInstance.runtimeStatus == "Terminated") {
// An instance with the specified ID doesn't exist or an existing one stopped running, create one.
const eventData = req.body;
await client.startNew(functionName, instanceId, eventData);
context.log(`Started orchestration with ID = '${instanceId}'.`);
return client.createCheckStatusResponse(req, instanceId);
} else {
// An instance with the specified ID exists or an existing one still running, don't create one.
return {
status: 409,
body: `An instance with ID '${instanceId}' already exists.`,
};
}
};
function.json
{
"bindings": [
{
"authLevel": "function",
"name": "req",
"type": "httpTrigger",
"direction": "in",
"route": "orchestrators/{functionName}/{instanceId}",
"methods": ["post"]
},
{
"name": "starter",
"type": "orchestrationClient",
"direction": "in"
},
{
"name": "$return",
"type": "http",
"direction": "out"
}
]
}
init.py
import logging
import azure.functions as func
import azure.durable_functions as df
async def main(req: func.HttpRequest, starter: str) -> func.HttpResponse:
client = df.DurableOrchestrationClient(starter)
instance_id = req.route_params['instanceId']
function_name = req.route_params['functionName']
existing_instance = await client.get_status(instance_id)
if existing_instance.runtime_status in [df.OrchestrationRuntimeStatus.Completed, df.OrchestrationRuntimeStatus.Failed, df.OrchestrationRuntimeStatus.Terminated, None]:
event_data = req.get_body()
instance_id = await client.start_new(function_name, instance_id, event_data)
logging.info(f"Started orchestration with ID = '{instance_id}'.")
return client.create_check_status_response(req, instance_id)
else:
return {
'status': 409,
'body': f"An instance with ID '${existing_instance.instance_id}' already exists"
}
using namespace System.Net
param($Request, $TriggerMetadata)
$FunctionName = $Request.Params.FunctionName
$InstanceId = $Request.Params.InstanceId
# Check if an instance with the specified ID already exists
$existingInstance = Get-DurableStatus -InstanceId $InstanceId
if (-not $existingInstance -or
$existingInstance.RuntimeStatus -eq "Completed" -or
$existingInstance.RuntimeStatus -eq "Failed" -or
$existingInstance.RuntimeStatus -eq "Terminated") {
# An instance with the specified ID doesn't exist or stopped running, create one
$InstanceId = Start-DurableOrchestration -FunctionName $FunctionName -InstanceId $InstanceId -Input $Request.Body
Write-Host "Started orchestration with ID = '$InstanceId'."
$Response = New-DurableOrchestrationCheckStatusResponse -Request $Request -InstanceId $InstanceId
Push-OutputBinding -Name Response -Value $Response
}
else {
# An instance with the specified ID exists or still running
Push-OutputBinding -Name Response -Value ([HttpResponseContext]@{
StatusCode = [HttpStatusCode]::Conflict
Body = "An instance with ID '$InstanceId' already exists."
})
}
@FunctionName("HttpStartSingle")
public HttpResponseMessage runSingle(
@HttpTrigger(name = "req") HttpRequestMessage<?> req,
@DurableClientInput(name = "durableContext") DurableClientContext durableContext) {
String instanceID = "StaticID";
DurableTaskClient client = durableContext.getClient();
// Check to see if an instance with this ID is already running
OrchestrationMetadata metadata = client.getInstanceMetadata(instanceID, false);
if (metadata.isRunning()) {
return req.createResponseBuilder(HttpStatus.CONFLICT)
.body("An instance with ID '" + instanceID + "' already exists.")
.build();
}
// No such instance exists - create a new one. De-dupe is handled automatically
// in the storage layer if another function tries to also use this instance ID.
client.scheduleNewOrchestrationInstance("MyOrchestration", null, instanceID);
return durableContext.createCheckStatusResponse(req, instanceID);
}
The following example shows how to create a singleton orchestration using the Durable Task SDKs. The code ensures that only one instance exists for a specified instance ID.
using Microsoft.DurableTask.Client;
// Check if an instance with the specified ID already exists
string instanceId = "singleton-job";
OrchestrationMetadata? existingInstance = await client.GetInstanceAsync(instanceId, getInputsAndOutputs: false);
if (existingInstance == null ||
existingInstance.RuntimeStatus == OrchestrationRuntimeStatus.Completed ||
existingInstance.RuntimeStatus == OrchestrationRuntimeStatus.Failed ||
existingInstance.RuntimeStatus == OrchestrationRuntimeStatus.Terminated)
{
// An instance with the specified ID doesn't exist or an existing one stopped running, create one.
await client.ScheduleNewOrchestrationInstanceAsync("MyOrchestration", input, new StartOrchestrationOptions(instanceId));
Console.WriteLine($"Started orchestration with ID = '{instanceId}'.");
}
else
{
// An instance with the specified ID exists or an existing one still running.
Console.WriteLine($"An instance with ID '{instanceId}' already exists.");
}
from durabletask.azuremanaged.client import DurableTaskSchedulerClient
instance_id = "singleton-job"
# Check if an instance with the specified ID already exists
existing_instance = client.get_orchestration_state(instance_id)
if (existing_instance is None or
existing_instance.runtime_status in ['COMPLETED', 'FAILED', 'TERMINATED']):
# An instance with the specified ID doesn't exist or an existing one stopped running, create one.
client.schedule_new_orchestration(my_orchestration, input=input_data, instance_id=instance_id)
print(f"Started orchestration with ID = '{instance_id}'.")
else:
# An instance with the specified ID exists or an existing one still running.
print(f"An instance with ID '{instance_id}' already exists.")
import com.microsoft.durabletask.DurableTaskClient;
import com.microsoft.durabletask.OrchestrationMetadata;
String instanceId = "singleton-job";
// Check to see if an instance with this ID is already running
OrchestrationMetadata existingInstance = client.getInstanceMetadata(instanceId, false);
if (existingInstance == null || !existingInstance.isRunning()) {
// An instance doesn't exist or finished - create one
client.scheduleNewOrchestrationInstance("MyOrchestration", input, instanceId);
System.out.println("Started orchestration with ID = '" + instanceId + "'.");
} else {
// An instance with the specified ID exists and is still running
System.out.println("An instance with ID '" + instanceId + "' already exists.");
}
import { createAzureManagedClient } from "@microsoft/durabletask-js-azuremanaged";
import { OrchestrationStatus } from "@microsoft/durabletask-js";
const client = createAzureManagedClient(connectionString);
const instanceId = "singleton-job";
// Check if an instance with the specified ID already exists
const existingInstance = await client.getOrchestrationState(instanceId, false);
if (!existingInstance ||
existingInstance.runtimeStatus === OrchestrationStatus.COMPLETED ||
existingInstance.runtimeStatus === OrchestrationStatus.FAILED ||
existingInstance.runtimeStatus === OrchestrationStatus.TERMINATED) {
// An instance with the specified ID doesn't exist or an existing one stopped running, create one.
await client.scheduleNewOrchestration("MyOrchestration", input, instanceId);
console.log(`Started orchestration with ID = '${instanceId}'.`);
} else {
// An instance with the specified ID exists or an existing one still running.
console.log(`An instance with ID '${instanceId}' already exists.`);
}
By default, instance IDs are randomly generated GUIDs. In the previous example, however, a specific instance ID is used. The code then fetches the orchestration instance metadata to check if an instance having the specified ID is already running. If no such instance is running, a new instance is created with that ID.
Note
There is a potential race condition in this sample. If two instances execute concurrently, both calls might report success, but only one orchestration instance will actually start. Depending on your requirements, this may have undesirable side effects.
The implementation details of the orchestrator function don't actually matter. It could be a regular orchestrator function that starts and completes, or it could be one that runs forever (that is, an Eternal Orchestration). The important point is that there is only ever one instance running at a time.
Next steps