# 6 — Batch & Jobs

This guide covers two related top-level spec fields:

* **`spec.batchEngine`** — override the compute engine used for materialization
* **`spec.cronJob`** — schedule periodic `feast materialize-incremental` (or any command) as a Kubernetes `CronJob`

***

## Batch Engine (`spec.batchEngine`)

By default, Feast runs materialization using the **local** batch engine (in-process Python). For large feature sets you can point the operator at a Spark, Ray, or other supported engine via a Kubernetes ConfigMap.

### ConfigMap format

Create a ConfigMap whose value is a YAML snippet identical to the `batch_engine` section of `feature_store.yaml`. Include the `type:` key and all engine-specific options:

```yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: feast-batch-engine
data:
  config: |
    type: spark
    spark_conf:
      spark.master: k8s://https://kubernetes.default.svc
      spark.kubernetes.namespace: feast
      spark.kubernetes.container.image: ghcr.io/feast-dev/feast-spark:latest
      spark.executor.instances: "2"
      spark.executor.memory: 4g
      spark.driver.memory: 2g
```

Reference the ConfigMap from the CR:

```yaml
apiVersion: feast.dev/v1
kind: FeatureStore
metadata:
  name: sample-spark
spec:
  feastProject: my_project
  batchEngine:
    configMapRef:
      name: feast-batch-engine     # ConfigMap name
    configMapKey: config           # key inside the ConfigMap (default: "config")
```

### Engine types

| `type`             | Notes                                                         |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `local`            | Default; in-process Python, no extra infra                    |
| `spark`            | Apache Spark; requires a Spark operator or standalone cluster |
| `ray`              | Ray cluster; requires a Ray operator                          |
| `bytewax`          | Bytewax streaming engine                                      |
| `snowflake.engine` | Snowflake Snowpark compute                                    |

> For engine-specific YAML options (Spark conf, Ray address, etc.) see the [Feast SDK — Compute Engine](https://github.com/feast-dev/feast/blob/v0.63-branch/docs/how-to-guides/reference/compute-engine/README.md) docs.

***

## Scheduled Materialization (`spec.cronJob`)

The operator can deploy a Kubernetes `CronJob` that runs `feast materialize-incremental` (or any custom command) on a schedule. This is the recommended way to keep your online store fresh without managing an external job scheduler.

### CronJob image resolution

The CronJob container image is resolved through the following priority chain:

1. **`cronJob.containerConfigs.image` in the CR** — per-CronJob override
2. **`RELATED_IMAGE_CRON_JOB` env var on the operator pod** — cluster-wide default set by OLM/platform (default: `quay.io/openshift/origin-cli:4.17`)

```sh
# Override cluster-wide for all CronJobs
kubectl set env deployment/feast-operator-controller-manager \
  RELATED_IMAGE_CRON_JOB=my-registry.example.com/tools/cli:latest \
  -n feast-operator-system
```

### Minimal example — nightly materialization

```yaml
apiVersion: feast.dev/v1
kind: FeatureStore
metadata:
  name: feast-production
spec:
  feastProject: my_project
  cronJob:
    schedule: "0 2 * * *"          # every day at 02:00 UTC
    containerConfigs:
      image: quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.62.0
```

The CronJob runs the default `feast materialize-incremental` command using the same `feature_store.yaml` that the operator generated for this `FeatureStore`.

### Custom command

Override the container command to run any Feast CLI command:

```yaml
cronJob:
  schedule: "*/30 * * * *"
  containerConfigs:
    image: quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.62.0
    commands:
      - feast
      - materialize-incremental
      - "2099-01-01T00:00:00"      # materialize up to a fixed end time
```

Or run a Python script instead:

```yaml
containerConfigs:
  commands:
    - python
    - /app/materialize.py
```

### Time zone

```yaml
cronJob:
  schedule: "0 3 * * *"
  timeZone: "Asia/Kolkata"         # defaults to the kube-controller-manager time zone
```

### Concurrency policy

```yaml
cronJob:
  schedule: "0 * * * *"
  concurrencyPolicy: Forbid        # Allow | Forbid | Replace
  startingDeadlineSeconds: 300     # skip if missed by > 5 minutes
```

### Job history retention

```yaml
cronJob:
  schedule: "0 2 * * *"
  successfulJobsHistoryLimit: 3    # keep last 3 successful runs
  failedJobsHistoryLimit: 5        # keep last 5 failed runs
```

### Suspend a CronJob

To temporarily pause scheduled runs without deleting the `CronJob`:

```yaml
cronJob:
  schedule: "0 2 * * *"
  suspend: true
```

### Resource requests for the job pod

```yaml
cronJob:
  schedule: "0 2 * * *"
  containerConfigs:
    image: quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.62.0
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: "1"
        memory: "2Gi"
      limits:
        cpu: "4"
        memory: "8Gi"
```

### Environment variables and secrets in the job pod

```yaml
cronJob:
  schedule: "0 2 * * *"
  containerConfigs:
    image: quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.62.0
    envFrom:
      - secretRef:
          name: feast-data-stores
    env:
      - name: FEAST_USAGE
        value: "false"
```

### Advanced job spec

```yaml
cronJob:
  schedule: "0 2 * * *"
  jobSpec:
    parallelism: 1
    completions: 1
    activeDeadlineSeconds: 3600    # abort if job takes more than 1 hour
    backoffLimit: 2                # retry up to 2 times on failure
    podTemplateAnnotations:
      prometheus.io/scrape: "false"
  containerConfigs:
    image: quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.62.0
```

### Full `cronJob` field reference

| Field                              | Type                 | Default                         | Description                                |
| ---------------------------------- | -------------------- | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| `schedule`                         | string               | —                               | Cron expression (required)                 |
| `timeZone`                         | string               | kube-controller-manager TZ      | IANA time zone name                        |
| `concurrencyPolicy`                | string               | `Allow`                         | `Allow` / `Forbid` / `Replace`             |
| `suspend`                          | bool                 | `false`                         | Suspend future runs                        |
| `startingDeadlineSeconds`          | int64                | —                               | Abort if start missed by this many seconds |
| `successfulJobsHistoryLimit`       | int32                | —                               | Successful job history to keep             |
| `failedJobsHistoryLimit`           | int32                | —                               | Failed job history to keep                 |
| `annotations`                      | map                  | —                               | CronJob metadata annotations               |
| `jobSpec.parallelism`              | int32                | 1                               | Job pod parallelism                        |
| `jobSpec.completions`              | int32                | 1                               | Required completions                       |
| `jobSpec.activeDeadlineSeconds`    | int64                | —                               | Max job duration                           |
| `jobSpec.backoffLimit`             | int32                | —                               | Retry limit                                |
| `containerConfigs.image`           | string               | operator default                | Feature server image                       |
| `containerConfigs.commands`        | \[]string            | `feast materialize-incremental` | Override container command                 |
| `containerConfigs.resources`       | ResourceRequirements | —                               | CPU/memory requests and limits             |
| `containerConfigs.env` / `envFrom` | —                    | —                               | Environment variables                      |

***

## Combining batchEngine + cronJob

Use both together to run scheduled Spark-based materialization:

```yaml
apiVersion: feast.dev/v1
kind: FeatureStore
metadata:
  name: feast-spark
spec:
  feastProject: my_project
  batchEngine:
    configMapRef:
      name: feast-spark-engine
  cronJob:
    schedule: "0 1 * * *"
    concurrencyPolicy: Forbid
    containerConfigs:
      image: quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.62.0
      resources:
        requests:
          memory: "4Gi"
```

***

## See also

* [API reference — `BatchEngineConfig`](https://github.com/feast-dev/feast/blob/stable/infra/feast-operator/docs/api/markdown/ref.md#batchengineconfig)
* [API reference — `FeastCronJob`](https://github.com/feast-dev/feast/blob/stable/infra/feast-operator/docs/api/markdown/ref.md#feastcronjob)
* [Feast SDK — Compute Engine](https://github.com/feast-dev/feast/blob/v0.63-branch/docs/how-to-guides/reference/compute-engine/README.md)


---

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