Relax requirement for Jobs to reference a specific object

netbox/core/migrations/0012_job_object_type_optional.py

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import django.db.models.deletion
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('contenttypes', '0002_remove_content_type_name'),
+        ('core', '0011_move_objectchange'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='job',
+            name='object_type',
+            field=models.ForeignKey(
+                blank=True,
+                null=True,
+                on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.CASCADE,
+                related_name='jobs',
+                to='contenttypes.contenttype'
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]

netbox/core/models/jobs.py

@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ class Job(models.Model):
         to='contenttypes.ContentType',
         related_name='jobs',
         on_delete=models.CASCADE,
+        blank=True,
+        null=True
     )
     object_id = models.PositiveBigIntegerField(
         blank=True,
@@ -197,13 +199,13 @@ class Job(models.Model):
         job_end.send(self)
 
     @classmethod
-    def enqueue(cls, func, instance, name='', user=None, schedule_at=None, interval=None, run_now=False, **kwargs):
+    def enqueue(cls, func, instance=None, name='', user=None, schedule_at=None, interval=None, run_now=False, **kwargs):
         """
         Create a Job instance and enqueue a job using the given callable
 
         Args:
             func: The callable object to be enqueued for execution
-            instance: The NetBox object to which this job pertains
+            instance: The NetBox object to which this job pertains (optional)
             name: Name for the job (optional)
             user: The user responsible for running the job
             schedule_at: Schedule the job to be executed at the passed date and time
@@ -211,13 +213,17 @@ class Job(models.Model):
             run_now: Run the job immediately without scheduling it in the background. Should be used for interactive
                 management commands only.
         """
-        object_type = ObjectType.objects.get_for_model(instance, for_concrete_model=False)
+        if instance:
+            object_type = ObjectType.objects.get_for_model(instance, for_concrete_model=False)
+            object_id = instance.pk
+        else:
+            object_type = object_id = None
         rq_queue_name = get_queue_for_model(object_type.model)
         queue = django_rq.get_queue(rq_queue_name)
         status = JobStatusChoices.STATUS_SCHEDULED if schedule_at else JobStatusChoices.STATUS_PENDING
         job = Job.objects.create(
             object_type=object_type,
-            object_id=instance.pk,
+            object_id=object_id,
             name=name,
             status=status,
             scheduled=schedule_at,

netbox/utilities/jobs.py

@@ -161,30 +161,11 @@ class SystemJob(ScheduledJob):
     for system background tasks.
 
     The main use case for this method is to schedule jobs programmatically instead of using user events, e.g. to start
-    jobs when the plugin is loaded in NetBox. For this purpose, the `setup()` method can be used to setup a new schedule
-    outside of the request-response cycle. It will register the new schedule right after all plugins are loaded and the
-    database is connected. Then `schedule()` will take care of scheduling a single job at a time.
+    jobs when the plugin is loaded in NetBox. For this purpose, the `setup()` method can be used to set up a new
+    schedule outside the request-response cycle. It will register the new schedule right after all plugins are loaded
+    and the database is connected. Then `schedule()` will take care of scheduling a single job at a time.
     """
 
-    @classmethod
-    def enqueue(cls, *args, **kwargs):
-        kwargs.pop('instance', None)
-        return super().enqueue(instance=Job(), *args, **kwargs)
-
-    @classmethod
-    def schedule(cls, *args, **kwargs):
-        kwargs.pop('instance', None)
-        return super().schedule(instance=Job(), *args, **kwargs)
-
-    @classmethod
-    def handle(cls, job, *args, **kwargs):
-        # A job requires a related object to be handled, or internal methods will fail. To avoid adding an extra model
-        # for this, the existing job object is used as a reference. This is not ideal, but it works for this purpose.
-        job.object = job
-        job.object_id = None  # Hide changes from UI
-
-        super().handle(job, *args, **kwargs)
-
     @classmethod
     def setup(cls, *args, **kwargs):
         """