Question 1

How do I set up Backburner with a Rails application?

Accepted Answer

Add the gem to your Gemfile, configure beanstalk_url in an initializer, define job classes or use async methods, then start workers via rake tasks (e.g., rake backburner:work) or the CLI. Ensure beanstalkd is installed and running separately.

Question 2

Backburner vs Sidekiq: which is better for Ruby job processing?

Accepted Answer

Backburner excels with beanstalkd's simplicity and built-in features like priorities, while Sidekiq uses Redis and offers a richer ecosystem with plugins and monitoring. Choose Backburner for lightweight, beanstalkd-focused queues; Sidekiq for Redis integration and community tools.

Question 3

How can I retry failed jobs with exponential backoff in Backburner?

Accepted Answer

Configure retry_delay and retry_delay_proc in the settings, e.g., use a lambda for cubic back-off. Set max_job_retries to a positive number, and jobs will automatically retry with increasing delays before being buried.

Question 4

Does Backburner work on Windows servers?

Accepted Answer

Basic workers like Simple and Threading work, but forking-based workers like ThreadsOnFork do not due to Windows' lack of fork support. You'll need to stick to non-forking workers or use a Unix-like environment.

Question 5

What's the best way to monitor Backburner queues and jobs?

Accepted Answer

Use third-party tools like beanstalkd_view for a web interface, or inspect beanstalkd directly via command-line clients. Backburner logs to your configured logger, but lacks built-in advanced monitoring.

Question 6

How do I schedule a job to run at a specific time in Backburner?

Accepted Answer

Use the :delay option when enqueuing, e.g., Backburner.enqueue(JobClass, args, delay: 1.hour) or User.async(delay: 1.hour).method. Backburner handles the scheduling via beanstalkd's delayed execution feature.

Backburner

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