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Werk #22105: job: don't crash on jobs with a missing start time

Component Checks & agents
Title job: don't crash on jobs with a missing start time
Date Aug 10, 2026
Level Trivial Change
Class Bug Fix
Compatibility Compatible - no manual interaction needed
Checkmk versions & editions
3.0.0b1
Not yet released
Checkmk Community, Checkmk Pro, Checkmk Ultimate, Checkmk Cloud, Checkmk Ultimate MT
2.5.0p12
Not yet released
Checkmk Community, Checkmk Pro, Checkmk Ultimate, Checkmk Cloud, Checkmk Ultimate MT
2.4.0p36
Not yet released
Checkmk Community, Checkmk Pro, Checkmk Ultimate, Checkmk Cloud, Checkmk Ultimate MT

The Job ... services could fail with

check failed - please submit a crash report! ... KeyError: 'start_time'

if the agent reported a job without its start timestamp.

The mk-job plugin shipped with Checkmk 2.4.0 and older determines the start timestamp using perl, and writes an empty one if perl is not installed - which is the case on a minimal RHEL 8/9 installation, for example. Checkmk 2.5.0 ships an mk-job that falls back to date, but hosts running an older agent keep sending such job data.

Affected services now report Got incomplete information for this job, just like job data that is incomplete in other ways. Jobs that are currently running are unaffected and still report their start time. Updating the agent - or installing perl on the monitored host - brings the start time back.

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