Removing large numbers of Actions::Katello::Host tasks consuming database resources

Issue

• Satellite 6 is performing poorly
• Slow user interface actions
• Slow operations in general
• Tasks are not being processed in an expected timeframe
• Disk space consumption by Postgres is high (/var/lib/pgsql)

If the Satellite 6 server has more than 10,000 tasks of type Actions::Katello::Host::* immediate removal as well as automatic cleanup is required to return the Satellite to optimal operations.

The majority are comprised of 4 types:

 Actions::Katello::Host::GenerateApplicability
 Actions::Katello::Host::UploadPackageProfile
 Actions::Katello::Host::UploadProfiles  
 Actions::Katello::Host::Update

You can check the count of stored Host tasks via a simple query:

#  echo "select count(label) from foreman_tasks_tasks where label like 'Actions::Katello::Host%';" | sudo -u postgres psql -d foreman
could not change directory to "/root"
 count 
-------
  120346
(1 row)

If this number is above 10,000 you should consider cleaning out your stopped tasks. These types of tasks often comprise over 90%+ of the tasks in Satellite's database if left unchecked. These tasks are small and should not be retained for any length of time as they generally don't hold any relevant data.