@@ -2166,14 +2166,66 @@
 	 (db-exists (common:file-exists? dbname))
 	 (db     (sqlite3:open-database dbname)))
     (sqlite3:set-busy-handler! db (sqlite3:make-busy-timeout 136000))
     (if (not db-exists)
 	(begin
-	  (sqlite3:execute db "PRAGMA synchronous = 0;")
 	  (sqlite3:execute db "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS no_sync_metadat (var TEXT,val TEXT, CONSTRAINT no_sync_metadat_constraint UNIQUE (var));")
 	  (sqlite3:execute db "PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL;")))
+    ;; MOVE THIS TABLE CREATION TO THE (begin above in about six months (it is Sep 2020 right now).
+    (sqlite3:execute db "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS jobs_queue (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, host_type TEXT, cores INTEGER, memory TEXT, vars TEXT, exekey TEXT, cmdline TEXT, state TEXT, event_time INTEGER, last_update INTEGER);")
+    ;; not sure I'll use this next one. I prefer if tests simply append to a file:
+    ;;    last-update-seconds cpuload tmpspace rundirspace
+    (sqlite3:execute db "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS test_extra_data (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, run_id INTEGER, test_id INTEGER, last_seen_running INTEGER);") 
+    (sqlite3:execute db "PRAGMA synchronous = 0;")
     db))
+
+(define (db:no-sync-add-job db-in host-type vars-list exekey cmdline)
+  (sqlite3:execute (db:no-sync-db db-in) "INSERT INTO jobs_queue (host_type,vars,exekey,cmdline,state,event_time,last_update) VALUES (?,?,?,?,?,?,?);"
+		   host-type
+		   (with-output-to-string
+		     (lambda ()
+		       (write vars-list)))
+		   exekey cmdline "waiting" (current-seconds)(current-seconds)))
+
+;; find next job (waiting longest) that matches host-type - future, we'll find jobs that fit if no exact match
+(define (db:no-sync-take-job db-in host-type)
+  (let* ((db   (db:no-sync-db db-in))
+	 (stmt1 "SELECT id,host_type,vars,exekey,cmdline,state,event_time,last_update FROM jobs_queue WHERE host_type=? AND state != 'taken' ORDER BY event_time ASC;")
+	 (stmt1h (sqlite3:prepare db stmt1))
+	 (stmt2  "UPDATE jobs_queue SET state='taken',last_update=? WHERE id=?;")
+	 (stmt2h (sqlite3:prepare db stmt2))
+	 (res    (sqlite3:with-transaction
+		  db
+		  (lambda ()
+		    (let* ((matching-jobs (sqlite3:fold-row
+					   (lambda (res . row) ;; id host-type vars exekey state event-time last-update)
+					     (cons row res))
+					   '()
+					   stmt1h
+					   host-type)))
+		      (if (null? matching-jobs)
+			  #f
+			  (let ((choosen-one  (let loop ((tal matching-jobs)
+							 (res #f)) ;; put bestest one in here
+						(if (null? tal)
+						    res
+						    (let ((curr (car tal))
+							  (rem  (cdr tal)))
+						      curr) ;; here we will compare with res, if better candidate the loop with curr else loop with res
+						    ))))
+			    (if choosen-one ;; we need to mark it as taken
+				(sqlite3:execute stmt2h (current-seconds) (car choosen-one)))
+			    choosen-one)))))))
+    (sqlite3:finalize! stmt1h) ;; it'd be nice to cache these and finalize on exit.
+    (sqlite3:finalize! stmt2h)
+    res))
+
+;; clean out old jobs in queue, i.e. taken and event_time > 24 hrs ago
+;;
+(define (db:no-sync-job-records-clean db)
+  (sqlite3:execute (db:no-sync-db db) "DELETE FROM jobs_queue WHERE state='taken' AND event_time < ?;" (- (current-seconds)(* 24 3600))))
+		 
 
 ;; if we are not a server create a db handle. this is not finalized
 ;; so watch for problems. I'm still not clear if it is needed to manually
 ;; finalize sqlite3 dbs with the sqlite3 egg.
 ;;
@@ -2191,12 +2243,13 @@
   (sqlite3:execute (db:no-sync-db db) "INSERT OR REPLACE INTO no_sync_metadat (var,val) VALUES (?,?);" var val))
 
 (define (db:no-sync-del! db var)
   (sqlite3:execute (db:no-sync-db db) "DELETE FROM no_sync_metadat WHERE var=?;" var))
 
-(define (db:no-sync-get/default db var default)
-  (let ((res default))
+(define (db:no-sync-get/default db-in var default)
+  (let ((db  (db:no-sync-db db-in))
+	(res default))
     (sqlite3:for-each-row
      (lambda (val)
        (set! res val))
      (db:no-sync-db db)
      "SELECT val FROM no_sync_metadat WHERE var=?;"