Crontab problem

T

tinusb

Hi all!

I've got a serious issue.

I've got a FreeBSD installation, but for some reason, the cron jobs does not run.

---
Crontab:

Code: 
server# crontab -l
08 15 * * * /usr/home/sunbirdtours/scripts/startmaintenance.sh
server#
---

---
dmesg:

Code: 
FreeBSD 7.2-RELEASE #0: Fri May  1 08:49:13 UTC 2009
    [email]root@walker.cse.buffalo.edu[/email]:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC
---

---
startmaintenance.sh:

Code: 
server# ll /usr/home/sunbirdtours/scripts/startmaintenance.sh
-rwxrwxrwx  1 root  sunbirdtours  4637 Nov 26 07:09 /usr/home/sunbirdtours/scripts/startmaintenance.sh
server#
---


As you can see, it's definately not a rights issue. I did destroy the crontab and recreated it, but still to no avail. The cron job does not even indicate when running 'ps -aux | grep cron'

Any, and all help will be appreciated!

Thank you
Tinus :)
 
3:08 PM is a rather precise, but strange time to run a scheduled job..
 
Hi all! LOL yeah saw the problem. Anyway, did restart cron with '/etc/rc.d/cron restart', and this was the output:

----
Code: 
server# ps -aux | grep cron
root      54040  0.0  0.0  3212  1044  ??  Ss    8:59AM   0:00.00 /usr/sbin/cron -s
root      63592  0.0  0.0  3212  1156  ??  I     9:02AM   0:00.00 cron: running job (cron)
root      76601  0.0  0.0  1660   884  p0  RL+   9:04AM   0:00.00 grep cron
server# ps -aux | grep cron
root      54040  0.0  0.0  3212  1044  ??  Ss    8:59AM   0:00.00 /usr/sbin/cron -s
root      78331  0.0  0.0  3336   968  p0  R+    9:04AM   0:00.00 grep cron
server# date
Wed Dec 30 09:04:36 WAST 2009
---

I did change the schedule to '02 09'. The total time for the maintenance.sh script should be in the region of about 20 minutes, as it is a script that scans 3 directories for virusses, etc. etc. etc. --- but as you can see, it 'lasted' less than 3 minutes, and none of the emails it's supposed to send, was sent out.

I did chown the script file to 'root:wheel', and even that didn't help.

If I run the script manually, everything works 100%.

This is the WEIRDEST problem ever!

Thank you again for all the help all! :)
 
Try using full paths for all commands in that script. Cron has a very limited path, and when a script runs from the command-line, but not from cron, insufficient path settings are almost always to blame.

You can also extend cron's path by putting this as the first line in the crontab:

Code: 
PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin

This is usually sufficient to find executables that were installed by ports or packages as well.
 
I too am having difficulty getting my crontab to run

Code: 
[chris@pcbsd64] ~> crontab fetch
[chris@pcbsd64] ~> crontab -l
PATH=/usr/local/bin
*/1 *   *   *   * /usr/local/bin/fetchmail[chris@pcbsd64] ~> /etc/rc.d/cron start
eval: cannot open /var/run/cron.pid: Permission denied
Starting cron.
cron: can't open or create /var/run/cron.pid: Permission denied
/etc/rc.d/cron: WARNING: failed to start cron
[chris@pcbsd64] ~> sudo /etc/rc.d/cron start
cron already running? (pid=1967).
[chris@pcbsd64] ~>

Is this a permission problem? I couldn't find anything in the handbook about configuring cron.pid permissions.
 
A. cron is enabled by default. It's already running. You have to be root to start or restart it.
B. Make sure your files have a linefeed after the final line. Many things will ignore that line otherwise.
C. You're responding to a year-old thread. Starting a new one with a more specific title might get better responses.
 
Thanks wblock. If your advice doesn't work, I will start a new thread. In the mean time this works for me in lieu of my crontab file:
Code: 
#!/bin/sh
while :
do
sleep 60 && /usr/local/bin/fetchmail
done
I saved this script and run it as part of my /.config/openbox/autostart.sh

I think I will start a new thread anyway so your advice can benefit current viewers.
 
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