Good day.


I can not set up cron. This is what I have as I tested it (I tried for daily only for now):

At 3:40 I put into /etc/crontab:
50 3 * * * root test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || (cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily )

in /etc/cron.daily I put file A with single line:
date > /tmp/cron-ran

At 3:50 I have checked /tmp looking for A file - but it is not.

As I do understand, the report of the run jobs should be put to /var/spool/cron or in /var/spool/cron/crontabs dir. (?), but it is empty.

So, what is wrong w/ my set up?


Thanks for Your time.

PS Please, reply to the list.


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On Friday 29 January 2010 09:02:21 Sthu Deus wrote:
> I can not set up cron. This is what I have as I tested it (I tried for
> daily only for now):
>
> At 3:40 I put into /etc/crontab:
> 50 3 * * * root test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || (cd / && run-parts
> --report /etc/cron.daily )
>
> in /etc/cron.daily I put file A with single line:
> date > /tmp/cron-ran
>
> At 3:50 I have checked /tmp looking for A file - but it is not.

On many Debian systems cron jobs are run at GMT time.
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bss@iguanasuicide.net ((_/)o o(\_))
ICQ: 514984 YM/AIM: DaTwinkDaddy `-'(. .)`-'
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On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 4:02 PM, Sthu Deus <sthu.deus@gmail.com> wrote:
> Good day.
>
>
> I can not set up cron. This is what I have as I tested it (I tried for daily only for now):
>
> At 3:40 I put into /etc/crontab:
> 50 3 * * * * * * *root *test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || (cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily )
>
> in /etc/cron.daily I put file A with single line:
> date > /tmp/cron-ran
>
> At 3:50 I have checked /tmp looking for A file - but it is not.
>
> As I do understand, the report of the run jobs should be put to /var/spool/cron or in /var/spool/cron/crontabs dir. (?), but it is empty.
>
> So, what is wrong w/ my set up?
Maybe cron wants to tell you something with a email, did you check
/var/mail/mail ?

It depends on how you have configure the mail system.

cron.daily will run the next day in the morning

Regards,


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On Friday 29 January 2010 11:31:00 Javier Barroso wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 4:02 PM, Sthu Deus <sthu.deus@gmail.com> wrote:
> > As I do understand, the report of the run jobs should be put to
> > /var/spool/cron or in /var/spool/cron/crontabs dir. (?), but it is empty.
>
> Maybe cron wants to tell you something with a email, did you check
> /var/mail/mail ?

Actually, yes. I missed this part in the original email. If a cronjob
generates any output it will (normally) be mailed to the owner of the crontab.
For jobs under /etc/cron.daily, this is root.

Assuming you've made no changes to you mail system from a stock Debian install
root's mail will be in /var/mail/root in mbox format. I usually modify
/etc/aliases to include something like "root: $my_user" and configure exim to
deliver to ~$user/Maildir. If I'm comfortable enough with the system to allow
it to send email to remote SMTP servers, I'll add a ~$my_user/.forward file
that points to my primary email address.
--
Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. ,= ,-_-. =.
bss@iguanasuicide.net ((_/)o o(\_))
ICQ: 514984 YM/AIM: DaTwinkDaddy `-'(. .)`-'
http://iguanasuicide.net/ \_/

Thank You for Your time and answer, Boyd:

>Actually, yes. I missed this part in the original email. If a cronjob
>generates any output it will (normally) be mailed to the owner of the crontab.
>For jobs under /etc/cron.daily, this is root.

Should cron not to store somewhere reports of the jobs it run in anyway (regardless mail)?


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On Tuesday 02 February 2010 11:51:35 Sthu Deus wrote:
> Thank You for Your time and answer, Boyd:
> >Actually, yes. I missed this part in the original email. If a cronjob
> >generates any output it will (normally) be mailed to the owner of the
> > crontab. For jobs under /etc/cron.daily, this is root.
>
> Should cron not to store somewhere reports of the jobs it run in anyway
> (regardless mail)?

AFAIK, it does not. Being unable to deliver local mail (as cron tries to do)
was unheard of on the systems cron was originally developed for.

The fact that some cronjob ran (but not it's success or output) might be found
in /var/log/syslog or /var/log/auth.log.
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http://iguanasuicide.net/ \_/

Thank You for Your time and answer, Boyd:

>On many Debian systems cron jobs are run at GMT time.

What is Your local time?

How do You get reports of works run?


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On Thursday 04 February 2010 23:47:59 Sthu Deus wrote:
> Thank You for Your time and answer, Boyd:
> >On many Debian systems cron jobs are run at GMT time.
>
> What is Your local time?

America/Chicago

> How do You get reports of works run?

The logcheck cron job explicitly mails the logcheck user. I have an alias
"logcheck: bss".

The apt cron job only generates output when there are issues. It runs as
root. I have an alias "root: bss".

My daily job to check for upgradable packages runs as my user. It only
generates output when there are packages that could be upgraded.

In my home directory on each server, I have a .forward file with the contents
"bss@iguanasuicide.net".

Each server knows how to send mail via (E)SMTP, although most either do not
listen on any interface besides lo OR that port firewalled (most ports are
firewalled).

So, I the results of all the cron jobs I care about delivered to my primary
private email address. Once there, some get filtered by my sieve scripts.
Logcheck has its own folder, for example.
--
Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. ,= ,-_-. =.
bss@iguanasuicide.net ((_/)o o(\_))
ICQ: 514984 YM/AIM: DaTwinkDaddy `-'(. .)`-'
http://iguanasuicide.net/ \_/