Sponsored Content
Full Discussion: Cron + Script = No Output?
Top Forums UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers Cron + Script = No Output? Post 59258 by jmf77 on Tuesday 14th of December 2004 11:12:00 PM
Old 12-15-2004
Cron + Script = No Output?

I've got an *extremely* simple script I want to run every minute:

Code:
#!/bin/sh
ping -c 1 192.168.1.20 > ~/onlinestatus.txt

So, the script is called "status", it's executable, and in the correct path, etc. In a terminal window (I'm using Mac OS X), I can type status, and it will create onlinestatus.txt with the ping output in it. Everything seems to be working fine.

HOWEVER, when I put the command in my crontab as

* * * * * status

It doesn't work. Or, to be more precise, it creates an *empty* onlinestatus.txt file. I can use Cronnix (a GUI crontab editor) to force the command to run. When I do that, onlinestatus.txt *does* contain the ping output; it seems like it's only when cron runs it at the scheduled interval that the text file comes out empty.

I'm *thoroughly* confused. Smilie If it didn't work *at all*, I could deal with it, but this behavior doesn't seem to make any sense. Any suggestions?
 

10 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. Solaris

cron output = 0 bytes

I have a cron job set to run a script everyday. If I run the script out side of cron it runs correctly. If cron runs the script is produces a 0 byte file and it puts the output in the / directory. The script is set to put the output in a specific directory. Any help would be appreciated. (8 Replies)
Discussion started by: mbattreall
8 Replies

2. Shell Programming and Scripting

Script that Redirect SSH output via cron

Hi, I have a script that's being called via a crontab which is a wrapper script that creates a log for the script that gets executed. Within the script that gets executed, it also run's subscripts. I've been able to get everything to work .. but the issue is one of the subscript that goes out... (4 Replies)
Discussion started by: primp
4 Replies

3. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

cron output error

I am attempting to run a cron job, however, I receive this cron output error: Error: of parameter : xxxxx does not make a valid output file. What causes this? (4 Replies)
Discussion started by: AM1234
4 Replies

4. Shell Programming and Scripting

Script not running from cron it gives blank output

Hi, I have ascript which drops a mail with the jobs status. here is the script: #!/bin/ksh mypath=/home/gaddamja flashlogpath=/sbcimp/dyn/data/flash/log cd $mypath v1=`ls -lrt | grep -i checkFilesForAmber_EUR1. |tail -1 | awk '{print $8}'` v2=`cat $v1` cd $flashlogpath ... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: jagadish_gaddam
1 Replies

5. Red Hat

Cron task output is 0, script output is OK

I have the following cron task set to run every 15 minutes to ascertain how many users are in the system and append the result to the log. /home/pronto/cus/whoisinc >> /home/pronto/cus/whoisin.log This is the whoisinc script date +"%d-%m-%Y,%k:%M,Pronto Users,`prowho -s | grep -v... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: scottm
1 Replies

6. Shell Programming and Scripting

cron a script and output to file named with date stamp

I can do this from the command line: /home/mylogin/tests/script.sh > /home/mylogin/tests/`date +"%Y%m%d"`log.csv It yields a file named: 20110429log.csv I would like to schedule with cron to run daily. when I enter the same line, as above in cron: 10 16 * * *... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: landog
3 Replies

7. Shell Programming and Scripting

how to run a script using cron job and send the output as attachment via e-mail using unix

how to run a script using cron job and send the output as attachment via e-mail using unix. please help me. how my cron job entry should be? As of now my cron job entry is to run the script at specific time, 15 03 * * * /path/sample.sh | mail -s "Logs" email_id In the above entry, what... (8 Replies)
Discussion started by: vidhyaS
8 Replies

8. Shell Programming and Scripting

Running same script through cron gives different output

Hi All, I am running the below shell script through cron and surprisingly it gives different output $uname -a Linux 2.6.18-194.3.1.7.3.el5xen #1 SMP Fri Jul 30 00:08:45 EDT 2010 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux $ echo $SHELL /bin/bash shell script: cat sar_cpu.sh #!/bin/bash ... (10 Replies)
Discussion started by: a1_win
10 Replies

9. UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users

Script run by cron gives no output

Hi All, I have a script which checks the status of HP Smart Array & then emails me the output. The script run fine when executed manually but I receive no output when configured in a cron job. The script is below: hpacucli ctrl slot=3 show config | mail -s "ARRAY STATUS-`date`"... (6 Replies)
Discussion started by: coolatt
6 Replies

10. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Execution problem with Cron: Script works manually but not w/Cron. Why?

Hello gurus, I am making what I think is a simple db2 call from within a shell script but I am having difficulty producing the desired report when I run the script shown below from a shell script in cron. For example, my script and the crontab file setup is shown below: #!/bin/ksh db2... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: okonita
3 Replies
CRONTAB(1)						    BSD General Commands Manual 						CRONTAB(1)

NAME
crontab -- maintain crontab files for individual users (V3) SYNOPSIS
crontab [-u user] file crontab [-u user] { -l | -r | -e } DESCRIPTION
The crontab utility is the program used to install, deinstall or list the tables used to drive the cron(8) daemon in Vixie Cron. Each user can have their own crontab, and they are not intended to be edited directly. (Darwin note: Although cron(8) and crontab(5) are officially supported under Darwin, their functionality has been absorbed into launchd(8), which provides a more flexible way of automatically executing commands. See launchctl(1) for more information.) If the /usr/lib/cron/cron.allow file exists, then you must be listed therein in order to be allowed to use this command. If the /usr/lib/cron/cron.allow file does not exist but the /usr/lib/cron/cron.deny file does exist, then you must not be listed in the /usr/lib/cron/cron.deny file in order to use this command. If neither of these files exists, then depending on site-dependent configuration parameters, only the super user will be allowed to use this command, or all users will be able to use this command. The format of these files is one username per line, with no leading or trailing whitespace. Lines of other formats will be ignored, and so can be used for com- ments. The first form of this command is used to install a new crontab from some named file or standard input if the pseudo-filename '-' is given. The following options are available: -u Specify the name of the user whose crontab is to be tweaked. If this option is not given, crontab examines ``your'' crontab, i.e., the crontab of the person executing the command. Note that su(1) can confuse crontab and that if you are running inside of su(1) you should always use the -u option for safety's sake. -l Display the current crontab on standard output. -r Remove the current crontab. -e Edit the current crontab using the editor specified by the VISUAL or EDITOR environment variables. The specified editor must edit the file in place; any editor that unlinks the file and recreates it cannot be used. After you exit from the editor, the modified crontab will be installed automatically. FILES
/usr/lib/cron/cron.allow /usr/lib/cron/cron.deny DIAGNOSTICS
A fairly informative usage message appears if you run it with a bad command line. SEE ALSO
crontab(5), compat(5), cron(8), launchctl(1) STANDARDS
The crontab command conforms to IEEE Std 1003.2 (``POSIX.2''). The new command syntax differs from previous versions of Vixie Cron, as well as from the classic SVR3 syntax. AUTHORS
Paul Vixie <paul@vix.com> BSD
December 29, 1993 BSD
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:53 PM.
Unix & Linux Forums Content Copyright 1993-2022. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy