UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi

Could be stupid, but I can figure out... I have a script that downloads a file from a http server ( virus definitions file ). The thing is that when I run it from the console (bash) works fine, but when I put it in the root's cron it doesn't, and it generates a core file.

example:

server:#/my/script/script.sh <----- works ok. as root

crontab -e (as root)

00 15 * * * /my/script/script.sh <----- doesn't work.

Someone ask me if the script begins with the magic number line, and in fact it does.

vi script.sh

#!/usr/local/bin/bash

If you can help me, I'll send postal from Buenos Aires, Argentina to you. ;-)
Thanks!!!

have you check your cron logs ?, what exactly means 'doesn't work'?

sorry, even if the cron runs the script, the script doesn't do what is expected.
Thats the weird thing about it, the script runs fine if I executed from the command line. also Im pretty sure that the cron runs the script 'cause, as you suggest, I already checked the /var/cron/log file.

I think is something related with the environment. When I run the script from the comman line, there are some settings like PATH, LD_LIBRARY and so on, that are loaded when I log on as root; but is seems that those setting are missing when the script is called from the cron.

I also cheked the /etc/default/cron to add the PATH, but still doesn't work.

I hope its a bit more clear. Thanks for your help.

can you show your cron output, logs?

make sure you put some environment variables on your crontab i.e...

Code:

#
SHELL=/bin/sh
PATH=/etc:/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin
HOME=/var/log
#
#minute hour    mday    month   wday    who     command
#
#*/5    *       *       *       *       root    /usr/libexec/atrun
#

maybe your script will run without any problems...

Well, it's Solaris 2.6. I think you cannot put lines in the cron file other than
min-hour-day-etc and the script you want to run.
I believe those line goes in a file called /etc/default/cron, and I already put those lines without success.

The log from the cron is not much help, as the only thing that shows is the line executing the script:

> CMD: /my/script/script.sh
> root 22762 c Wed Jul 27 17:00:00 2005

and then continues with other lines from other jobs.

By the way, I tried to put the PATH with "crontab -e" and it gaves me:

"crontab: error on previous line; unexpected character found in line."
"crontab: errors detected in input, no crontab file generated."

Thanks.

what the crontab man page says about its syntax ?