Cron and Crontab files not executed in Docker

Question

I have this simple Dockerfile for testing, but this is also same in my LEMP stack in a PHP image: cron jobs simply not being executed in Docker.

This is my testing Dockerfile:

FROM debian:latest
MAINTAINER XY <[email protected]>
LABEL Description="Cron" Vendor="Istvan Lantos" Version="1.0"

RUN apt-get -y update && apt-get -y dist-upgrade \
    && apt-get -y install \
        cron \
        rsyslog \
        vim

RUN rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

#cron fixes
RUN touch /etc/crontab /etc/cron.d/* /var/spool/cron/crontabs/*
#COPY etc/cron.d /etc/cron.d
COPY etc/crontab /etc/crontab
#COPY var/spool/cron/crontabs /var/spool/cron/crontabs
RUN chmod 600 /etc/crontab /etc/cron.d/* /var/spool/cron/crontabs/*
RUN touch /etc/crontab /etc/cron.d/* /var/spool/cron/crontabs/*

RUN rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

COPY docker-entrypoint.sh /
RUN chmod +x /docker-entrypoint.sh
CMD ["/docker-entrypoint.sh"]

docker-entrypoint.sh:

#!/bin/bash
set -e

echo PID1 > /dev/null

/etc/init.d/rsyslog start

#Stay in foreground mode, don’t daemonize.
/usr/sbin/cron -f

And this is the Crontab file. I also placed one liners in /etc/cron.d or /var/spool/cron/crontabs with the name of the user, but the effect was the same just like if I modified this base crontab file: cron jobs not will be executed:

MAILTO=""
# /etc/crontab: system-wide crontab
# Unlike any other crontab you don't have to run the `crontab'
# command to install the new version when you edit this file
# and files in /etc/cron.d. These files also have username fields,
# that none of the other crontabs do.

SHELL=/bin/sh
#PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/local/php7/bin:/usr/local/php7/sbin

# m h dom mon dow user  command
#17 *    * * *   root    cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly
#25 6    * * *   root    test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily )
#47 6    * * 7   root    test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.weekly )
#52 6    1 * *   root    test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.monthly )
#
*/1 *   * * *   root    date >> /var/log/cron-test.log 2>&1

This is the output of the /var/log/syslog file:

Jan 23 09:38:39 1ab854e8d9a7 rsyslogd: [origin software="rsyslogd" swVersion="8.4.2" x-pid="14" x-info="http://www.rsyslog.com"] start
Jan 23 09:38:39 1ab854e8d9a7 rsyslogd: imklog: cannot open kernel log(/proc/kmsg): Operation not permitted.
Jan 23 09:38:39 1ab854e8d9a7 rsyslogd-2145: activation of module imklog failed [try http://www.rsyslog.com/e/2145 ]
Jan 23 09:38:39 1ab854e8d9a7 cron[19]: (CRON) INFO (pidfile fd = 3)
Jan 23 09:38:39 1ab854e8d9a7 cron[19]: (*system*) NUMBER OF HARD LINKS > 1 (/etc/crontab)
Jan 23 09:38:39 1ab854e8d9a7 cron[19]: (*) ORPHAN (no passwd entry)
Jan 23 09:38:39 1ab854e8d9a7 cron[19]: (CRON) INFO (Running @reboot jobs)

/var/log/cron-test.log won't be created by the cron job.

I have a question for those who flagged this as "off topic" and SuperUser material, plus this is about general computing HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE: really? Docker questions when become sysadmin stuff? This way every Docker related question here have at least one flag. I'm not against promoting more users to the less known child sites, but we have more change to get the answer here than their.

UPDATE:

This is what I come up with until cron jobs not working:

End of Dockerfile:

COPY cron-jobs.sh /
RUN chmod +x /cron-jobs.sh

COPY docker-entrypoint.sh /
RUN chmod +x /docker-entrypoint.sh
CMD ["/docker-entrypoint.sh"]

docker-entrypoint.sh:

#!/bin/bash
set -e

echo PID1 > /dev/null

# Run script in the background (this is not daemonized)
/cron-jobs.sh &

/usr/local/php7/sbin/php-fpm --nodaemonize --fpm-config /usr/local/php7/etc/php-fpm.conf

cron-jobs.sh:

#!/bin/bash

while true; do
  date >> /var/log/cron-test.log 2>&1
  sleep 60
done

Answer 1

Cron (at least in Debian) does not execute crontabs with more than 1 hardlink, see bug 647193. As Docker uses overlays, it results with more than one link to the file, so you have to touch it in your startup script, so the link is severed:

touch /etc/crontab /etc/cron.*/*