running a php task every 24 hours

Question

I have some functions that use curl to pull information off a couple of sites and insert them into my database. I was just wondering what is the best way to go about executing this task every 24 hours?

I am running off windows now, but will probably switch to linux once I am live (if that makes a difference). I am working inside symfomy framework now.

I hear cronjobs can do this this...but looking at the site it seems to work remotely and I would rather just keep things in house...Can i just "run a service" on my computer? whatever that means ;) (have heard it used)

thanks for any help, Andrew

Answer 1

This is exactly what Cron (linux) or Scheduled Tasks (windows) are for.

You can run them on your application server to keep everything in one place.

For example, I have a cron running on my home server to backup its MySQL databases every day. Only one system is involved in this process.

Answer 2

Adding 0 0 * * * php /path/to/your/cronjob.php to your crontab should accomplish this.