Test a weekly cron job [closed]

Question

I have a #!/bin/bash file in cron.week directory.

Is there a way to test if it works? Can't wait 1 week

I am on Debian 6 with root

Answer 1

Just do what cron does, run the following as root:

run-parts -v /etc/cron.weekly

... or the next one if you receive the "Not a directory: -v" error:

run-parts /etc/cron.weekly -v

Option -v prints the script names before they are run.

Answer 2

A wee bit beyond the scope of your question... but here's what I do.

The "how do I test a cron job?" question is closely connected to "how do I test scripts that run in non-interactive contexts launched by other programs?" In cron, the trigger is some time condition, but lots of other *nix facilities launch scripts or script fragments in non-interactive ways, and often the conditions in which those scripts run contain something unexpected and cause breakage until the bugs are sorted out. (See also: https://stackoverflow.com/a/17805088/237059 )

A general approach to this problem is helpful to have.

One of my favorite techniques is to use a script I wrote called 'crontest'. It launches the target command inside a GNU screen session from within cron, so that you can attach with a separate terminal to see what's going on, interact with the script, even use a debugger.

To set this up, you would use "all stars" in your crontab entry, and specify crontest as the first command on the command line, e.g.:

* * * * * crontest /command/to/be/tested --param1 --param2

So now cron will run your command every minute, but crontest will ensure that only one instance runs at a time. If the command takes time to run, you can do a "screen -x" to attach and watch it run. If the command is a script, you can put a "read" command at the top to make it stop and wait for the screen attachment to complete (hit enter after attaching)

If your command is a bash script, you can do this instead:

* * * * * crontest --bashdb /command/to/be/tested --param1 --param2

Now, if you attach with "screen -x", you'll be facing an interactive bashdb session, and you can step through the code, examine variables, etc.

#!/bin/bash

# crontest
# See https://github.com/Stabledog/crontest for canonical source.

# Test wrapper for cron tasks.  The suggested use is:
#
#  1. When adding your cron job, use all 5 stars to make it run every minute
#  2. Wrap the command in crontest
#        
#
#  Example:
#
#  $ crontab -e
#     * * * * * /usr/local/bin/crontest $HOME/bin/my-new-script --myparams
#
#  Now, cron will run your job every minute, but crontest will only allow one
#  instance to run at a time.  
#
#  crontest always wraps the command in "screen -d -m" if possible, so you can
#  use "screen -x" to attach and interact with the job.   
#
#  If --bashdb is used, the command line will be passed to bashdb.  Thus you
#  can attach with "screen -x" and debug the remaining command in context.
#
#  NOTES:
#   - crontest can be used in other contexts, it doesn't have to be a cron job.
#       Any place where commands are invoked without an interactive terminal and
#       may need to be debugged.
#
#   - crontest writes its own stuff to /tmp/crontest.log
#
#   - If GNU screen isn't available, neither is --bashdb
#

crontestLog=/tmp/crontest.log
lockfile=$(if [[ -d /var/lock ]]; then echo /var/lock/crontest.lock; else echo /tmp/crontest.lock; fi )
useBashdb=false
useScreen=$( if which screen &>/dev/null; then echo true; else echo false; fi )
innerArgs="$@"
screenBin=$(which screen 2>/dev/null)

function errExit {
    echo "[-err-] $@" | tee -a $crontestLog >&2
}

function log {
    echo "[-stat-] $@" >> $crontestLog
}

function parseArgs {
    while [[ ! -z $1 ]]; do
        case $1 in
            --bashdb)
                if ! $useScreen; then
                    errExit "--bashdb invalid in crontest because GNU screen not installed"
                fi
                if ! which bashdb &>/dev/null; then
                    errExit "--bashdb invalid in crontest: no bashdb on the PATH"
                fi

                useBashdb=true
                ;;
            --)
                shift
                innerArgs="$@"
                return 0
                ;;
            *)
                innerArgs="$@"
                return 0
                ;;
        esac
        shift
    done
}

if [[ -z  $sourceMe ]]; then
    # Lock the lockfile (no, we do not wish to follow the standard
    # advice of wrapping this in a subshell!)
    exec 9>$lockfile
    flock -n 9 || exit 1

    # Zap any old log data:
    [[ -f $crontestLog ]] && rm -f $crontestLog

    parseArgs "$@"

    log "crontest starting at $(date)"
    log "Raw command line: $@"
    log "Inner args: $@"
    log "screenBin: $screenBin"
    log "useBashdb: $( if $useBashdb; then echo YES; else echo no; fi )"
    log "useScreen: $( if $useScreen; then echo YES; else echo no; fi )"

    # Were building a command line.
    cmdline=""

    # If screen is available, put the task inside a pseudo-terminal
    # owned by screen.  That allows the developer to do a "screen -x" to
    # interact with the running command:
    if $useScreen; then
        cmdline="$screenBin -D -m "
    fi

    # If bashdb is installed and --bashdb is specified on the command line,
    # pass the command to bashdb.  This allows the developer to do a "screen -x" to
    # interactively debug a bash shell script:
    if $useBashdb; then
        cmdline="$cmdline $(which bashdb) "
    fi

    # Finally, append the target command and params:
    cmdline="$cmdline $innerArgs"

    log "cmdline: $cmdline"


    # And run the whole schlock:
    $cmdline 

    res=$?

    log "Command result: $res"


    echo "[-result-] $(if [[ $res -eq 0 ]]; then echo ok; else echo fail; fi)" >> $crontestLog

    # Release the lock:
    9<&-
fi

Answer 3

After messing about with some stuff in cron which wasn't instantly compatible I found that the following approach was nice for debugging:

crontab -e

* * * * * /path/to/prog var1 var2 &>>/tmp/cron_debug_log.log

This will run the task once a minute and you can simply look in the /tmp/cron_debug_log.log file to figure out what is going on.

It is not exactly the "fire job" you might be looking for, but this helped me a lot when debugging a script that didn't work in cron at first.

Answer 4

I'd use a lock file and then set the cron job to run every minute. (use crontab -e and * * * * * /path/to/job) That way you can just keep editing the files and each minute they'll be tested out. Additionally, you can stop the cronjob by just touching the lock file.

    #!/bin/sh
    if [ -e /tmp/cronlock ]
    then
        echo "cronjob locked"
        exit 1
    fi

    touch /tmp/cronlock
    <...do your regular cron here ....>
    rm -f /tmp/cronlock