Crontab Entry not working

omniok · 02-23-2015, 02:50 AM

Hi,

I have the following entry in crontab.

30 17 * * * rm -rfv /backup/alfresco_bkp/alf_data_backup/`date -d '-2 days' '+%d%m%y'` {} \; >> /backup/alfresco_bkp/alf_data_backup/deletionLog.log 2>&1

This command executes properly when run manually. However, it does not work in crontab. Can some one please tell the reason and solution for this?
There some other entries as well in the crontab and are working fine.

Thank you in advance !!!

linosaurusroot · 02-23-2015, 06:25 AM

% is a special character in crontab and you have not escaped them with backslash (\).

omniok · 02-24-2015, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linosaurusroot

% is a special character in crontab and you have not escaped them with backslash (\).

Thanks lino, can you please tell me if the following crontab entry is correct?

30 17 * * * rm -rfv /backup/alfresco_bkp/alf_data_backup/`date -d '-2 days' '+\%d\%m\%y'` {} \; >> backup/alfresco_bkp/alf_data_backup/deletionLog.log 2>&1

omniok · 02-24-2015, 06:41 AM

Thank you very much lino

It worked when backslash was inserted. So the correct command is "30 17 * * * rm -rfv /backup/alfresco_bkp/alf_data_backup/`date -d '-2 days' '+\%d\%m\%y'` {} \; >> backup/alfresco_bkp/alf_data_backup/deletionLog.log 2>&1"