problem in adding attachment in crontab

kalpesh chhajed · 11-25-2011, 03:32 AM

i am using cronatb file to execute the task automatically. after executing the task the output is mailed to the one that is specified in MAILTO field in crontab file but i want to mail another file not the output file that is generated after executing the command.
or can we add attchment as another file in crontab which will be mailed after execution.
please suggest some useful options...
your help is appreciated..
thanks..

bluesatbridge · 11-25-2011, 04:33 AM

man page of cron says . It might be useful to you

In addition to LOGNAME, HOME, and SHELL, cron will look at MAILTO if
it has any reason to send mail as a result of running commands in
`this' crontab. If MAILTO is defined (and non-empty), mail is sent to
the user so named. If MAILTO is defined but empty (MAILTO=""), no mail
will be sent. Otherwise mail is sent to the owner of the crontab. This
option is useful if you decide on /bin/mail instead of /usr/lib/sendmail
as your mailer when you install cron -- /bin/mail doesn't do aliasing,
and UUCP usually doesn't read its mail.

so what i understand is u can try editing the crontab file and put this entry there

crontab -e
and add this entry
MAILTO=user@domain.com

hope this works

colucix · 11-25-2011, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kalpesh chhajed

but i want to mail another file not the output file that is generated after executing the command.

I'm not aware of any method to make the CRON daemon send an attachment. You have two other options anyway:

1. explicitly send an e-mail to recipient $MAILTO from inside the script or at the end of the cron job, e.g.

Code:

0 4 * * * /path/to/my/job.sh && mutt -s "Subject" -a /path/to/attachment $MAILTO

2. If it is a text file you can send its content to the standard output

Code:

cat /path/to/file.txt

so that it will be displayed in the mail body together with the usual output.

unSpawn · 11-25-2011, 04:51 AM

...or just execute sending the attachment fron your cronjob:

Code:

#!/bin/sh
# Don't mail output
MAILTO=""
# Use mktemp for temporary files
TMPFILE=`mktemp -p /tmp cronjob.XXXXXXXXXX` && {
 # Generate output and place it in the temporary file
 /bin/ps ef > "${TMPFILE}"
 # If the temporary file is not empty, use 'mpack' to send the file off as attachment:
 [ -s "${TMPFILE}" ] && mpack -s "Subject_here" "${TMPFILE}" recipient@ho.st
 # Clean up
 rm -rf "${TMPFILE}"
}
# Exit properly
exit 0