unable to disable cron email

joseph_k · 06-16-2011, 09:56 AM

I have tried the MAILTO="" and adding >/dev/null 2>&1 to the end of the line, but my server is still sending an email about my cron.weekly script. After making changes to /etc/crontab I restart cron with /etc/init.d/cron restart without error. I have also tried crontab -e but that loads up an empty file (su'ed into root). What step am I missing / what am I doing wrong?

Here's my crontab:

Code:

# /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.
# This file also has a username field, that none of the other crontabs do.

MAILTO=""
SHELL=/bin/sh
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin

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

jason_not · 06-16-2011, 10:21 AM

Hi,

I would first start by looking in all of the crontab files: on ubuntu the crontabs are stored in /var/spool/cron/crontabs. Next, is there a directory like /etc/cron.d to put arbitrary crontabs in?

When you say you added ">/dev/null 2>&1" to the end of the line, do you mean the cron.weekly line in /etc/crontab? Is there anything in the cron.weekly file that might be generating output? Do the contents of the emails themselves actually change? (not the data, just the form...)

Also, is it possible cron is generating output to syslog and it's syslog that's sending the weekly output?

A way you can simulate the operating environment of cron is to setup an "at" job: have "at" run the cron file so you can force it. YOu might even run strace on the cron script to see what the system is doing. I use strace all the time to find out what scripts are actually doing.

--jason

joseph_k · 06-16-2011, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jason_not

Hi,

I would first start by looking in all of the crontab files: on ubuntu the crontabs are stored in /var/spool/cron/crontabs. Next, is there a directory like /etc/cron.d to put arbitrary crontabs in?

there are not files in the /var/spool/cron/crontabs. I have a directory /etc/cron.d/ which contains 2 files: anacron and sendmail.

Quote:

When you say you added ">/dev/null 2>&1" to the end of the line, do you mean the cron.weekly line in /etc/crontab? Is there anything in the cron.weekly file that might be generating output?

Yes, at the end of the weekly command. In the copy I posted above, I am trying to redirect the output to a file (/var/log/StopSendingEmail.log). The messages are definitely from my script that is in the cron.weekly folder.

Quote:

Do the contents of the emails themselves actually change? (not the data, just the form...) Also, is it possible cron is generating output to syslog and it's syslog that's sending the weekly output?

It's the same messages, once a week:

To: root@localhost
Subject: Anacron job 'cron.weekly' on fccu-proxy

/etc/cron.weekly/copyproxylog:
tar: Removing leading `/' from member names
tar: Removing leading `/' from member names
Restarting DansGuardian: dansguardian.

Quote:

A way you can simulate the operating environment of cron is to setup an "at" job: have "at" run the cron file so you can force it. YOu might even run strace on the cron script to see what the system is doing. I use strace all the time to find out what scripts are actually doing.

--jason

when i manually run the script (that is in the /etc/cron.weekly folder), the messages I normally get in the email are printed to the screen and no email goes out.