[SOLVED] Cron job not working

2handband · 11-13-2010, 07:54 PM

I set up a job in my crontab file to clear the /tmp file on bootup with the following line:

Code:

@reboot rm-rf /tmp/*

My /tmp folder is not clearing. I've never used cron before; can somebody tell me how to troubleshoot this?

udaman · 11-13-2010, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2handband

I set up a job in my crontab file to clear the /tmp file on bootup with the following line:

Code:

@reboot rm-rf /tmp/*

My /tmp folder is not clearing. I've never used cron before; can somebody tell me how to troubleshoot this?

It looks like you're missing a space in the command. It should be

Code:

rm -rf /tmp/*

2handband · 11-13-2010, 08:11 PM

Oh dear god... I can't believe I missed that. Thanks.

2handband · 11-14-2010, 07:19 AM

Okay, I thought it was solved, but it wasn't. I fixed the command error, but then when I rebooted /tmp didn't clear.

repo · 11-14-2010, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2handband

Okay, I thought it was solved, but it wasn't. I fixed the command error, but then when I rebooted /tmp didn't clear.

try to use the whole path to the command
When the system boots, tmp will be populated again.
Are you sure it isn't cleared?
Try to create a unique file in tmp, and see if that file is removed.

Kind regards

diwljina · 11-14-2010, 07:29 AM

Cron expects new line character at the end of every entry. Check if you have one. If you don't it will silently fail, without any error massage.

w1k0 · 11-14-2010, 09:22 AM

Instead of use cron put in your /etc/rc.d/rc.local_shutdown file the line:

Code:

/usr/bin/find /tmp -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -print0 | xargs -0r /bin/rm -fr

and make sure /etc/rc.d/rc.local_shutdown file is executable.

The file /etc/rc.d/rc.local_shutdown is executed during shutdown procedures while the file /etc/rc.d/rc.local is executed during bootup procedures.

2handband · 11-14-2010, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diwljina

Cron expects new line character at the end of every entry. Check if you have one. If you don't it will silently fail, without any error massage.

This solved it. thanks!