I have a PHP script that runs perfectly fine on the command line if I simply run it like this php /path/to/script/script.php.
if I now schedule this very command in cron using crontab -e and the add the line:
*/1 * * * * php /path/to/script/script.php 2>&1 >> /var/log/logfile.log
it does get executed every minute as expected and all the output gets put into the log file just like running it on the command line. But the some parts of the script just don't seemt o work. those particular parts are lines that are like:
system('mkdir /mnt/temp', $retVal);
or
exec('mkdir /mnt/temp');
I have tried every possible thing like running it as root, permissions on all scripts and folders that would be affected, using /bin/mkdir instead of mkdir. The return value from the system() is 0 for running it on CLI and 1 for the crontab way.
Any suggestions?
I couldn't solve the CLI vs crontab issue, but the solution that worked for me was to use a bash script inside of cron. And that bash script in turn calls the PHP script. this works like a charm under any of the users that I need to run the script.
So I can't say that it is or isn't a permissions issue.
Thanks for all your comments guys
Related
My cron job keeps failing in cPanel:
/bin/sh: /opt/cpanel/ea-php73/root/etc: is a directory
I have changed the code, previously it was /usr/local/bin/php
This is the full code:
0 0,12 * * * /opt/cpanel/ea-php73/root/etc /home4/***/****.org/api/fetch.php
Does anyone know the reason? The file fetch.php works fine otherwise. How do I know where the PHP command is?
If you want to run a PHP file in a cron job, you should run with the PHP interpreter. But your error shows that the cron job is running by the Bash interpreter.
This means you have issue with this part /opt/cpanel/ea-php73
You should either revert your interpreter back to /usr/local/bin/php
Or you can use the curl command to run the webpage from an external source.
Eg: 0 0,12 * * * curl ****.org/api/fetch.php
In the PHP script, you're directly executing an incorrect shell command. Probably a missing / prefix in a path.
As implied in the title, the Cron Job is supposed to execute a php file (update.php, to be specific). The php file then writes to a csv file stored in the same directory.
I have the time set to * * * * * so that it executes every minute. The command is written as follows:
php -q /home//public_html/wallboard/update.php
I don't believe this is causing any errors, though it also doesn't seem to write to the CSV file. When I visit update.php in a browser, however, it executes and writes to the CSV file immediately. I'm not experienced with Cron Jobs and I'm sure there's an issue, but I don't know what exactly that issue is. Let me know if you have suggestions/questions. Any help is appreciated!
Current Command:
* * * * * usr/bin/php -q /home/<user>/public_html/wallboard/update.php
update.php:
<?php
include('lib/HelpDeskView.php');
include('lib/WallboardDisplay.php');
include('helpdesk.csv');
$helpdesk = new HelpDeskView();
$text="\r\ntest,test,test";
file_put_contents( "helpdesk.csv" , $text, FILE_APPEND);
Since your script resides in your public_html directory you can use wget for your Cron Job
wget -O - -q https://yoursite.com/wallboard/update.php
-O - output is written to the standard output in this case it will go to the email address you specify in CPanel
-q quiet mode
IMHO the best way is to contact support and ask them about command line syntax.
This is how I'm doing it at my linux server using cPanel.
This runs script.php which is stored in public root. Course, replace <username> in command line with your username.
At another server I'm using same command line with /usr/bin/php instead of php at the beginning of line, but I'm aware that not all servers use same command line. Some require php-cli in command line instead of php, some don't "like" -f argument, etc. So try various combinations.
To find more suggestions check out this SO topic too: Run a PHP file in a cron job using CPanel
Important thing: When trying different commands wait at least a minute (this case) to see if it works because Cron doesn't fire your script immediately.
Try to execute the same command in PHP CLI and check if it gives you any error, you might be missing some libraries or references required for CLI execution.
/usr/bin/php -d register_argc_argv=On /home/USERNAME/public_html/DOMAIN/artisan AMIR:HOME
i want to set a cron job on a server but its not working. I know there are hundreds of links on web that shows how to setup a cron job but i cant seem to make it work. What im doing now is:
1) Running crontab -e.
Then it shows bunch of lines in the command line.
2) I go to the bottom and add */5 * * * * path/to/myfile.php
and then i exit the editor in command line. Please tell me whats wrong here. Do i need to put my file in a specific folder? or do i need to go to the desired folder and then use crontab -e, or something else. Please forgive me, this is my first cronjob, hoping to be better next time.
Here are the pictures of what im doing.
Did you restart the cron service after you updated the file?
Have you tried executing the php script from the command line first to verify that it's executing as expected? It might be that the cron task is executing but the script is failing. If the script is fine, you might want to try using php as a command followed by the path and filename of the php file and then quitting the execution after it's done with -q.
*/5 * * * * php path/to/myfile.php -q
The problem could well be that you are trying to execute a PHP file and your system is unaware of what to do with it.
Is your PHP file executable?
You can make it executable by running
$ chmod +x file.php
and if you add a shebang to it
#!/usr/bin/php
<?php
// ...
the PHP script can be executed by running
$ ./file.php
Alternatively, you need to run the PHP interpreter and pass it the path to the file as an argument.
$ php file.php
For reference, see:
http://php.net/manual/en/features.commandline.usage.php
I have a ridiculously simple shell script, nothing more than a few instructions to run some php files ...
#!/bin/bash
clear
cd /home/************** // Just for privacy here
php cron-cpt.php
php cron-lvt.php
php cron-plots.php
php cron-m.php
php cron-a.php
The script is called metrics.sh which is chmod'd and just sits in my local binary folder.
If I run the script from the command line, it works perfectly.
If I add the same script to the cron tab to run once a day, it runs over and over. I assumed the cron was the same as invoking it manually from the command line?
I'm using the same user to invoke in cron as logged on cmd line and have tried as root and a standard user, but the same results prevail.
Google has not been helpful with this. Any suggestions?
Add this to your cronTabs:
0 1 * * * /home/metrics.sh
Change the location to your metrics.sh's location.
I'm trying to implement a testing integration solution in our environment. The simple workflow is like this: I have a CentOS EC2 instance in AWS where there is a MySQL DB with rows representing tests to be run (each one has a unique id, absolute file path, started time, completed time, etc). These tests are actually python scripts (using unittest framework).
I have created a PHP script (my language of choice) that takes all the non-started tests from the DB and runs them locally using python or even py.test which I execute through shell_exec() in my code.
Before running the PHP script though, I also execute (at least the first time) the following bash script to setup a local testing environment using headless Firefox with WebDriver, Selenium Server and Xvfb for a "display":
#!/bin/bash
if [ `whoami` != "root" ] ; then
echo "Run as root!"
exit 1
fi
#Start X virtual frame buffer
/etc/init.d/xvfb start
#Add fake display to env
export DISPLAY=:99
#Start Selenium Server
java -jar /opt/selenium-server/selenium-server-standalone-2.33.0.jar &
If I run my PHP script from the terminal like this:# php script.php everything runs correctly, php calls shell_exec() which in turns runs python to execute the test through py.test using the fake display etc.
BUT, when I try to add this PHP script in a cron job it fails. My cron.d file looks like this:
* * * * * root /usr/bin/php /path/to/script.php >> /path/to/log.log
I have read online that a solution would be to create a shell script that will call the PHP script inside it and put that into cron instead. I tried that and it seemed to do something but it stuck in another place (in my shell script first of all I had export DISPLAY=:99 just in case, so the python script will see the virtual display but I'm not sure if needed).
Anyway, following the above road, somehow made py.test to execute but then it throws an exception when it tries to locate the Firefox binary (which is located at /usr/local/bin/firefox). It seems that the shell script cannot see the $PATH. But I have also read the following: a shell script that executes another script inside it (PHP in our case) actually spawns a child for this, so is not always true that this child can see the $PATH even if set on the parent script? I'm not sure about this.
Can you help me? What's the best way to have all of the above run in cron?
How to make the PHP or shell script see the $PATH? (if that's the way to go at least)
You can export PATH in the beginning of your cron command.
Find the correct PATH
$) echo $PATH
/some/path:/some/other/path
In your crontab, write
* * * * * export PATH="/some/path:/some/other/path" && /usr/bin/php /path/to/script.php >> /path/to/log.log
Alternatively, you can set it in the beginning of your crontab file as well as shown here
Since you are setting the value of the DISPLAY environment variable and starting the xvfb sever, you should consider setting the path as well within your shell script and run the shell script as the cron job (instead of the php script I use in my example)
Create a crontab job from root user and remove root from: * * * * * root /usr/bin/php /path/to/script.php >> /path/to/log.log.