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Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 19:28:01 +0200
From: bartels <bartels AT mailme DOT ath DOT cx>
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To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Subject: Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron
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On 09/24/2013 05:04 PM, KARR, DAVID wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: KARR, DAVID
>> Sent: Sunday, September 22, 2013 2:32 PM
>> Subject: RE: Confused about several issues with setting up cron
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> Sent: Sunday, September 22, 2013 12:46 PM
>>> Subject: Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron
>>>
>>> On 09/22/2013 05:56 PM, bartels wrote:
>>>> On 09/22/2013 03:00 AM, KARR, DAVID wrote:
>>>>> CYGWIN_NT-6.1 1.7.25(0.270/5/3) 2013-08-31 20:39 i686 Cygwin
>>>>>
>>>>> I want to set up a cron job, so I have to get cron configured. I'm
>> trying
>>> to follow the instructions I can find, but I'm seeing several issues.
>>>>> I'm surprised that there's nothing in the user guide or the FAQ about
>>> setting up cron.  I had to settle for the various questions about this
>>>>> on StackOverflow and others.
>>>   >>> I want to set up a cron job, so I have to get cron configured.  I'm
>>> trying
>>>   >> to follow the instructions I can find, but I'm seeing several issues.
>>>   >>> I'm surprised that there's nothing in the user guide or the FAQ about
>>>   >> setting up cron.  I had to settle for the various questions about this
>> on
>>>   >> StackOverflow and others.
>>>   >>
>>>   >> Must say your reporting of events is also lacking crucial elements
>>>   >> If you re-install and give me more details, then I will try and answer
>>> your
>>>   >> questions.
>>>   > Ok.  I assume you mean re-installing cron, not Cygwin.
>>> Yes, cron-config is what I meant.
>>>   >
>>>   > I followed the process described in the FAQ for removing a service.  I
>>> then ran cron-config again.  When I did this before, I selected to run
>>> cron as myself.  I decided to make it run as the local system account this
>>> time (first running "passwd -R" and entering my password).  It
>>> appeared to complete without errors or warnings.  I did this in a "run as
>>> administrator" window.
>>>   >
>>>   > In a normal window, I then ran "crontab -e".  I figured this would put
>> me
>>> into "vi" with an empty buffer.  It just returned to the prompt.
>>> You should see a vi session.
>>> Do you have vi installed?
>>> What is the value of EDITOR?
>> Yes, I have vi installed.  EDITOR was blank, but I tried setting it to "vi"
>> and repeating the test, with no change.
>>
>>> This could indicate a deeper problem, confusing not just cron.
>>>
>>>   > I then ran "crontab crontab" (the "crontab" file in my current directory
>>> is the file with the one job I want to run), and then did "crontab
>>> -l".  Nothing.
>>>
>>> Are you familiar with the crontab format? If not, try this:
>>> $ man 5 crontab
>> Yes, I am familiar with it, but here's the crontab I'm trying to set, in any
>> case:
>>
>> 0 * * * *	monitorDataSource
>>
>>>   >
>>>   > I then went back to the administrator window.  I ran "cronevents".  This
>>> didn't show anything more than the cron service being started.  I
>>> then ran "cronbug".  I'm attaching the gzipped copy of this.
>>>   >
>>> You will have more luck running cron 'as yourself': it is straightforward.
>>> Running it as a privileged user is more complicated.
>>>
>>> Is there a specific reason why you want to run it as system?
>> No, only because running it as myself didn't work.
>>
>> In any case, I tried stopping and removing the service and rerunning cron-
>> config, running the service as myself.  It didn't make any difference.  No
>> response from "crontab -e", and "crontab crontab" seemingly ignored.  Nothing
>> in "/var/log/cron.log", and nothing in "cronevents" except for the service
>> stopping and starting.
> Any more ideas about this?
>

I guess it is to do with privileges.
cron works on my machines without fail: as system, and as privileged user

If you look at the service
$ cygrunsrv.exe  -Q cron --verbose

You can see that you can run cron from your own account like this:
$  /usr/sbin/cron -n

Anyway, the cron process needs read/write access to
/var/cron/tabs/<your account>

No cron file there, means no cron jobs for you.

The fact that you do not get an editor with 'crontab -e' is strange.
I can only guess that EDITOR has a strange value, or crontab dies on privileges.

Have you tried strace?
$ strace -f crontab -e 2>&1 | tee strace.log

You can probably see it dying.

- bartels



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