Issue using CRON job

mig2000

Well, my system has been working for over 2 yeas without any problem till I had to move it from a C-panel based system to another system using HSPHERE. What I found out is that the way the CRON job is setup does not work. I was told to use WGET which I have no clue how to set it up. This is what the tech support wrote me:

Cron does not work by calling php files. The way the other server was set up was not correct or was not using cron. PHP files must be processed through the php binary. You can either call the php binary (which will require a good amount of work to make it work properly) or simply use wget.

man wget will give You the switches and options. "wget" simply calls a file just like a browser does. So You would change Your line to something like this:

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wget http://domain.net/support/api/cron.php(http://domain.net/support/api/cron.php)

The only thing You might need is a few switches after the wget command to make it do or behave exactly how You desire.

Comparing hsphere to cpanel is like saying "this works on windows why can't I just install it on my mac." they're nothing alike. Cpanel operates completely differently. The cron option there might not actually be a cron option, it may be a completely different service that manages tasks. (I don't know how their configuration was set up.) Cron jobs are O.S. level jobs that work exactly how a command line works at the prompt. If You called a php file simply by calling it at a prompt nothing would happen. At a command line You would have to call the php interpreter binary and tell it to process that file. Detailed instructions are here:

http://www.php.net/manual/en/features.commandline.usage.php(http://www.php.net/manual/en/features.commandline.usage.php)

You'll notice the path must be correct in calling php, that it is O.S. specific and that it requires quite a bit more effort to configure. Cron jobs also run "jailed" as Your user with only limited access to commands, binaries and permissions. I say it's usually the "hard" way to use cron as it's a bit more work to get the input and output desired out of php using the cli.

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Does anyone knows how to use the wget properly to get this going?

Thanks

ntozier

Their assessment is not 100% correct. Yes php files need to be handled by the PHP Binary. But you can pass the file you want to run to the binary. Proof of this is their statement

Cron jobs are O.S. level jobs that work exactly how a command line works at the prompt.

Since you can run a php script from the command line, you can run it via a cron job. To examplify this:

/user/local/bin/php -q /path/to/script.php

This line (assuming the paths were correct) would call php and pass it the /path/to/script.php. This same thing works with cron, but cron has a few more parameters. This is traditionally done in your crontab file something like:

*/5 * * * * nobody /path/to/php /path/to/api/cron.php

You can use wget also. Here are the instructions from the wiki:

External triggering using wget

First add an API key and IP to Settings => API => API Keys.

Enter the IP of the host that the wget will run from.

Enter 3 separate words into the passphrase box (these are used in conjunction with the IP to generate hashes)

Click submit

A hash will be generated

Then, setup a cron job to run wget */5 * * * * nobody wget -q -O /dev/null --user-agent= http:///api/cron.php

The full wiki about this is located at:

http://osticket.com/wiki/POP3/IMAP_Settings(http://osticket.com/wiki/POP3/IMAP_Settings)

Good luck.

mig2000

Thanks for the input. The link is not clear to what the null is - Below is what I have on the CRON job:

nobody wget -q -O /dev/null user-agent=774F3430BEA5E02EFAC45BEB29209280 http://www.domain.net/support/api/cron.php(http://www.domain.net/support/api/cron.php)

NO being familiar with any of these, I am not sure what does nobody means?

Thanks for your support

Outpack

I am not sure what does nobody means?

"nobody" is the cron user in that case ;)

AND my problem is :):

My cron job

*/5 * * * * nobody /usr/bin/php /var/www/web1/html/cms/tickets/api/cron.php

but Cron (in that case user nobody) send a mail

Could not open input file: /var/www/web1/html/cms/tickets/api/cron.php

Which input file? :

EDIT: I answered myself ;) It`s done now.

In my case must be a cronjob of web1, no user nobody. Work perfect.