Confused about several issues with setting up cron

Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[KARR, DAVID]

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 must have done something at least half correct, because I believe this tells me that cron is running:

% cygrunsrv -L
cron

% cronevents
2013/09/20 21:14:06 [dk068x] crontab: PID 5924: (dk068x) LIST (dk068x)
2013/09/21 11:28:15 [dk068x] /usr/sbin/cron: PID 4980: (CRON) STARTUP (V5.0)
2013/09/21 11:28:16 [dk068x] cron: PID 8424: `cron' service started

However, I then do "crontab <pathtomycrontabfile>", where "pathtomycrontabfile" is the path to my crontab file with the job I want to run.  I then do "crontab -l" and it prints nothing.  There is nothing in "/var/log/cron*".

I did get some errors when I ran "cron-config", but I unfortunately lost that output.


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Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[bartels]

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.

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.

- bartels


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Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[bartels]

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.
>

By the way: SYSTEM is not a user.

- bartels

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Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[Andrey Repin]

Greetings, bartels!

>>> 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.
>>

> By the way: SYSTEM is not a user.

Since when?


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WBR,
Andrey Repin (anrdaemon@yandex.ru) 23.09.2013, <18:43>

Sorry for my terrible english...


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Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[bartels]

On 09/23/2013 04:44 PM, Andrey Repin wrote:
> Greetings, bartels!

Greetings Andrey!

>
>> By the way: SYSTEM is not a user.
> Since when?

Since Bill Gates stopped sleeping in his garage? :)

$ passwd SYSTEM
passwd: unknown user SYSTEM

Without knowing too much about Windows internals, I have always considered SYSTEM to be a context, rather than a user.

Please give me your take, if you have more info.
I am interested

- bartels.


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Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[Andrey Repin]

Greetings, bartels!

>>> By the way: SYSTEM is not a user.
>> Since when?

> Since Bill Gates stopped sleeping in his garage? :)

> $ passwd SYSTEM
> passwd: unknown user SYSTEM

> Without knowing too much about Windows internals, I have always considered
> SYSTEM to be a context, rather than a user. 

Your assumption is wrong. Greatly simplifying, NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM is a
built-in access control group, under which whole system kernel works.
Taking out the rights for SYSTEM to f.e. access certain directory will prevent
most services from changing it.

> Please give me your take, if you have more info.
> I am interested

It's offtopic in this mailing list.
If you're interested in a full list of built-in users and groups, I suggest
you check the user list as given by ACL editors, when you use search function.


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WBR,
Andrey Repin (anrdaemon@yandex.ru) 23.09.2013, <22:01>

Sorry for my terrible english...


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Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[bartels]

On 09/23/2013 08:08 PM, Andrey Repin wrote:
> Greetings, bartels!
>
>>>> By the way: SYSTEM is not a user.
>>> Since when?
>> Since Bill Gates stopped sleeping in his garage? :)
>> $ passwd SYSTEM
>> passwd: unknown user SYSTEM
>> Without knowing too much about Windows internals, I have always considered
>> SYSTEM to be a context, rather than a user.
> Your assumption is wrong.
You are persuing a childish argument in semantics.
I think we both know what the SYSTEM means.

And windows loudly disagrees with you:

   $ net user SYSTEM
   The user name could not be found.

> Greatly simplifying, NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM is a
> built-in access control group, under which whole system kernel works.

You are saying it: SYSTEM is a UAC.

Besides, your argument is off topic, as this thread is about setting up sshd.
cron-config does not accept SYSTEM as a user

Of course we both know that to be just a limitation of cron-config.

- bartels


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Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[bartels]

On 09/23/2013 08:59 PM, bartels wrote:
> cron-config does not accept SYSTEM as a user

Hmm, looking at the script, it would seem that cron-config is capable of configuring cron to run as system.

- bartels

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Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[bartels]

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?

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

 >
 > 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?

- bartels



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RE: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[KARR, DAVID]

> -----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?

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Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[bartels]

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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Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[bartels]

On 09/24/2013 08:13 PM, KARR, DAVID wrote:
>     15   31593 [main] crontab 8612 fhandler_base::open_fs: 0 = fhandler_disk_file::open(\??\C:\Cygwin\var\cron\tabs\dk068x, 0x8000)
>     21   31614 [main] crontab 8612 open: -1 = open(tabs/dk068x, 0x8000), errno 2


There you go: the process has no write access to your crontab file (C:\Cygwin\var\cron\tabs\dk068x)

Popular advice on this list is that you do not mix posix and windoze permissions.
I have fallen into that trap myself.

- bartels

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Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[Larry Hall (Cygwin)]

On 9/21/2013 9:00 PM, KARR, DAVID wrote:
> 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.

For Cygwin packages other than the one providing the Cygwin DLL itself,
Cygwin-specific documentation is provided under /usr/share/doc/Cygwin.
General package documentation is found under /usr/share/doc/<package name>.

-- 
Larry

_____________________________________________________________________

A: Yes.
 > Q: Are you sure?
 >> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
 >>> Q: Why is top posting annoying in email?

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Re: Confused about several issues with setting up cron

[Steve]

I would try the following methods:

First make sure you are launching your local terminal with "Runas
Administrator" checked, even if you are the Administrator user. I am
also asuming you have done the normal stuff like cygcheck -c, and make
sure you have not loaded duplicate dlls during your troubleshooting.
If you ever get resource fork issues with parent != child error
messages right in the term, that needs to be fixed by removing the
duplicate dll file. And run /bin/rebaseall from dash or ash terminals
(disable Anti-viri).
Always manually right click and Run mintty as Administrator, also try
changing the path in the mintty shortcut to
c:\cygwin\bin\mintty.exe -
% cygrunsrv -R cron
reboot to be on the safe side
After bootup use cygwin setup to uninstall cron, then run setup again
and install it.
% cron-config
You shouldn't need todo anything custom here, yes and defaults to
everything. It should be using your current user account, and that is
hopefully the full fledged Administrator account, and not some other
user with admin privs. Which also means you are currently logged into
windows as the full Administrator account.
% net start cron
% EDITOR=vi
or whatev
% crontab -e
create an entry that just fires of something basic very frequently for instance
*/1  * * * * echo "this" > /cygdrive/c/Users/
Administrator/Desktop/test.file.txt
You many also want to throw in the PATH into the crontab itself for example:
PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin
As alternative to or in addition to the mentioned test.file.txt
creation cron entry, you could use something like this:
@reboot echo "this" > /cygdrive/c/Users/Administrator/Desktop/test.file.txt
So that instead of something fireing off every minute for testing, it
would fire it off each time you stop/start the cron service with "net
stop cron" and "net start cron"

Sorry for the messy response, i have no time right now. Good luck
reading this email and getting it working.  :)

On Sat, Sep 21, 2013 at 6:00 PM, KARR, DAVID <dk068x@att.com> 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 must have done something at least half correct, because I believe this tells me that cron is running:
>
> % cygrunsrv -L
> cron
>
> % cronevents
> 2013/09/20 21:14:06 [dk068x] crontab: PID 5924: (dk068x) LIST (dk068x)
> 2013/09/21 11:28:15 [dk068x] /usr/sbin/cron: PID 4980: (CRON) STARTUP (V5.0)
> 2013/09/21 11:28:16 [dk068x] cron: PID 8424: `cron' service started
>
> However, I then do "crontab <pathtomycrontabfile>", where "pathtomycrontabfile" is the path to my crontab file with the job I want to run.  I then do "crontab -l" and it prints nothing.  There is nothing in "/var/log/cron*".
>
> I did get some errors when I ran "cron-config", but I unfortunately lost that output.
>
>
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