Cron task python script not working

Question

I have a python script I want to fire off every night at midnight. I'm using cron scheduler right now to do so, however, I can't figure out why it's not working. For now, I've been using close times (within the next minute or so) to test the cronjob, but I will ultimately want it to work for midnight.

Here is what I put in my crontab file (to run for 2:43pm), hosted on my ubuntu machine:

43 14 * * * root /home/grantmcgovern/Developer/Projects/StudyBug/Main.py

I even put the:

#!user/bin/python

on top of all the .py files.

I also did:

chmod +x "scriptname".py

For each of the .py files and still no luck. Am I missing something blatantly obvious? I should note, this is my first time playing with cron tasks.

The shebang line (the first line in the Python scripts) should look like #!/usr/bin/python, not #!user/bin/python. — bdesham
– bdesham, Commented Apr 18, 2014 at 18:51
As an alternative to #!/usr/bin/python ... #!/usr/bin/env python — clutton
– clutton, Commented Apr 18, 2014 at 18:55
you can log the execution by adding > /tmp/mycronlog.log at the end making it 43 14 * * * root /home/grantmcgovern/Developer/Projects/StudyBug/Main.py > /tmp/mycronlog.log. What does the log say? — evading
– evading, Commented Apr 18, 2014 at 19:02
That is telling you that you are trying to run a program named root. — evading
– evading, Commented Apr 18, 2014 at 19:17

marven · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-18 19:12:39Z

2

From your current crontab file, you're basically running root /home/grantmcgovern/Developer/Projects/StudyBug/Main.py every time.

If you want to run it as root, use sudo crontab -e and put 43 14 * * * /usr/bin/python /home/grantmcgovern/Developer/Projects/StudyBug/Main.py instead.

answered Apr 18, 2014 at 19:12

marven

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clutton · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-18 19:19:06Z

1

I think it is looking for the command "root" so the syntax is wrong, so it should be this...

43 14 * * * /home/grantmcgovern/Developer/Projects/StudyBug/Main.py

If you need it to run as root then I think you can use su like this:

43 14 * * * su root -c "/home/grantmcgovern/Developer/Projects/StudyBug/Main.py"

If you add it to the system crontab then I think it will anyway.

answered Apr 18, 2014 at 19:19

clutton

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