PHP script run via cron does not connect to database

Question

I am trying to connect to mysql database in a PHP script run via cron job. It does not connect to the database somehow. I run the same script in my browser and everything works well. I use free BSD and following is the piece of code I try to run:

ini_set(max_execution_time,1200);
require_once("../settings.php");
$query = "insert into cron_log values(null, '". date("D d-m-Y") ."')";
mysql_query($query);
exec("convert /usr/local/www/demo/cron/test.pdf /usr/local/www/demo/cron/1.jpg");

If I run the above script via cron, it does nothing.

If I run above script in browser, it creates new row in table as well as creates 1.jpg.

If I remove the Database part and run it via cron, it creates the 1.jpg file.

What can be the possible cause and solution?

file_put_contents('test.txt', 'Cron works'); die(); put this in first line. — Ernestas Stankevičius
– Ernestas Stankevičius, Commented Sep 22, 2011 at 12:23
Have you tried specifying the absolute path to all files the script is using? — Nexerus
– Nexerus, Commented Sep 22, 2011 at 12:24
Try an absolute path with the require_once or require_once(dirname(__FILE__).'/../settings.php'); — PeeHaa
– PeeHaa, Commented Sep 22, 2011 at 12:25

johannes · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-22 12:26:38Z

4

Note that CLI does not change the current working dir. Also cron does not set it. So doing your reqire_once call relative goes to a "random" location. Try a full path:

require_once(__DIR__."/../settings.php"); // PHP >=5.3
require_once(dirname(__FILE__)."/../settings.php"); // PHP <5.3

answered Sep 22, 2011 at 12:26

johannes

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1 Comment

DragonWork Over a year ago

Thank you.. That helped me a lot after hours of experimenting!

Peeyush Kushwaha · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-02 11:59:16Z

2

The most likely cause of this is that the script fails at the require_once("../settings.php"); line. This is because the working directory for the script when called through cron is not the same as the working directory when called through a browser.

Change ../settings.php to the full path, e.g. /path/to/settings.php to confirm that this is the problem.

It is also worth changing your cron line to php /path/to/script.php >> /path/to/logfile.txt 2>&1 so that logfile.txt will be filled with the output of your script. Make sure you turn display_errors on to catch any error messages!

edited Aug 2, 2014 at 11:59

Peeyush Kushwaha

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answered Sep 22, 2011 at 12:27

DaveRandom

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Comments

Icarus · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-22 12:25:57Z

1

My guess is that when you run it from cron you are not in the right directory and the settings.php file is not found; therefore the whole thing fails.

When you run it from cron, make sure the script cds to the appropriate directory so that settings.php is found using the relative path.

answered Sep 22, 2011 at 12:25

Icarus

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SirFabio · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-22 12:26:45Z

1

Any displayed error? Be sure you are referring to correct folder for file "settings.php" printing "getcwd()". When executing from cron script starts as located in "/"

answered Sep 22, 2011 at 12:26

SirFabio

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2 Comments

SirFabio Over a year ago

you can insert this code at beginning <code>chdir(realpath(dirname(FILE)));</code>

DaveRandom Over a year ago

That assumes that ../settings.php is relative to dirname(FILE) which may not be the case. Also, cron is effectively running from command line you can just do chdir(dirname($argv[0]));

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