shell script is not executed after adding it as a crontab job

Question

I have added the following crontab job:

sudo crontab -e

58 * * * * ubuntu /home/ubuntu/backup/mysqlbackup.sh
>/home/ubuntu/backup/log/backup.log

I have tried both root and ubuntu users.

When I run the command:

sudo crontab -l

And when I run:

systemctl status cron

But mysqlbackup.sh is not executed. Any idea what is the problem or how can I diagnose what is going wrong?

Note I have added only minutes to test the script

Add at end of line: `2>&1` This will also redirect stderr to same log file. Then check log for errors. — LeonidMew, May 21 '19 at 10:24
To see error messages you can use `journalctl -b | grep -i cron` — WinEunuuchs2Unix, May 21 '19 at 10:37
Please don't add screen dumps of text. Copy and paste text and format it corretly. — Soren A, May 21 '19 at 10:49

vidarlo · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-21T10:47:19.113

9

58 * * * * ubuntu /home/ubuntu/backup/mysqlbackup.sh >/home/ubuntu/backup/log/backup.log

This is incorrect format.

The format is described in the crontab file:

  # m h  dom mon dow   command

ubuntu is not a command. Remove it, so the line reads:

  58 * * * *  /home/ubuntu/backup/mysqlbackup.sh >/home/ubuntu/backup/log/backup.log

Systemwide crontab, specified in /etc/crontab has the user field:

These files also have username fields,
# that none of the other crontabs do.
[...]
# m h dom mon dow user  command

edited May 21 '19 at 10:47

answered May 21 '19 at 10:31

vidarlo

Thanks... should I not add the user? – Hooman Bahreini May 21 '19 at 10:34
2

No, if you want to run it as a specific user, you should add it to that users crontab, e.g. run `crontab -e` as the user in question. The editor shows you the correct format, complete with examples. – vidarlo May 21 '19 at 10:35
4

+1 the *user* field is an **extra** field that is only used in system-wide crontabs (`/etc/crontab` and files in `/etc/cron.d/`) – steeldriver May 21 '19 at 10:40

1 Answers1