How to execute shell script via crontab?












22















I have a notify.sh script that looks like:



notify-send "hi welcome"


My crontab notification for 2 PM:



0 14 * * * home/hacks/notify.sh


However, this doesn't work. What is the problem?










share|improve this question





























    22















    I have a notify.sh script that looks like:



    notify-send "hi welcome"


    My crontab notification for 2 PM:



    0 14 * * * home/hacks/notify.sh


    However, this doesn't work. What is the problem?










    share|improve this question



























      22












      22








      22


      7






      I have a notify.sh script that looks like:



      notify-send "hi welcome"


      My crontab notification for 2 PM:



      0 14 * * * home/hacks/notify.sh


      However, this doesn't work. What is the problem?










      share|improve this question
















      I have a notify.sh script that looks like:



      notify-send "hi welcome"


      My crontab notification for 2 PM:



      0 14 * * * home/hacks/notify.sh


      However, this doesn't work. What is the problem?







      linux crontab






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited Jan 24 '13 at 20:24









      slhck

      160k47444466




      160k47444466










      asked Dec 10 '09 at 8:38









      AravindAravind

      291138




      291138






















          7 Answers
          7






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          38














          Your script is missing a #! line at the start, which is the magic interpreted by the kernel to say which command interpreter is to be used for the script.



          Make it look like this:



          #!/bin/sh
          notify-send "hi welcome"


          and make sure the script is executable:



          ls -l home/hacks/notify.sh
          chmod +x home/hacks/notify.sh
          ls -l home/hacks/notify.sh


          Also, since you're asking for this to happen just once a day, is the timezone of the crontab the same as your own timezone? You might find this happening at 2pm GMT.






          share|improve this answer
























          • +1 This answer is awesome - particularly noting the point about the script needs to being executable! Thanks!

            – FXQuantTrader
            Jan 9 '15 at 6:10











          • Very subtle explanation. My upvote

            – Fokwa Best
            Oct 24 '16 at 12:58



















          18














          Making crontab running is easy only . Here I am going to say how to run crontab jobs. It is useful for anyone who is stuck on crontab.



          */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh


          To make the script executable, we have to do:



          chmod +x home/hacks/notify.sh


          Here i run this script for every one minute ...
          By doing below script, you can write it in a log file to find whether its working



          write log



          */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh>>test.log


          send mail



          */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh>>test.log | mail -s "Hi this is example" user@domain.com





          share|improve this answer





















          • 2





            isnt that "*/1 * * * * sh /home/hacks/notify.sh" will also work ?

            – user1179459
            Sep 25 '15 at 1:14



















          5














          4 hypothesis:




          • the cron daemon is not running (do a ps axfww | grep cron and check)


          • the notify-send is trying to send output to a terminal, or an X session -- but it is ran from within the cron environment and it does not know "who to talk to", so to speak.


          • your script is not executable


          • the home/ path in the crontab script is relative to the user the scripts gets executed as. Try using the full path







          share|improve this answer

































            1














            Add export DISPLAY=:0 above the notify-send line in your script. This addresses lornezog's second point.






            share|improve this answer































              0














              You have to open crontab by the following command:



              crontab -u username -e (to edit) -l(to list) -r(to remove) 10(minutes) 8-15(hours) *(Day of month) *(month) 1,3,5(days of week) /path/to/script/script_name.sh


              This will run your script once an hour from 8AM-3PM at 10 minutes past the hour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.






              share|improve this answer

































                0














                First of All, we need to edit the crontab with Command crontab -eand than Inside this Crontab add the Path of Executable script and in your Case like this
                * 14 * * * home/hacks/notify.sh >/dev/null 2>&1 .



                Start /Stop / restart cron service




                • /etc/init.d/crond start /stop / restart

                • service crond start /stop /restart

                • systemctl stop crond.service


                systemctl stop crond.service






                share|improve this answer































                  -2














                  quite simple, add following line at bottom of the crontab file via:
                  sudo nano /etc/crontab



                  @reboot root cd /home/pi/node-sonos-http-api && npm start &






                  share|improve this answer


























                  • This does not seem to be an answer to the question.

                    – Ljm Dullaart
                    Dec 28 '18 at 19:00











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                  7 Answers
                  7






                  active

                  oldest

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                  7 Answers
                  7






                  active

                  oldest

                  votes









                  active

                  oldest

                  votes






                  active

                  oldest

                  votes









                  38














                  Your script is missing a #! line at the start, which is the magic interpreted by the kernel to say which command interpreter is to be used for the script.



                  Make it look like this:



                  #!/bin/sh
                  notify-send "hi welcome"


                  and make sure the script is executable:



                  ls -l home/hacks/notify.sh
                  chmod +x home/hacks/notify.sh
                  ls -l home/hacks/notify.sh


                  Also, since you're asking for this to happen just once a day, is the timezone of the crontab the same as your own timezone? You might find this happening at 2pm GMT.






                  share|improve this answer
























                  • +1 This answer is awesome - particularly noting the point about the script needs to being executable! Thanks!

                    – FXQuantTrader
                    Jan 9 '15 at 6:10











                  • Very subtle explanation. My upvote

                    – Fokwa Best
                    Oct 24 '16 at 12:58
















                  38














                  Your script is missing a #! line at the start, which is the magic interpreted by the kernel to say which command interpreter is to be used for the script.



                  Make it look like this:



                  #!/bin/sh
                  notify-send "hi welcome"


                  and make sure the script is executable:



                  ls -l home/hacks/notify.sh
                  chmod +x home/hacks/notify.sh
                  ls -l home/hacks/notify.sh


                  Also, since you're asking for this to happen just once a day, is the timezone of the crontab the same as your own timezone? You might find this happening at 2pm GMT.






                  share|improve this answer
























                  • +1 This answer is awesome - particularly noting the point about the script needs to being executable! Thanks!

                    – FXQuantTrader
                    Jan 9 '15 at 6:10











                  • Very subtle explanation. My upvote

                    – Fokwa Best
                    Oct 24 '16 at 12:58














                  38












                  38








                  38







                  Your script is missing a #! line at the start, which is the magic interpreted by the kernel to say which command interpreter is to be used for the script.



                  Make it look like this:



                  #!/bin/sh
                  notify-send "hi welcome"


                  and make sure the script is executable:



                  ls -l home/hacks/notify.sh
                  chmod +x home/hacks/notify.sh
                  ls -l home/hacks/notify.sh


                  Also, since you're asking for this to happen just once a day, is the timezone of the crontab the same as your own timezone? You might find this happening at 2pm GMT.






                  share|improve this answer













                  Your script is missing a #! line at the start, which is the magic interpreted by the kernel to say which command interpreter is to be used for the script.



                  Make it look like this:



                  #!/bin/sh
                  notify-send "hi welcome"


                  and make sure the script is executable:



                  ls -l home/hacks/notify.sh
                  chmod +x home/hacks/notify.sh
                  ls -l home/hacks/notify.sh


                  Also, since you're asking for this to happen just once a day, is the timezone of the crontab the same as your own timezone? You might find this happening at 2pm GMT.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered Dec 10 '09 at 9:04









                  Phil PPhil P

                  1,75397




                  1,75397













                  • +1 This answer is awesome - particularly noting the point about the script needs to being executable! Thanks!

                    – FXQuantTrader
                    Jan 9 '15 at 6:10











                  • Very subtle explanation. My upvote

                    – Fokwa Best
                    Oct 24 '16 at 12:58



















                  • +1 This answer is awesome - particularly noting the point about the script needs to being executable! Thanks!

                    – FXQuantTrader
                    Jan 9 '15 at 6:10











                  • Very subtle explanation. My upvote

                    – Fokwa Best
                    Oct 24 '16 at 12:58

















                  +1 This answer is awesome - particularly noting the point about the script needs to being executable! Thanks!

                  – FXQuantTrader
                  Jan 9 '15 at 6:10





                  +1 This answer is awesome - particularly noting the point about the script needs to being executable! Thanks!

                  – FXQuantTrader
                  Jan 9 '15 at 6:10













                  Very subtle explanation. My upvote

                  – Fokwa Best
                  Oct 24 '16 at 12:58





                  Very subtle explanation. My upvote

                  – Fokwa Best
                  Oct 24 '16 at 12:58













                  18














                  Making crontab running is easy only . Here I am going to say how to run crontab jobs. It is useful for anyone who is stuck on crontab.



                  */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh


                  To make the script executable, we have to do:



                  chmod +x home/hacks/notify.sh


                  Here i run this script for every one minute ...
                  By doing below script, you can write it in a log file to find whether its working



                  write log



                  */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh>>test.log


                  send mail



                  */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh>>test.log | mail -s "Hi this is example" user@domain.com





                  share|improve this answer





















                  • 2





                    isnt that "*/1 * * * * sh /home/hacks/notify.sh" will also work ?

                    – user1179459
                    Sep 25 '15 at 1:14
















                  18














                  Making crontab running is easy only . Here I am going to say how to run crontab jobs. It is useful for anyone who is stuck on crontab.



                  */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh


                  To make the script executable, we have to do:



                  chmod +x home/hacks/notify.sh


                  Here i run this script for every one minute ...
                  By doing below script, you can write it in a log file to find whether its working



                  write log



                  */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh>>test.log


                  send mail



                  */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh>>test.log | mail -s "Hi this is example" user@domain.com





                  share|improve this answer





















                  • 2





                    isnt that "*/1 * * * * sh /home/hacks/notify.sh" will also work ?

                    – user1179459
                    Sep 25 '15 at 1:14














                  18












                  18








                  18







                  Making crontab running is easy only . Here I am going to say how to run crontab jobs. It is useful for anyone who is stuck on crontab.



                  */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh


                  To make the script executable, we have to do:



                  chmod +x home/hacks/notify.sh


                  Here i run this script for every one minute ...
                  By doing below script, you can write it in a log file to find whether its working



                  write log



                  */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh>>test.log


                  send mail



                  */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh>>test.log | mail -s "Hi this is example" user@domain.com





                  share|improve this answer















                  Making crontab running is easy only . Here I am going to say how to run crontab jobs. It is useful for anyone who is stuck on crontab.



                  */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh


                  To make the script executable, we have to do:



                  chmod +x home/hacks/notify.sh


                  Here i run this script for every one minute ...
                  By doing below script, you can write it in a log file to find whether its working



                  write log



                  */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh>>test.log


                  send mail



                  */1 * * * * cd /home/hacks && sh notify.sh>>test.log | mail -s "Hi this is example" user@domain.com






                  share|improve this answer














                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer








                  edited Dec 28 '12 at 16:35









                  Community

                  1




                  1










                  answered Mar 25 '10 at 6:05









                  AravindAravind

                  291138




                  291138








                  • 2





                    isnt that "*/1 * * * * sh /home/hacks/notify.sh" will also work ?

                    – user1179459
                    Sep 25 '15 at 1:14














                  • 2





                    isnt that "*/1 * * * * sh /home/hacks/notify.sh" will also work ?

                    – user1179459
                    Sep 25 '15 at 1:14








                  2




                  2





                  isnt that "*/1 * * * * sh /home/hacks/notify.sh" will also work ?

                  – user1179459
                  Sep 25 '15 at 1:14





                  isnt that "*/1 * * * * sh /home/hacks/notify.sh" will also work ?

                  – user1179459
                  Sep 25 '15 at 1:14











                  5














                  4 hypothesis:




                  • the cron daemon is not running (do a ps axfww | grep cron and check)


                  • the notify-send is trying to send output to a terminal, or an X session -- but it is ran from within the cron environment and it does not know "who to talk to", so to speak.


                  • your script is not executable


                  • the home/ path in the crontab script is relative to the user the scripts gets executed as. Try using the full path







                  share|improve this answer






























                    5














                    4 hypothesis:




                    • the cron daemon is not running (do a ps axfww | grep cron and check)


                    • the notify-send is trying to send output to a terminal, or an X session -- but it is ran from within the cron environment and it does not know "who to talk to", so to speak.


                    • your script is not executable


                    • the home/ path in the crontab script is relative to the user the scripts gets executed as. Try using the full path







                    share|improve this answer




























                      5












                      5








                      5







                      4 hypothesis:




                      • the cron daemon is not running (do a ps axfww | grep cron and check)


                      • the notify-send is trying to send output to a terminal, or an X session -- but it is ran from within the cron environment and it does not know "who to talk to", so to speak.


                      • your script is not executable


                      • the home/ path in the crontab script is relative to the user the scripts gets executed as. Try using the full path







                      share|improve this answer















                      4 hypothesis:




                      • the cron daemon is not running (do a ps axfww | grep cron and check)


                      • the notify-send is trying to send output to a terminal, or an X session -- but it is ran from within the cron environment and it does not know "who to talk to", so to speak.


                      • your script is not executable


                      • the home/ path in the crontab script is relative to the user the scripts gets executed as. Try using the full path








                      share|improve this answer














                      share|improve this answer



                      share|improve this answer








                      edited Dec 10 '09 at 10:16

























                      answered Dec 10 '09 at 8:42









                      lorenzoglorenzog

                      1,62711223




                      1,62711223























                          1














                          Add export DISPLAY=:0 above the notify-send line in your script. This addresses lornezog's second point.






                          share|improve this answer




























                            1














                            Add export DISPLAY=:0 above the notify-send line in your script. This addresses lornezog's second point.






                            share|improve this answer


























                              1












                              1








                              1







                              Add export DISPLAY=:0 above the notify-send line in your script. This addresses lornezog's second point.






                              share|improve this answer













                              Add export DISPLAY=:0 above the notify-send line in your script. This addresses lornezog's second point.







                              share|improve this answer












                              share|improve this answer



                              share|improve this answer










                              answered Mar 11 '12 at 0:33









                              W_WhalleyW_Whalley

                              3,06711115




                              3,06711115























                                  0














                                  You have to open crontab by the following command:



                                  crontab -u username -e (to edit) -l(to list) -r(to remove) 10(minutes) 8-15(hours) *(Day of month) *(month) 1,3,5(days of week) /path/to/script/script_name.sh


                                  This will run your script once an hour from 8AM-3PM at 10 minutes past the hour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.






                                  share|improve this answer






























                                    0














                                    You have to open crontab by the following command:



                                    crontab -u username -e (to edit) -l(to list) -r(to remove) 10(minutes) 8-15(hours) *(Day of month) *(month) 1,3,5(days of week) /path/to/script/script_name.sh


                                    This will run your script once an hour from 8AM-3PM at 10 minutes past the hour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.






                                    share|improve this answer




























                                      0












                                      0








                                      0







                                      You have to open crontab by the following command:



                                      crontab -u username -e (to edit) -l(to list) -r(to remove) 10(minutes) 8-15(hours) *(Day of month) *(month) 1,3,5(days of week) /path/to/script/script_name.sh


                                      This will run your script once an hour from 8AM-3PM at 10 minutes past the hour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.






                                      share|improve this answer















                                      You have to open crontab by the following command:



                                      crontab -u username -e (to edit) -l(to list) -r(to remove) 10(minutes) 8-15(hours) *(Day of month) *(month) 1,3,5(days of week) /path/to/script/script_name.sh


                                      This will run your script once an hour from 8AM-3PM at 10 minutes past the hour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.







                                      share|improve this answer














                                      share|improve this answer



                                      share|improve this answer








                                      edited Jul 9 '11 at 1:47









                                      3498DB

                                      15.7k114762




                                      15.7k114762










                                      answered Dec 10 '09 at 10:00







                                      ravindrakhokharia






























                                          0














                                          First of All, we need to edit the crontab with Command crontab -eand than Inside this Crontab add the Path of Executable script and in your Case like this
                                          * 14 * * * home/hacks/notify.sh >/dev/null 2>&1 .



                                          Start /Stop / restart cron service




                                          • /etc/init.d/crond start /stop / restart

                                          • service crond start /stop /restart

                                          • systemctl stop crond.service


                                          systemctl stop crond.service






                                          share|improve this answer




























                                            0














                                            First of All, we need to edit the crontab with Command crontab -eand than Inside this Crontab add the Path of Executable script and in your Case like this
                                            * 14 * * * home/hacks/notify.sh >/dev/null 2>&1 .



                                            Start /Stop / restart cron service




                                            • /etc/init.d/crond start /stop / restart

                                            • service crond start /stop /restart

                                            • systemctl stop crond.service


                                            systemctl stop crond.service






                                            share|improve this answer


























                                              0












                                              0








                                              0







                                              First of All, we need to edit the crontab with Command crontab -eand than Inside this Crontab add the Path of Executable script and in your Case like this
                                              * 14 * * * home/hacks/notify.sh >/dev/null 2>&1 .



                                              Start /Stop / restart cron service




                                              • /etc/init.d/crond start /stop / restart

                                              • service crond start /stop /restart

                                              • systemctl stop crond.service


                                              systemctl stop crond.service






                                              share|improve this answer













                                              First of All, we need to edit the crontab with Command crontab -eand than Inside this Crontab add the Path of Executable script and in your Case like this
                                              * 14 * * * home/hacks/notify.sh >/dev/null 2>&1 .



                                              Start /Stop / restart cron service




                                              • /etc/init.d/crond start /stop / restart

                                              • service crond start /stop /restart

                                              • systemctl stop crond.service


                                              systemctl stop crond.service







                                              share|improve this answer












                                              share|improve this answer



                                              share|improve this answer










                                              answered Oct 24 '15 at 12:00









                                              kunalkunal

                                              13




                                              13























                                                  -2














                                                  quite simple, add following line at bottom of the crontab file via:
                                                  sudo nano /etc/crontab



                                                  @reboot root cd /home/pi/node-sonos-http-api && npm start &






                                                  share|improve this answer


























                                                  • This does not seem to be an answer to the question.

                                                    – Ljm Dullaart
                                                    Dec 28 '18 at 19:00
















                                                  -2














                                                  quite simple, add following line at bottom of the crontab file via:
                                                  sudo nano /etc/crontab



                                                  @reboot root cd /home/pi/node-sonos-http-api && npm start &






                                                  share|improve this answer


























                                                  • This does not seem to be an answer to the question.

                                                    – Ljm Dullaart
                                                    Dec 28 '18 at 19:00














                                                  -2












                                                  -2








                                                  -2







                                                  quite simple, add following line at bottom of the crontab file via:
                                                  sudo nano /etc/crontab



                                                  @reboot root cd /home/pi/node-sonos-http-api && npm start &






                                                  share|improve this answer















                                                  quite simple, add following line at bottom of the crontab file via:
                                                  sudo nano /etc/crontab



                                                  @reboot root cd /home/pi/node-sonos-http-api && npm start &







                                                  share|improve this answer














                                                  share|improve this answer



                                                  share|improve this answer








                                                  edited Dec 28 '18 at 16:32









                                                  Mureinik

                                                  2,36561625




                                                  2,36561625










                                                  answered Dec 28 '18 at 16:01









                                                  Martini7Martini7

                                                  1




                                                  1













                                                  • This does not seem to be an answer to the question.

                                                    – Ljm Dullaart
                                                    Dec 28 '18 at 19:00



















                                                  • This does not seem to be an answer to the question.

                                                    – Ljm Dullaart
                                                    Dec 28 '18 at 19:00

















                                                  This does not seem to be an answer to the question.

                                                  – Ljm Dullaart
                                                  Dec 28 '18 at 19:00





                                                  This does not seem to be an answer to the question.

                                                  – Ljm Dullaart
                                                  Dec 28 '18 at 19:00


















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