Test a weekly cron job
I'd use a lock file and then set the cron job to run every minute. (use crontab -e and * * * * * /path/to/job) That way you can just keep editing the files and each minute they'll be tested out. Additionally, you can stop the cronjob by just touching the lock file.
#!/bin/sh
if [ -e /tmp/cronlock ]
then
echo "cronjob locked"
exit 1
fi
touch /tmp/cronlock
<...do your regular cron here ....>
rm -f /tmp/cronlock
After messing about with some stuff in cron which wasn't instantly compatible I found that the following approach was nice for debugging:
crontab -e
* * * * * /path/to/prog var1 var2 &>>/tmp/cron_debug_log.log
This will run the task once a minute and you can simply look in the /tmp/cron_debug_log.log file to figure out what is going on.
It is not exactly the "fire job" you might be looking for, but this helped me a lot when debugging a script that didn't work in cron at first.
A wee bit beyond the scope of your question... but here's what I do.
The "how do I test a cron job?" question is closely connected to "how do I test scripts that run in non-interactive contexts launched by other programs?" In cron, the trigger is some time condition, but lots of other *nix facilities launch scripts or script fragments in non-interactive ways, and often the conditions in which those scripts run contain something unexpected and cause breakage until the bugs are sorted out. (See also: https://stackoverflow.com/a/17805088/237059 )
A general approach to this problem is helpful to have.
One of my favorite techniques is to use a script I wrote called 'crontest'. It launches the target command inside a GNU screen session from within cron, so that you can attach with a separate terminal to see what's going on, interact with the script, even use a debugger.
To set this up, you would use "all stars" in your crontab entry, and specify crontest as the first command on the command line, e.g.:
* * * * * crontest /command/to/be/tested --param1 --param2
So now cron will run your command every minute, but crontest will ensure that only one instance runs at a time. If the command takes time to run, you can do a "screen -x" to attach and watch it run. If the command is a script, you can put a "read" command at the top to make it stop and wait for the screen attachment to complete (hit enter after attaching)
If your command is a bash script, you can do this instead:
* * * * * crontest --bashdb /command/to/be/tested --param1 --param2
Now, if you attach with "screen -x", you'll be facing an interactive bashdb session, and you can step through the code, examine variables, etc.
#!/bin/bash
# crontest
# See https://github.com/Stabledog/crontest for canonical source.
# Test wrapper for cron tasks. The suggested use is:
#
# 1. When adding your cron job, use all 5 stars to make it run every minute
# 2. Wrap the command in crontest
#
#
# Example:
#
# $ crontab -e
# * * * * * /usr/local/bin/crontest $HOME/bin/my-new-script --myparams
#
# Now, cron will run your job every minute, but crontest will only allow one
# instance to run at a time.
#
# crontest always wraps the command in "screen -d -m" if possible, so you can
# use "screen -x" to attach and interact with the job.
#
# If --bashdb is used, the command line will be passed to bashdb. Thus you
# can attach with "screen -x" and debug the remaining command in context.
#
# NOTES:
# - crontest can be used in other contexts, it doesn't have to be a cron job.
# Any place where commands are invoked without an interactive terminal and
# may need to be debugged.
#
# - crontest writes its own stuff to /tmp/crontest.log
#
# - If GNU screen isn't available, neither is --bashdb
#
crontestLog=/tmp/crontest.log
lockfile=$(if [[ -d /var/lock ]]; then echo /var/lock/crontest.lock; else echo /tmp/crontest.lock; fi )
useBashdb=false
useScreen=$( if which screen &>/dev/null; then echo true; else echo false; fi )
innerArgs="$@"
screenBin=$(which screen 2>/dev/null)
function errExit {
echo "[-err-] $@" | tee -a $crontestLog >&2
}
function log {
echo "[-stat-] $@" >> $crontestLog
}
function parseArgs {
while [[ ! -z $1 ]]; do
case $1 in
--bashdb)
if ! $useScreen; then
errExit "--bashdb invalid in crontest because GNU screen not installed"
fi
if ! which bashdb &>/dev/null; then
errExit "--bashdb invalid in crontest: no bashdb on the PATH"
fi
useBashdb=true
;;
--)
shift
innerArgs="$@"
return 0
;;
*)
innerArgs="$@"
return 0
;;
esac
shift
done
}
if [[ -z $sourceMe ]]; then
# Lock the lockfile (no, we do not wish to follow the standard
# advice of wrapping this in a subshell!)
exec 9>$lockfile
flock -n 9 || exit 1
# Zap any old log data:
[[ -f $crontestLog ]] && rm -f $crontestLog
parseArgs "$@"
log "crontest starting at $(date)"
log "Raw command line: $@"
log "Inner args: $@"
log "screenBin: $screenBin"
log "useBashdb: $( if $useBashdb; then echo YES; else echo no; fi )"
log "useScreen: $( if $useScreen; then echo YES; else echo no; fi )"
# Were building a command line.
cmdline=""
# If screen is available, put the task inside a pseudo-terminal
# owned by screen. That allows the developer to do a "screen -x" to
# interact with the running command:
if $useScreen; then
cmdline="$screenBin -D -m "
fi
# If bashdb is installed and --bashdb is specified on the command line,
# pass the command to bashdb. This allows the developer to do a "screen -x" to
# interactively debug a bash shell script:
if $useBashdb; then
cmdline="$cmdline $(which bashdb) "
fi
# Finally, append the target command and params:
cmdline="$cmdline $innerArgs"
log "cmdline: $cmdline"
# And run the whole schlock:
$cmdline
res=$?
log "Command result: $res"
echo "[-result-] $(if [[ $res -eq 0 ]]; then echo ok; else echo fail; fi)" >> $crontestLog
# Release the lock:
9<&-
fi
Just do what cron does, run the following as root:
run-parts -v /etc/cron.weekly
... or the next one if you receive the "Not a directory: -v" error:
run-parts /etc/cron.weekly -v
Option -v prints the script names before they are run.