problem with cron

[mickalo]

Hello,

there appears to be a problem with the files in the /etc/cron.d folder, all of sudden they seem to stop working. verified that crond is running and have restarted, but it doesn't seem to execute any of the files in the /etc/cron.d folder

is there something else that may be stopping them from being executed? Nothing has changed in this folder, all files where working fine then all of sudden seem to stop. the other cron folders(daily,weekly..etc) seem to be working tho.

any help would be appreciated.

Mickalo

[verdon]

I've noticed this in my Logwatch for the last few days and have been trying to find out anything about it. It may be related...

--------------------- Cron Begin ------------------------
Files with bad mode:
/etc/cron.d/bfd
---------------------- Cron End -------------------------


WHM 10.8.0 cPanel 10.8.1-R113
CentOS 3.6 i686 - WHM X v3.1.0

BTW... the file /etc/cron.d/bfd was 755. While doing some reading at rfx networks, I noticed that that file is now set to 644 when installing bfd. I tried changing the mode to that yesterday, but still had the entry in this morning's logwatch.

[jupiter]

Has anyone found an answer to this problem? I've tried just about everything I could thinkof including reinstalling BFD, fiddling with permissions and more..
my bfd cron line is
*/10 * * * * root /usr/local/sbin/bfd -q
and even when I manually try and run the cron file vial command line
./bfd I get this
./bfd: line 3: */10: No such file or directory
I also get that result in my log files including this one
crond[5410]: (*system*) BAD FILE MODE (/etc/cron.d/bfd)

I even tried removing it from my /etc/cron.d location and added it to
the master root crontab file adding it via crontab -e and I still get
the error.
I also checked the permissions on the /usr/local/bfd/bfd and all is
what everyone sais it should be and the symlink is ok and working
from the /usr/local/sbin/ area

I'm stumped..

If anyone has the fix tothis I would appreciate it being posted to this thread.
Search is my friend, yes and I'm all about searched out! lol

Jupiter,

[chirpy]

Means the file permissions are getting screwed up by something:

chmod 644 /etc/cron.d/*

[jupiter]

Thanks for the response Stumpty, I Even tried that with the same/similar results...
When I did do the 644 I get permission denied

root@jupiter [/etc/cron.d]# ls -alS
total 16
drwx--x--x 71 root root 8192 Oct 26 12:48 ../
drwxr-xr-- 2 root root 4096 Oct 26 12:48 ./
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 76 Oct 26 12:48 bfd
root@jupiter [/etc/cron.d]# ./bfd
-bash: ./bfd: Permission denied
root@jupiter [/etc/cron.d]#

I even accessed as su root so executing a file should be no problem.

and as soon as I 754 it as suggested in one google search or even 755
I get this
root@jupiter [/etc/cron.d]# chmod 754 bfd
root@jupiter [/etc/cron.d]# ./bfd
./bfd: line 3: */10: No such file or directory
root@jupiter [/etc/cron.d]#


The files and directory exists that it's suppose to access.
Whats really weird is that provides a nice error in my
/var/log/cron
BUT as soon as I remove the /etc/cron.d/bfd all together and add a line to
my /var/spool/cron/root

this is the line
*/10 * * * * /usr/local/bfd/bfd -q > /dev/null 2>&1

I dont get the error any more and it seems to run fine although I dont have any proof of it yet other than getting no more errors in my /var/log/cron regarding the new addition.

It is suppose to be able to run via /etc/cron.d/bfd but why on earth would it deliver such an error from there... The permissions seem to be fine on the /etc/cron.d folder and cron jobs are indeed working on the box itself...


Jupiter

[jupiter]

Yep it works great as long as there is no /etc/cron.d/bfd and I simply add a line to the crontab file in /var/spool/cron/root
with a direct path to the program instead of the symlink one that was in the /etc/cron.d/bfd file (which incidentallky I tried changing to a direct path as well with same error result)
Simply add this line to my main root crontab and it worked like a charm.
*/10 * * * * /usr/local/bfd/bfd -q > /dev/null 2>&1

I just had a block report that came in via email as I posted my previous post...

I still am scratching my head as to why the /etc/cron.d seems to be a dud location for
the bfd cron directive. mmmmmm

Time for a coffee before I need a therapist as a result of this perplexing glitch..

Jupiter

[chirpy]

root@jupiter [/etc/cron.d]# ls -alS
total 16
drwx--x--x 71 root root 8192 Oct 26 12:48 ../
drwxr-xr-- 2 root root 4096 Oct 26 12:48 ./
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 76 Oct 26 12:48 bfd
root@jupiter [/etc/cron.d]# ./bfd
-bash: ./bfd: Permission denied
root@jupiter [/etc/cron.d]#

You cannot run the files in /etc/cron.d/ they're in crontab format, not shell scripts.

[pavemen]

Means the file permissions are getting screwed up by something:

chmod 644 /etc/cron.d/*

644 and 755 do not work as logwatch keeps complaining about bad file mode. any other ideas?

[pavemen]

any more info?

[pavemen]

i keep getting noticed from logwatch about this. it will be fixed one day all by itself, then it will be listed in logwatch again

how can i tell if these scripts are running, even with the bad file mode notice?