valkarye Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Hope someone can help,I'm using RedHat 9 that seems to be working fine, with one exception - I'm unable to install or edit a new crontab, even as root. Following the man page and other tutorials, I've removed the crontab entry (crontab -u root -r) and then created a new file using vim and attempted to install the new crontab using the command: crontab foo.txt . After hitting enter, the system pauses for a few seconds and then returns back to a prompt - with no mention of installing a new crontab. Running crontab -e displays no information and any info that is updated and saved (:wq!) never displays the next time -e is run.ps -ef | grep cron shows that crond is running and /var/log/cron doesn't throw out any glaring errors (that I'm aware of).Any ideas?Thanks,EricP.S. This is system wide for all users Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Hi Eric This is a pretty weird problem indeed . . . . I am wondering if you still have the following files: /etc/crontab /etc/cron.hourly, daily, weekly, monthly /etc/anacrontab Also, is there maybe something blocked in /var/spool/cron/XXXX ? You might want to try to upgrade the crontab file, Here is the latest for RH 9 . . and install it with: # rpm -Uhv crontabs-1.10-5.noarch.rpm If that does no good maybe try the same with anacron # rpm -Uhv anacron-2.3-25.i386.rpm Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linuxdude32 Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Welcome to the forum, Valkarye!Root not having a crontab might be perfectly normal. I don't have Fedora but my SuSE system doesn't have one either: linux:~ # crontab -lno crontab for root I do, however, have cron.d, cron.daily, cron.weekly, cron.monthly directories under /etc, like Bruno talks about. I was able to create my own crontab, which I use for running xsetia@home and it appears here: linux:~ # crontab -u jason -l# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE - edit the master and reinstall.# (/tmp/crontab.6635 installed on Thu Apr 29 14:10:25 2004)# (Cron version -- $Id: crontab.c,v 2.13 1994/01/17 03:20:37 vixie Exp $)0 1,5,9,13,17,21 * * * cd setiathome-3.08.i686-pc-linux-gnu; ./setiwithgraphics If you setup the cronjob you created to output something to a log, you should be able to instantly see if it was loaded or just try displaying it like I have above. Let us know what error messages you get when you try this stuff since it helps us to help you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkarye Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 Thanks for the responses, here are my replies:BrunoAll cron and anacron components are present in /etcOnly the users I attempted to create crontabs for are listed under /var/spool/cron/XXXUpdating the rpms is a no-go as linux give me the standard "package foo is already installed"linuxdude32Crontab runs as root on 2 other Redhat 9 boxes that I test on. The problem with this box is that it is a production web and MySQL server and I'm trying to manage the backups better than manually running the backup scripts. This also explains why I'm hesitant to remove crontabs and anacron and reinstall (nothing ever goes smoothly for me).When I do crontab -l , I get no response - just a return. No mention of a crontab being present, even after I attempt to edit (via crontab -e).I am very confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linuxdude32 Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Not sure what's going on there. To re-install an RPM you already have you can force it:# rpm -Uvh --force foo.rpm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkarye Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 Just did the --force, but the result is still the same. All the logs look good: nothing bad in the spool, and /var/log/cron sure makes it look like everything is running properly.Any other place where an error might be logged? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Could this be a rights issue? What rights does your cron directory have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkarye Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 everything in /etc/cron* is owned by root Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linuxdude32 Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Following the man page and other tutorials, I've removed the crontab entry (crontab -u root -r) and then created a new file using vim and attempted to install the new crontab using the command: crontab foo.txt .Just noticed this after looking again. You created a new crontab using vim? Me thinks you have to run crontab -e right from the start, but maybe I'm off. You could try doing it that way since there doesn't seem to be anything there. Btw if you're doing backups, did you try just putting the script into /etc/cron.daily or which ever directory makes sense? Also, did you check root mail? Oftentime errors from cronjobs are sent to root unless directed not to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Just checking . . . is this the way you use crontab: http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/index.ph...14&t=503&st=253 ?? Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkarye Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 linuxdude32crontab done by starting with a file or by -e produces the same null result. Actually when you go the -e route, linux tells you that changes are made, but it's not the case.root or no other user has any mailbrunoThis is the way I have setup cron. Interestingly enough the entries in /var/spool/username are 0 byte files, in which the owner has rw privileges.OK, this looks like it might go somewhere.Investigating... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Hi EricJust for a test . . . . use the Tip I linked you to as a test to make a user-cron-job . . . and see if it works . . . My "cat /var/spool/cron/bruno" shows: [root@jupiter bruno]# cat /var/spool/cron/bruno# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE - edit the master and reinstall.# (Test_Cron installed on Sat Apr 17 21:21:28 2004)# (Cron version -- $Id: crontab.c,v 2.13 1994/01/17 03:20:37 vixie Exp $)0 * * * * play /home/bruno/Sounds/Hour.wav30 * * * * play /home/bruno/Sounds/HalfHour.wav The file I used to make it looks like this: 0 * * * * play /home/bruno/Sounds/Hour.wav30 * * * * play /home/bruno/Sounds/HalfHour.wav And is called Test_Cron, located in /home/bruno . . . the command I used was crontab Test_Cron Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkarye Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 And it finally looks like I've found a problem:When I try to manually modify the /var/spool/cron/root file (which sits at zero bytes) I receive a "write error in swap file" error when the file opens. Then when I manually put in scheduling info and attempt to save, I get a "write error (file system full)" error and am unable to save the file.df -h shows I have plenty of disk space so I think I've got a corrupt file system.Sound right? Comments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Right Eric we are there !! . . we found the culprit . . :DYou can not manually edit the /var/spool/cron/root file . . it says: # DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE - edit the master and reinstall.Now to set things straight could you do: # ls -al /var/spool/cron and post the results ? Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkarye Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 Right, I know you're not supposed to edit the /var/spool/cron/*user* file but since my files stay the same zero byte size and never have any contents, I had to try something.I just set up a dummy cronfile on my test box and directly edited the file using vim - looking for write errors. The file modified and saved correctly.I'm now about 95% sure this is a file system issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 And there is no hidden swapfile left behind ? . . . . . Check with "ls -al /var/spool/cron" for hidden files that are blocking normal functioning . . Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkarye Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 No hidden files, just the zero byte files for users (empty of course) and the . and .. files.This server sits in another city and runs headless, so is there anyway to check for filesystem corruption - I dare not reboot since if it is corrupt, I can't fsck from the console.I'm hosed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Hi EricYou can only fsck ( filesystemcheck ) on an unmounted drive . . . . so the answer is no . . . . . depending on if it is Ext2 or Ext3 ( journalled ) a reboot is NO or YES safe ;) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkarye Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 Everything is ext3. How do I run a fsck to check and repair (if necessary) upon the next reboot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 You don't . . . . if it asks to press Y or N if you want to check you do nothing, don't touch any key . . . . only then will it recover the journal . . Read: http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/index.ph...14&t=503&st=221 before you start !! Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkarye Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 Bruno, linuxdude32Thanks for all your help. I'm in the process of running badblocks on the mounts and it's turning up tons of errors, so it's more than likely a hardware problem. I've seen interactive filesystem fix sceens on ext3 before, so I'm going to wait until I'm sitting in front of the console before I reboot.All of your suggestions and comments were greatly appreciated. Needless to say, I've learned quite about cron - at least the way it should work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkarye Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 Sorry nlinecomputers, didn't mean to leave you out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 You're welcome Eric . . . . Was nice meeting you !Hope you get the problem sorted out. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Sorry nlinecomputers, didn't mean to leave you out!Thanks you didn't I was mostly lurking on this topic. Burno and Linuxdude were asking the same questions I would have asked but they beat me too it. I hope you have backups.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linuxdude32 Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Glad you figured it out, Eric. Hope your drive isn't going or that you have enough time to get the stuff of it first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.