solaris 10 cron job won't run but will run fine from command line

Eve Bum

5/22/24, 8:30 PM

#!/bin/sh

 

#grab oldest file from queue

stuff=\`ls -1 /var/spool/lp/requests/localhost/ | /usr/bin/head -1\`

#pull printer name from lp requests (first line in file)

puff=\`cat $stuff | /usr/bin/head -1 | sed -e 's/-.*//' -e 's/$/ is having issues printing from /'\`

 

if [ "$(ls -A /var/spool/lp/requests/localhost/)" ]

then

        echo $puff | /usr/ucb/mail [email protected]
else

        echo lp queue is empty | /usr/ucb/mail [email protected]

fi

Works fine as a shell script; cron cannot cat $stuff

edit2: changed these 2, same result

stuff="(ls -1 /var/spool/lp/requests/localhost/ | /usr/bin/head -1)"


puff="$(cat $stuff | /usr/bin/head -1 | sed -e 's/-.*//' -e 's/$/ is having issues printing from /)"

0 + 3

solaris

cron

Gerald Schneider

5/23/24, 4:31 AM

Does this answer your question? [Why is my crontab not working, and how can I troubleshoot it?](https://serverfault.com/questions/449651/why-is-my-crontab-not-working-and-how-can-i-troubleshoot-it)

Eve Bum

5/23/24, 2:18 PM

No that DID NOT answer the question

Andrew Henle

5/24/24, 8:10 PM

*Works fine as a shell script* Huh? On my Solaris system, it never gets past `stuff=\\\`ls -1 /var/spool/lp/requests/localhost/ | /usr/bin/head -1\\\`` - it just emits `-1: not found` with those escaped backticks in place. And Solaris `sh` does not support `( )` as a replacement for backtick evaluation, so `stuff="(ls -1 /var/spool/lp/requests/localhost/ | /usr/bin/head -1)"` merely sets the `stuff` envval to the literal string `(ls -1 /var/spool/lp/requests/localhost/ | /usr/bin/head -1)`

Elon Musk

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EN: solaris 10 cron job won't run but will run fine from command line

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