Score:1

Ubuntu

crontab not deleting files

padjee

10/19/23, 10:58 AM

I have crontab commands on Ubuntu 20.04, that looks like this :

* * * * * /usr/bin/find /backup-nfs/ -name "*.sql" -path "/backup-nfs/*.sql" -type f -mtime +1 -delete
* * * * * find /backup-nfs/ -name "*.sql" -path "/backup-nfs/*.sql" -type f -mtime +1 -delete
* * * * * find /backup-nfs/ -name "*.sql" -type f -mtime +1 -delete
* * * * * find /backup-nfs/ -name "*.sql" -path "/backup-nfs/*.sql" -exec rm -rf {} \;
* * * * * find /backup-nfs/ -name "*.sql" -type f -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} \;

Note : i try those commands one at a time

all are not working. The same commands work on another 3 servers. But when they are executed on terminal like this find /backup-nfs/ -name "*.sql" -path "/backup-nfs/*.sql" -type file -mtime +1 -ls, they are just fine

What is wrong with this server? which log should I see?

thankyou

0 + 13

server

administrator

20.04

Jos

10/19/23, 11:08 AM

Why do you think that they don't work? Do you get an error message? Are files not deleted? And another question: are you sure you want to execute each of these commands every minute within one hour?

David

10/19/23, 11:08 AM

There is no Ubuntu version 20.4

steeldriver

10/19/23, 11:09 AM

`find -type file` tells me `find: Must separate multiple arguments to -type using: ','` - are you sure that shouldn't be `-type f` ?

codlord

10/19/23, 11:12 AM

Easiest way to find out what is going on is to always send output of cron jobs to log file/s. Like `* * * * * my_job > /path_to_logs/mylog.log 2>&1` or to append to a file use `* * * * * my_job >> /path_to_logs/mylog.log 2>&1` The environment that cron runs in is not the same as your shell so start by logging and see if that shows you the reason for the failure.

terdon

10/19/23, 11:13 AM

First check: 1) is cron installed and working? ii) Do any commands in a crontab work? iii) are there actually files to delete? If you remove the `-delete` and add `> /tmp/find.log` at the end, is a `/tmp/find.log` created and does it contain files that were found by `find`? iv) add a `> /tmp/find.log 2>&1` to the end and check `/tmp/find.log`. Any errors? And do you really have all of these commands? Some will give an error, and the rest are redundant.

padjee

10/19/23, 11:27 AM

@Jos . well, off course not. It is just for testing crontab only and I actually use `* * * * *`

padjee

10/19/23, 11:29 AM

@steeldriver . I am sure that the files that want to be deleted are there. I can find them by using `find /backup-nfs/ -name "*.sql" -type file -mtime +1 -ls`

padjee

10/19/23, 11:31 AM

hi @codlord . thanks for the insight. I will try it.

padjee

10/19/23, 11:34 AM

@terdon hi, i) cron does exist ii) other commands, like `pg_dump` and `pg_dumpall` work fine. iii) the files are there and waiting to meet their demise iv) allright, I will do that. thanks

Rinzwind

10/19/23, 11:58 AM

only 1 of the commands has an absolute path; it is best to do them all like that ;)

padjee

10/19/23, 12:00 PM

@Rinzwind yup, I do put absolute path for all of them, but still don't work

Jos

10/19/23, 12:51 PM

What does `/var/log/syslog` say about these cron jobs?

padjee

10/19/23, 1:38 PM

after long winding road, I find the answer. it is so simple : `* * * * * find /backup-nfs/*.sql -mtime +1 -delete` . But, why does this one work?

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