2011-02-22 10:59:45     [cron] Script doesn't stop

2011-02-22 10:59:45     [cron] Script doesn't stop

Gilles Ganault (FRANCE)

Message: 98338   

Hello

Since "at" is not available for uClinux, a work-around I'm trying to use is to write a small Lua script which...

1. will be triggered by the main application,

2. make a copy of crontab before adding itself to it so the script is called a second time one minute later,

3. and then finally, remove itself by deleting the modified crontab and renaming the copy.

For some reason I can't figure, the script keeps running, altough it's no longer part of crontab the second time the script is ran :-/

Is there some feature in the uClinux version of cron (1.0-1) and/or in the Yaffs2 filesystem that could explain this behavior?

Here's the script:

====================

#!/var/tmp/lua

CRONTAB="/etc/config/crontab"

CRONTAB_COPY="/etc/config/crontab.orig"

MYSELF="/var/tmp/cron.lua"

-- read /etc/config/crontab

local file = assert(io.open (CRONTAB,"r"))

data = file:read("*a")

file:close()

-- check if file contains reference to cron.lua

-- HERE: WHY DOES SCRIPT KEEP RUNNING PAST THE SECOND RUN?

if(string.find(data, MYSELF)) then

        -- remove job from crontab by deleting current and renaming original

        command = string.format("rm %s",CRONTAB)

        os.execute(command)

        command = string.format("mv %s %s",CRONTAB_COPY,CRONTAB)

        os.execute(command)

else

        --  cp original crontab, and add MYSELF to copy

        command = string.format("cp %s %s",CRONTAB,CRONTAB_COPY)

        os.execute(command)

        --  Add myself to crontab so am run a second time in 1mn

        local file = assert(io.open (CRONTAB,"a"))

        file:write("*/1 * * * * root ",MYSELF,"\n")

        file:close()

end

====================

Thank you.

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2011-02-22 17:30:35     Re: [cron] Script doesn't stop

Mike Frysinger (UNITED STATES)

Message: 98344   

the embedded cron might act differently, but typically cron's need to be told when the config file is updated.  this happens by running `crontab <config file>`.  otherwise, they maintain their own internal state.

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2011-02-25 05:24:44     Re: [cron] Script doesn't stop

Gilles Ganault (FRANCE)

Message: 98439   

Thanks for the tip. The appliance doesn't have a "crontab" binary. I'll just stop cron, edit its crontab configuration file, and start cron, and perform the same operation in the script that is called by cron.