Date: Mon, 2 Mar 2009 02:03:36 +0000 From: Frank Shute <frank@shute.org.uk> To: APseudoUtopia <apseudoutopia@gmail.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Cron Not Sending Mail Message-ID: <20090302020336.GA18386@melon.esperance-linux.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <27ade5280903011124v4d6d9fdq2071d5ab44a37ca9@mail.gmail.com> References: <27ade5280903011124v4d6d9fdq2071d5ab44a37ca9@mail.gmail.com>
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On Sun, Mar 01, 2009 at 02:24:47PM -0500, APseudoUtopia wrote: > > Cron is not sending output as emails. I noticed this when I stopped > seeing the output of a backup script in my daily email. I thought > there was a problem with the backup script - but no, it's cron not > sending the emails. > > I had this problem before on 6.1, which I never found a solution to. I > gave up on it, and eventually I upgraded to 7.1. After the upgrade, > cron worked perfectly. However, I just noticed that it stopped working > again. I have no idea what changed (It's a production server, I > haven't been playing with config files). > > User www's mail is redirected to root, which is redirected to a @gmail > account via /etc/aliases. > This is on 7.1-RELEASE-p3 running a custom kernel. > > Any solution to this problem would be fantastic. I use the emails from > cron on a daily basis, and it really messes me up to have it not > working. > > ##### > # User www's crontab > # Note, I also tried removing the MAILTO to no avail > ##### > MAILTO=root > # m h dom mon dow cmd > * * * * * echo "Hello" > > > #### > # /var/log/cron > #### > Mar 1 19:22:00 youcant /usr/sbin/cron[22627]: (operator) CMD > (/usr/libexec/save-entropy) > Mar 1 19:22:00 youcant cron[22627]: NSSWITCH(nss_method_lookup): nis, > group_compat, setgrent, not found > Mar 1 19:22:00 youcant cron[22627]: NSSWITCH(nss_method_lookup): nis, > group_compat, endgrent, not found > Mar 1 19:22:00 youcant cron[22627]: NSSWITCH(nss_method_lookup): nis, > passwd_compat, endpwent, not found > Mar 1 19:22:00 youcant /usr/sbin/cron[22628]: (www) CMD (echo "Hello") > Mar 1 19:22:00 youcant cron[22628]: NSSWITCH(nss_method_lookup): nis, > group_compat, setgrent, not found > Mar 1 19:22:00 youcant cron[22628]: NSSWITCH(nss_method_lookup): nis, > group_compat, endgrent, not found > Mar 1 19:22:00 youcant cron[22628]: NSSWITCH(nss_method_lookup): nis, > passwd_compat, endpwent, not found > Mar 1 19:22:00 youcant cron[22630]: NSSWITCH(nss_method_lookup): nis, > group_compat, setgrent, not found > Mar 1 19:22:00 youcant cron[22630]: NSSWITCH(nss_method_lookup): nis, > group_compat, endgrent, not found > Mar 1 19:22:00 youcant cron[22630]: NSSWITCH(nss_method_lookup): nis, > passwd_compat, endpwent, not found > > > > #### > # /var/log/maillog > #### > Mar 1 19:22:00 youcant sendmail[22630]: n21JM0Gl022630: from=www, > size=0, class=0, nrcpts=0, > msgid=<200903011922.n21JM0Gl022630@youcant.tastetherainbow.ws>, > relay=www@localhost It looks like you're using user: www for your crontab. Unfortunately, from /etc/passwd: www:*:80:80:World Wide Web Owner:/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin i.e user www can't do much without a shell. Create a crontab as a user with a shell, MAILTO to your gmail account. The user may want to be a member of a group with privileges. Or use sudo. Don't forget to add him to /var/cron/allow as per manpage for crontab(1). You could set SHELL in your crontab for www (might work) but I'd use a different user who's a member of group operator maybe. Hope that helps. Regards, -- Frank Contact info: http://www.shute.org.uk/misc/contact.html
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