Trouble running a PHP script with CRON

Question

I created a php file I want to run all the time. I then created a basic wrapper I want CRON to run to insure the script is still running - and restart it if needed.

My crontab -e entry is like this:

20 * * * * /var/www/bot/cron.php

The contents of cron.php look like this.

#!/usr/bin/php
<?php
@exec ('ps aux | grep loop', $output, $ret_var);

$running = false;
foreach ($output as $line)
{
    if (strpos($line, 'bot.php') !== false)
    {
        $running = true;
        break;
    }
}

if (! $running)
{
    @exec('/usr/bin/nohup php ' . __DIR__ . '/bot.php >/var/log/bot_out 2>&1 &');
}

die();

However, I'm having trouble getting this working. Is there something I'm missing?

I'm not getting anything on any error log, and /var/log/bot_out does show some runtime errors so I know PHP must be called.

PHP Warning:  Module 'apc' already loaded in Unknown on line 0
PHP Warning:  Module 'suhosin' already loaded in Unknown on line 0

This really seems like it should be something that's handled in a bash script, not a PHP script. Have it check if ps aux | grep -i loop | grep -i bot.php is a zero length string. If it is, launch the bot script, otherwise do nothing. Secondly, I think that cron line should read: 20 * * * * php /var/www/bot/cron.php. — Mr. Llama
– Mr. Llama, Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 15:54
What are the permissions on the file? How do those permissions match up with those you are executing cron as? Is /usr/bin/php the correct path to your PHP CLI executable? — Mike Brant
– Mike Brant, Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 15:54
@GigaWatt, my bash scripting is weak in this area, do you have an example script? — Xeoncross
– Xeoncross, Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 15:55
Give something like this a shot: if [ -z $(ps aux | grep -i loop | grep -i bot.php) ]; then php /some/dir/bot.php; fi — Mr. Llama
– Mr. Llama, Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 15:56
@Gigawatt It doesn't need php in the cron command as he is using a shebang to identify the path to the PHP executable. — Mike Brant
– Mike Brant, Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 15:56

Surace · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-02 16:19:51Z

1

20 * * * * /var/www/bot/cron.sh

then contents of cron.sh

#!/bin/bash
KP=$(pgrep -P 1 -f bot.php)
if [ "X$KP" = "X" ]
  then
    /usr/bin/nohup php PATH_TO_YOUR_SCRIPT/bot.php 
fi

answered Oct 2, 2012 at 16:19

Surace

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2 Comments

Xeoncross Over a year ago

Works, but /usr/bin/nohup: ignoring input and appending output to '/home/user/nohup.out' Any way to log (or ignore) output?

Mr. Llama Over a year ago

Append a 2>/dev/null after the command. It'll dump STDERR into the abyss.

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