I have written a PHP script which generates an SQL file containing all tables in my database. What I want to do is execute this script daily or every n days. I have read about cron jobs but I am using Windows. How can I automate the script execution on the server?
7 Answers
You'll need to add a scheduled task to call the URL.
First of all, read up here: MS KB - this is for Windows XP.
Second, you'll need some way to call the URL - i'd recommend using something like wget - this way you can call the URL and save the output to a file, so you can see what the debug output is. You can get hold of wget on this page.
Final step is, as Gabriel says, write a batch file to tie all this up, then away you go.
e: wget is pretty simple to use, but if you have any issues, leave a comment and I'll help out.
ee: thinking about it, you don't even really need a batch file, and could just call wget directly..
11 Comments
add a scheduled task to request the url. either using a batch file or a script file (WSH).
http://blog.netnerds.net/2007/01/vbscript-download-and-save-a-binary-file/
this script will allow you to download binary data from a web source. Modify it to work for you particular case. This vbs file can either be run directly or executed from within a script. Alternately you do not have to save the file using the script, you can just output the contents (WScript.Echo objXMLHTTP.ResponseBody) and utilize the CMD out to file argument:
cscript download.vbs > logfile.log
save that bad boy in a .bat file somewhere useful and call it in the scheduler: http://lifehacker.com/153089/hack-attack-using-windows-scheduled-tasks
2 Comments
Cron is not always available on many hosting accounts.
But try this: http://www.phpjobscheduler.co.uk/ its free, has a useful interface so you can see all the scheduled tasks and will run on any host that provides php and mysql.
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You can use ATrigger scheduling service. A PHP library is also available to create scheduled tasks without overhead. Reporting, Analytics, Error Handling and more benefits.
Disclaimer: I was among the ATrigger team. It's a freeware and I have not any commercial purpose.
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Windows doesn't have cron, but it does come with the 'at' command. It's not as flexible as cron, but it will allow you to schedule arbitrary tasks for execution from the command line.