> > Thanks Michael.  I'd like to have more control over when the commands
> > are run.  Maybe the system crontab (cronbase) should be used when that
> > control isn't necessary or to allow programs to add stuff to a crontab,
> > and a user crontab should be used when more control is necessary?
> >
>
> I personally like the idea of the cron.{daily,weekly,...}, but the
> implementation is a little goofy. On our mail server, I've added an
> additional directory called cron.bihourly to update virus/spam
> signatures every two hours. The simplest way to accomplish this is to add,
>
>   # Run every two hours
>   0  */2 * * *  root   find -L /etc/cron.bihourly -type f -executable \
>                             -execdir '{}' \;
>
> in the global /etc/crontab. I'm sure this is horribly deficient
> according to whoever implemented the run-crons stuff, but for me the
> additional clarity is worth it.
>
> You can of course add anything else you like in the global/user
> crontabs, and they'll work normally.

OK, I've moved all of my user crontabs (including root) to /etc/crontab.

> But be careful: do you really want `emerge -puDN` to run 15 minutes
> after you start an `eix-sync`? Or do you just want it to run when
> `eix-sync` is done? If it's the latter, you don't want to schedule it 15
> minutes later -- you could hit a slow mirror and still be updating when
> the `emerge` kicks off. In that case it's better to put all of the
> commands in one script, and schedule that when you want. That way the
> commands occur in sequence, and you can bail out if something fails.

Done.

> > I think it's better for me to pipe the commands to mailx.  I get mail if
> > I run this on the command line
> >
> > emerge -pvDuN world | /usr/bin/mail -s "subject" -a "From: from"
> > my@email.com <mailto:my@email.com>
> >
> > But I don't get any mail when it runs in the crontab.  Do you know why
> > that's happening?  I do get mail from 'emerge -pvDuN world' run in the
> > crontab without piping it to mail.

I got it working in /etc/crontab.  Should I file a bug for
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/cron-guide.xml to mention that vixie-cron must
be restarted when making changes to /etc/crontab?  It says:

"Note that only Vixie-cron schedules jobs in /etc/crontab automatically."

> I'm not sure. I do the same thing, though, albeit with a temporary file
> (and it works). Maybe try `echo`ing the output to a file? This script
> emails me the current iptables to make sure fail2ban hasn't gone berserk:
>
>   #!/bin/bash
>
>   # Send the current iptables -L -n output to the postmaster.
>
>   TMPFILE=/tmp/iptables-state.log
>   MAILADDR="postmaster@example.com"
>
>   echo "To: $MAILADDR" > $TMPFILE
>   echo "From: root@mx1.example.com" >> $TMPFILE
>   echo "Subject: mx1 iptables state" >> $TMPFILE
>
>   iptables -L -n >> $TMPFILE
>
>   sendmail -f root@mx1.example.com \
>            $MAILADDR              \
>            < $TMPFILE
>
>   rm $TMPFILE
>
> It's not very fancy but it does work. If a temp file works for you, it
> might help you narrow down the problem.

Wouldn't you rather use a one-liner like this?

iptables -L -n | mail -s "mx1 iptables state" -a "From: root@mx1.example.com"
postmaster@example.com

- Grant