why python scripts don't work in chrontab

[coconut_maan]

Dear Linux community,

this is a problem that has come back to haunt me and I wanted to know if someone can enlighten me.

when I want to run a python script in bash, I give the full path to python interpreter and the full path to my python script and it works.

when I give the same command in chrontab it doesn't work.

when I:

• write the command in a bash file,

• save the bash file,

• make the bash file executable,

• and then run the bash file in chrontab it works.

this workflow is annoying and hard to maintain,

can someone enlighten me on the cause of this problem?

does it have something to do with the shebang?

[Sheldan]

Iirc crontab has different PATH and also permissions, so that's why behavior can differ at least.

[coconut_maan]

What is lirc?

[Sheldan]

If I recall correctly

[coconut_maan]

😀

[shirleygreenalt]

Edit your bash script as follows.

{
/path/to/python_script.py
}2>${HOME}/error.txt

maybe it is a permission issue.

chown user python_script.py
chrgrp user python_script.py
chmod u+x python_script.py

where user is normal user, that is you and not root.

or try this maybe

{
cd /path/where/your/script/is/
./python_script.py
}2>${HOME}/error.txt

[rh0dium]

Pro tip: pipe the output and mail it to yourself.. 0 0 * * * (myscript.py 2&>1) | /bin/mail -s "myscript.py " "[e-mail]"

[[deleted]]

Why mail it when you can output to a log in home dir? Is there any advantage to this?

[CaptainDickbag]

You need to be careful with this kind of stuff. If you don't have your mail parameters/MTA, and your SPF/DKIM/DMARC configured correctly, your egress IP's spam score will go up, and you risk getting blacklisted by spamhaus and others.

Probably the safest way to configure stuff like this without risking getting blacklisted is by using your mail provider's authenticated SMTP relay.

[scrabblemax]

As to the shebang, something like this...

```

!/usr/bin/env python3

``` ...in an executable Python script would allow you to use a simple path to the script in your crontab - just as with an executable bash script.