CODEWITHSUNDEEP
rcron
analyticsPierce
analyticsPierce

Reputation: 3025

How to schedule R script in crontab on Mac Snow Leopard?

So I have an R file that I would like to schedule to run every 10 minutes. I have created an entry for the file in crontab through the Terminal (using crontab -e). As so:

*/10    *       *       *       *       root    /Users/A/Documents/code/r/r_file.r

When I run the commands in the console it executes as designed and I can verify records in the database. However, with this cron setup I am not getting the end result.

I did get the following error message:

/bin/sh: root: command not found

I am sure this is a total rookie question as I do not have much experience with crontab. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jason

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1807

Answers (2)

grin
grin

Reputation: 8201

The "root" part of you crontab line is what's screwing you up. When you use crontab -e, you should not specify the user because all the commands run as your current user (i.e. the user you are logged in as when you run crontab -e).

Also, you should always use full paths in your crontab.

The cron line should look like this:

*/10 * * * * /path/to/Rscript /Users/A/Documents/code/r/r_file.r

Upvotes: 2

Dirk is no longer here
Dirk is no longer here

Reputation: 368201

Is Rscript is in your path? More importantly, is it in path of the user running the commamd, here root? (Also consider running the command as you).

If so, try

*/10 * * * *      yourlogin    Rscript /Users/..../file.R

Test your understanding of crontab with a simpler job that just stores timestamps, maybe

*/10 * * * *      yourlogin    date > /tmp/testcrontab.txt

Once you have that mastered, run a simple R script and then move on to your real script.

Upvotes: 1

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