Execute a shell script everyday at specific time

Question

I have a simple shell script that just checks the contents of a directory and if anything was added during the day makes a copy of it to a backup folder. I'd like to execute this script at the end of each day (let's assume at 23:55).

The system(Debian) which this scripts reside on it, is always on (kind of server)

How can I do that?

[You are looking for cron](http://www.debian-tutorials.com/crontab-tutorial-cron-howto) — Parttimereaper, Jan 12 '16 at 21:11
Most likely, there is already a question which asks the substantially the same question. — Jonathan Leffler, Jan 12 '16 at 21:14
Careful: If you have a long-running script, you might have many instances running per day. — FlyingV, Jun 01 '20 at 19:24

Kurt Van den Branden · Answer 1 · 2016-01-12T21:49:26.537

58

To add a crontab job, type the following command at a UNIX/Linux shell prompt:

$ sudo crontab -e

Add the following line:

1 2 3 4 5 /path/to/script

where

1: Minutes (0-59)
2: Hours (0-23)
3: Days (1-31)
4: Month (1-12)
5: Day of the week(1-7)
/path/to/script - your own shell script

In your case it would be:

55 23 * * * /path/to/yourShellScript

edited Jan 12 '16 at 21:49

answered Jan 12 '16 at 21:28

Kurt Van den Branden

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score 34 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 03 '20 at 08:53

34

You want to edit your crontab file using

crontab -e

Then you want to add

55 23 * * * COMMAND TO BE EXECUTED

for more info look at this

edited Feb 03 '20 at 08:53

Simson

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answered Jan 12 '16 at 21:15

Parttimereaper

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file not found error from your link. You might want to update that – Snow Jan 08 '20 at 11:57

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 12 '16 at 21:15

4

I'm anything, but a linux expert, but a quick Google search conjured up this:

watch -n <your time> <your command/script>

This should do the trick. For more information, check this out: http://www.linfo.org/watch.html

answered Jan 12 '16 at 21:15

Christoph Pröschel

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Thanks! I'll go with cron – Sina Sh Jan 12 '16 at 21:27

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 12 '16 at 21:16

4

sudo crontab -e

55 23 * * * some_shell_script.sh

answered Jan 12 '16 at 21:16

algor

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score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 12 '16 at 21:17

3

Check out the Cron task scheduler built in to Debian. Simply add an entry for your script to your crontab file (see: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CronHowto).

answered Jan 12 '16 at 21:17

citysurrounded

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Execute a shell script everyday at specific time

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