Package: cron Version: 3.0pl1-116 Severity: normal I ran into this on Ubuntu Natty initially, but I can reproduce this on Debian Unstable, too.
It seems to be a more seldom and not yet fixed special case of the otherwise fixed http://bugs.debian.org/555954. As parts of #555954 definitely have been fixed, I decided not to reopen #555954 but file a new bug report and just refer to #555954. Here's how to reproduce the issue manually (a script for automated testing of the issue can be found later in this bug report): Create two valid crontab files in /etc/cron.d/, e.g test1 and test2. (I used "echo sometext `date` >> /tmp/cron-test" as command and changed the string "sometext" every time I edited the file. Then remove the final newline from test1. cron will spit out the following warning via syslog: May 24 23:05:01 nemo cron.info /usr/sbin/cron[1474]: (*system*test1) ERROR (Missing newline before EOF, this crontab file will be ignored) The cronjobs from test2 will continue to work, those in test1 won't. Now fix the missing newline in test1 by adding it again. It still won't run the cronjobs in there until you either: * Edit _another_ file in /etc/cron.d/, e.g. test2 * Create a new in /etc/cron.d/, e.g. test3 * Delete a file from /etc/cron.d/, e.g. test2 * Restart cron. If I produce a syntax error like in http://bugs.debian.org/555954 (e.g. by writing "syntax error" on a line of its own in test1 without a leading "#"), the same applies. So the "cron won't pick up new files in this directory" part of #555954 is fixed, but the "cron won't reload it" unfortunately isn't. IMHO cron should at least stat files in /etc/cron.d with known syntax errors every time and recheck their syntax if the mtime has changed, not only if other (valid) files have changed, vanished or popped up. The "mv local-test{~,}" pf Josip in [1] doesn't cover respectively avoids this case as it also changes other files in the directory (it removes "local-test~") which seems to trigger that cron checks _all_ files again. [1] http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=555954#101 With regards to Xavier's tests as described at http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=555954#129 I can't reproduce his results with the commands he gave for Squeeze. (I even used vi as he did, but that may result in one out of idontknowhowmany packages in Debian. Here it results in using nvi. :-) I suspect that possibly other files in the directory have been touched accidentially, too, or the bug has been reintroduced since then, but the cron package in Sid is still the same as in Squeeze, so the changed would have to be in another package then... So to be sure that I run the test without the danger of collateral changes, I fully automated it. See script, syslog and output below. I monitored the syslog with "logread -f | fgrep -i --color cron" of the installed busybox-syslogd package, but a "tail -F /var/log/syslog | grep -i cron" or similar should work fine on systems with a normal syslog daemon, too. The script: ---snip--- #!/bin/sh # Create the test crontabs echo 'syntax error' > test1 echo '* * * * * root echo test2 `date` >> /tmp/cron-test' > test2 # See what's all in /etc/cron.d/ ls -la --full-time /etc/cron.d/ # Sleep for two minutes. Now at least once, the syntax error should pop # up in the syslog and test2 should be executed twice. sleep 120 # Fix crontab file test1 echo '* * * * * root echo test1-fixed `date` >> /tmp/cron-test' > test1 # Sleep for another two minutes. Only test2 should be executed. sleep 120 # Now change test2 echo '* * * * * root echo test2-changed `date` >> /tmp/cron-test' > test2 # Sleep for another two minutes. Both, test1 and test2 should be executed. sleep 120 ---snap--- Executing the script with "sh -x" yields the following output: ---snip--- + echo syntax error + echo * * * * * root echo test2 `date` >> /tmp/cron-test + ls -la --full-time /etc/cron.d/ total 44 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2011-05-25 00:16:08.000000000 +0200 . drwxr-xr-x 197 root root 20480 2011-05-24 23:53:33.000000000 +0200 .. -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 244 2008-03-09 20:58:31.000000000 +0100 anacron -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 699 2009-10-11 15:27:58.000000000 +0200 dphys-config -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 102 2008-03-14 01:27:59.000000000 +0100 .placeholder -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 13 2011-05-25 00:16:08.000000000 +0200 test1 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 51 2011-05-25 00:16:08.000000000 +0200 test2 + sleep 120 + echo * * * * * root echo test1-fixed `date` >> /tmp/cron-test + sleep 120 + echo * * * * * root echo test2-changed `date` >> /tmp/cron-test + sleep 120 ---snap--- Syslog output filtered for cron entries during that time (line feeds added manually after each one-minute block): ---snip--- May 25 00:17:01 nemo cron.err cron[1474]: Error: bad minute; while reading /etc/cron.d/test1 May 25 00:17:01 nemo cron.info /usr/sbin/cron[1474]: (*system*test1) ERROR (Syntax error, this crontab file will be ignored) May 25 00:17:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32267]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) May 25 00:17:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32266]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) May 25 00:17:01 nemo authpriv.debug CRON[32267]: pam_limits(cron:session): Unknown kernel rlimit 'Max realtime timeout' ignored May 25 00:17:01 nemo authpriv.debug CRON[32266]: pam_limits(cron:session): Unknown kernel rlimit 'Max realtime timeout' ignored May 25 00:17:01 nemo cron.info /USR/SBIN/CRON[32268]: (root) CMD (echo test2 `date` >> /tmp/cron-test) May 25 00:17:01 nemo cron.info /USR/SBIN/CRON[32269]: (root) CMD ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly) May 25 00:17:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32266]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root May 25 00:17:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32267]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root May 25 00:18:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32284]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) May 25 00:18:01 nemo authpriv.debug CRON[32284]: pam_limits(cron:session): Unknown kernel rlimit 'Max realtime timeout' ignored May 25 00:18:01 nemo cron.info /USR/SBIN/CRON[32285]: (root) CMD (echo test2 `date` >> /tmp/cron-test) May 25 00:18:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32284]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root May 25 00:19:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32300]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) May 25 00:19:01 nemo authpriv.debug CRON[32300]: pam_limits(cron:session): Unknown kernel rlimit 'Max realtime timeout' ignored May 25 00:19:01 nemo cron.info /USR/SBIN/CRON[32301]: (root) CMD (echo test2 `date` >> /tmp/cron-test) May 25 00:19:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32300]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root May 25 00:20:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32326]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) May 25 00:20:01 nemo authpriv.debug CRON[32326]: pam_limits(cron:session): Unknown kernel rlimit 'Max realtime timeout' ignored May 25 00:20:01 nemo cron.info /USR/SBIN/CRON[32327]: (root) CMD (echo test2 `date` >> /tmp/cron-test) May 25 00:20:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32326]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root May 25 00:21:01 nemo cron.info /usr/sbin/cron[1474]: (*system*test2) RELOAD (/etc/cron.d/test2) May 25 00:21:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32343]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) May 25 00:21:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32342]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) May 25 00:21:01 nemo authpriv.debug CRON[32343]: pam_limits(cron:session): Unknown kernel rlimit 'Max realtime timeout' ignored May 25 00:21:01 nemo authpriv.debug CRON[32342]: pam_limits(cron:session): Unknown kernel rlimit 'Max realtime timeout' ignored May 25 00:21:01 nemo cron.info /USR/SBIN/CRON[32344]: (root) CMD (echo test2-changed `date` >> /tmp/cron-test) May 25 00:21:01 nemo cron.info /USR/SBIN/CRON[32345]: (root) CMD (echo test1-fixed `date` >> /tmp/cron-test) May 25 00:21:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32343]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root May 25 00:21:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32342]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root May 25 00:22:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32361]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) May 25 00:22:01 nemo authpriv.debug CRON[32361]: pam_limits(cron:session): Unknown kernel rlimit 'Max realtime timeout' ignored May 25 00:22:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32360]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) May 25 00:22:01 nemo authpriv.debug CRON[32360]: pam_limits(cron:session): Unknown kernel rlimit 'Max realtime timeout' ignored May 25 00:22:01 nemo cron.info /USR/SBIN/CRON[32362]: (root) CMD (echo test2-changed `date` >> /tmp/cron-test) May 25 00:22:01 nemo cron.info /USR/SBIN/CRON[32363]: (root) CMD (echo test1-fixed `date` >> /tmp/cron-test) May 25 00:22:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32361]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root May 25 00:22:01 nemo authpriv.info CRON[32360]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root ---snap--- Contents of /tmp/cron-test afterwards: ---snip--- test2 Wed May 25 00:17:01 CEST 2011 test2 Wed May 25 00:18:01 CEST 2011 test2 Wed May 25 00:19:01 CEST 2011 test2 Wed May 25 00:20:01 CEST 2011 test2-changed Wed May 25 00:21:01 CEST 2011 test1-fixed Wed May 25 00:21:01 CEST 2011 test2-changed Wed May 25 00:22:01 CEST 2011 test1-fixed Wed May 25 00:22:01 CEST 2011 ---snap--- IMHO this shows that http://bugs.debian.org/555954 is definitely not fully fixed. -- Package-specific info:
--- EDITOR: --- usr/bin/editor: /usr/bin/zile --- /usr/bin/crontab: -rwxr-sr-x 1 root crontab 30248 Dec 19 00:46 /usr/bin/crontab --- /var/spool/cron drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 May 11 2008 /var/spool/cron --- /var/spool/cron/crontabs drwx-wx--T 2 root crontab 4096 Mar 14 2008 /var/spool/cron/crontabs
-- System Information: Debian Release: wheezy/sid APT prefers unstable APT policy: (990, 'unstable'), (600, 'stable'), (500, 'testing'), (400, 'oldstable'), (110, 'experimental') Architecture: i386 (i686) Kernel: Linux 2.6.39-1-686-pae (SMP w/1 CPU core) Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8) Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash Versions of packages cron depends on: ii adduser 3.112+nmu2 add and remove users and groups ii debianutils 4 Miscellaneous utilities specific t ii dpkg 1.16.0.3 Debian package management system ii libc6 2.13-4 Embedded GNU C Library: Shared lib ii libpam-runtime 1.1.2-3 Runtime support for the PAM librar ii libpam0g 1.1.2-3 Pluggable Authentication Modules l ii libselinux1 2.0.98-1+b1 SELinux runtime shared libraries ii lsb-base 3.2-27 Linux Standard Base 3.2 init scrip Versions of packages cron recommends: ii lockfile-progs 0.1.15 Programs for locking and unlocking ii postfix [mail-transport-agent 2.8.3-1 High-performance mail transport ag Versions of packages cron suggests: ii anacron 2.3-14 cron-like program that doesn't go pn checksecurity <none> (no description available) ii logrotate 3.7.8-6 Log rotation utility Versions of packages cron is related to: pn libnss-ldap <none> (no description available) pn libnss-ldapd <none> (no description available) pn libpam-ldap <none> (no description available) pn libpam-mount <none> (no description available) pn nis <none> (no description available) pn nscd <none> (no description available) -- no debconf information
