screen or crontab?

spskhokhar · #1 12th July 2012, 06:49 AM

Need to deploy C++ binary on a server which will run periodically (after some regular time gap).

What will be the best practice?
entry in crontab and write the app output to log file (for monitoring)
OR
create wrapper bash-shell script and run it in screen so that its activity can be monitored and stopped instantly when required.

jpollard · #2 12th July 2012, 07:05 AM

crontab.

After all, that is what it was designed for.

One advantage is that you will not have to restart the process after a reboot - crontab entries do that.

Another is that you will get a more accurate time interval ( well, relatively more accurate). The time can vary depending on system load, but there will be a less loaded system than a process running continuously (even sleeping takes up memory...)

spskhokhar · #3 12th July 2012, 07:23 AM

thanks my friend

diamond_ramsey · #4 12th July 2012, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpollard

crontab.

After all, that is what it was designed for.

One advantage is that you will not have to restart the process after a reboot - crontab entries do that.

Another is that you will get a more accurate time interval ( well, relatively more accurate). The time can vary depending on system load, but there will be a less loaded system than a process running continuously (even sleeping takes up memory...)

Concur 100% with jpollard and a mighty +1!!!