How to set up a cron job with codeigniter

Question

I am trying to set up a cron job using COdeigniter but I cannot figure out how to get it to work. I have a file called email_check.php in my controllers folder, and I have added a .cron file to the servers cron folder, which contains the following

email_check.cron

*/1 * * * * php /var/www/html/application/controllers/email_check

email_check.php

class Email_check extends CI_Controller {

    function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
        $this->index();
    }

    function index()
    {
        $this->load->model('admin/info_model'); 
        $this->info_model->addTestData();
    }

}

The addTestData adds a new row into a database table. I would like this to run every minute, however it isn't working at all and I have no idea why.

Maybe it may be the paths that are wrong. Do I need to point the php part to the php.exe in the server.

If anyone could help or point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated!

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 17 '13 at 15:17

To use CodeIgniter via the commmand line, you need to call the index.php file and pass in the controller and method as arguments, plus any other arguments. So at the minimum the cron job call would be:

~/public_html/sitefolder/index.php controller method

Or using the path to your application index file. But, you also need to use PHP compiled for the command line, not just PHP for CGI-FCGI. So your call might be something like:

/ramdisk/bin/php5-cli ~/public_html/sitefolder/index.php controller method

Depending on where your PHP CLI is located.

Pattle · Answer 2 · 2013-07-17T12:20:47.307

0

This won't work because just hitting your email_check.php controller won't do anything because its not going to call your index() method.

You want to either write a script that is going to create a new instance of the controller and call the method or call it via a URL, something like this I think

* * * * * wget http://sitename.com/email_check

edited Jul 17 '13 at 12:20

answered Jul 17 '13 at 11:17

Pattle

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So do I just put this into the .cron file on the server yeah? – Pooshonk Jul 17 '13 at 11:39
try it and see what happens – Pattle Jul 17 '13 at 11:42
Nope nothing happens unfortunately – Pooshonk Jul 17 '13 at 11:50
Can you paste what you put in? – Pattle Jul 17 '13 at 11:50
Exactly what you suggested but I changed the sitename. Is that correct? Sorry I am totally stumped at how to do this – Pooshonk Jul 17 '13 at 12:03
take the URL in your cron job and paste it into your browser window. If the URL works in the browser it should work in the cron job – Pattle Jul 17 '13 at 12:04
I did that and it worked fine, it just doesn't seem to be starting the cron job every minute as I specified. Strange :/ – Pooshonk Jul 17 '13 at 12:10

How to set up a cron job with codeigniter

2 Answers2