====== CYGWIN Cron under Windows ====== Windows task scheduler is pretty dumb -- console apps make a console window appear if you're logged in, and you can't specify full command lines with pipes and redirects. Therefore, I install CYGWIN cron to fill the gap. Here's how. First, install the "cron" package from Cygwin. Then, run a cygwin shell and do: $ chmod +r /etc/passwd /etc/group $ chmod +x /var $ cron-config Questions: * Install the cron daemon as a service? **yes** * Value of CYGWIN for the daemon: **ntsec smbntsec** (This will be the default if you followed my SSH setup directions) * Run the cron daemon as yourself? **no** * Start the cron daemon as a service now? **yes** To set up cron jobs, create a crontab file (probably in your home directory ''cygwin/home/''): #.---------------- minute (0 - 59) #| .------------- hour (0 - 23) #| | .---------- day of month (1 - 31) #| | | .------- month (1 - 12) OR jan,feb,mar,apr ... #| | | | .---- day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday=0 or 7) OR sun,mon,tue,wed,thu,fri,sat #m h D M DoW COMMAND 0 * * * * ~/example/do-something-every-hour Then add it to cron with: $ crontab cron