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Configuration of Cron Jobs For Automatic Search Engine Submissions------------------------------------------------------ by Dirk Brockhausen ------------------------------------------------------ Cron is a mechanism for planning and scheduling batch jobs. Implemented on Unix systems, you can use it to schedule automatic submission of URLs to search engines. This takes the hassle out of regular and/or recurring submissions. The daemon "crond" is started automatically on system boot up. It runs one check per minute to see if there are any jobs to execute. The list of jobs to execute is created by the program "crontab". The following commands work from the assumption that you are either logged in by Telnet or locally on your Unix system. Entering the command "crontab -l" will display a list of current entries. By default, only entries owned by the logged in User will be displayed. Existing lists can be removed/deleted with command "crontab -r". To create a new list, it is recommended to read the entries from a file using command "crontab filename". The following examples will show you the format of this file. The file itself is created with an ASCII text editor. Example: 0 12 * * * /usr/yourdomain/cgi-bin/subfrog.cgi cron_parm1.txt This entry consists of six parameters. The first five parameters define the time schedule, whereas the sixth parameter contains the command for executing the job. In our example above, this command consists of: - the full path and file name of the script - an argument This latter argument defines the batch configuration for your submission program, e.g. fantomas subFrog PRO(TM). In fantomas subFrog(TM), this command can be transferred by "cut and pasted" from the list of "Command line strings" displayed in the lower section of the "BATCH MODE CONFIGURATION EDITOR" of the GUI. Parameters defining the time schedule are: minute(0-59) hour(0-23) day of month(1-31) month(1-12) day of week(0-6) 0 = Sun Hence, the above sample entries: 0 12 * * * can be translated as: If Minute = 0 and Hour = 12, the script will be executed. Because the last three scheduling parms are defined by wildcard character "*", the job will be executed every day. Scheduling Week Days -------------------- If you wish to run the script on Mondays only, the following entry will do the trick: 0 12 * * 1 /usr/yourdomain/cgi-bin/subfrog.cgi cron_parm1.txt Scheduling Turn of Month ------------------------ You can schedule the turn of the month in this manner: 0 0 1 * * /usr/yourdomain/cgi-bin/subfrog.cgi cron_parm1.txt Configurations for Multiple Domains ----------------------------------- If you are maintaining multiple domains, you can create a separate job for each domain. E.g. you may create a file named "crontabfilename.txt" and enter the following command lines: 0 12 * * * /usr/yourdomain/cgi-bin/subfrog.cgi cron_parm1.txt 0 14 * * * /usr/yourdomain/cgi-bin/subfrog.cgi cron_parm1.txt 0 16 * * * /usr/yourdomain/cgi-bin/subfrog.cgi cron_parm1.txt The respective argument "domain1.cron.txt" defines the file containing the pertinent domain's batch configuration. Next, the command "crontab crontabfilename.txt" will transmit this file to crontab. Important ========= If you have crontab configured for prior jobs already, you must include them in the new file "crontabfilename.txt" (example), as the command "crontab crontabfilename.txt" will override all previous cron jobs owned by the specific user calling crontab. For further explanations under Unix, you can select from the following commands: man crontab man 5 crontab man cron Find out more about fantomas subFrog PRO(TM) and its features here: < http://fantomaster.com/fasubfrog0.html > This text may freely be republished or distributed in unmodified form provided the following resource box is included intact either at the beginning or the end of the article and a complimentary copy or notice (link) is sent to the author at the address specified below: Ralph Tegtmeier is the co-founder and principal of fantomaster.com GmbH (Belgium), < http://fantomaster.com/ >, a company specializing in webmasters software development, industrial-strength cloaking and search engine positioning services. He has been a web marketer since 1994 and is editor-in-chief of fantomNews, a free newsletter focusing on search engine optimization, available at: < http://fantomaster.com/fantomnews-sub.html > You can contact him at mailto:fneditor@fantomaster.com (c) copyright 2002 by fantomaster.com All rights reserved. Downloaded at: < http://fantomaster.com/ > © 2004 HostWrap.com , All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication or publication of any materials from this Site is expressly prohibited. |
