running python scripts via crontab

[davelist at mac.com]

On Jun 9, 2007, at 9:10 AM, Mr SZ wrote:

> Hello all,
> I wrote a simple python script to send mail via smtp to my gmail  
> acc.I can run it as python /home/phil/Desktop/smtp.py but when I  
> add the same to my crontab as
>
> * * * * * /usr/bin/python2.5 /home/phil/Desktop/smtp.py
>
> ,it doesn't run.I checked the process by using top command and  
> python did start a thread but died soon.
>
> I need some help here.
>
> The python script uses tls-lite lib to use tls over smtp.
>

One possible issue is that I believe the crontab entries to not run  
with the same environment that your normal user login does.

If you set any environment variables in your .bashrc or .bash_profile  
file, try including those lines at the top of your crontab file.

Here's the first line in my crontab file (this is on OS X, but the  
issue is likely the same on Linux).

PATH=/opt/local/bin:/sw/bin:/sw/sbin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/ 
usr/X11R6/bin:/Users/dreed/bin

And are you really wanting to run the script every single minute (or  
is that just for testing)?

Dave