[ale] cron entry that runs the 2nd saturday of every month

[Geoffrey Myers]

Lightner, Jeff wrote:
> I don't understand how %d and %u let you figure out that it is the
> 2nd Saturday of the month.   You'd still have to do some calculation.

Yes, but it's pretty straightforward calculation.  There's only a range 
of days of the month that can be the 2nd Saturday of the month.




> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: ale-bounces at ale.org
> [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of Erik Mathis Sent: Friday,
> August 26, 2011 4:47 PM To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts Subject: Re:
> [ale] cron entry that runs the 2nd saturday of every month
> 
> I ran into this same issue, and iirc cron uses a AND to compare
> dates. I ended up running it every Monday and added a wrapper to the
> script to decide if its the right day to do this function. If not,
> just exit.
> 
> -Erik-
> 
> On Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 4:27 PM, Geoffrey Myers 
> <lists at serioustechnology.com> wrote:
>> Lightner, Jeff wrote:
>>> But the OP wanted 2nd Saturday only.  The +%u just tells you it
>>> is Saturday - not which Saturday.
>> I am the op.  Using the combination of the day of the week and the
>> day of the month you can calculate whether its the 2nd Saturday of
>> the month or not.
>> 
>>> I had tested for it being Saturday in my 2008 script but if the
>>> cron job only runs on Saturday it isn't really necessary.   (My
>>> test was to prevent someone from just moving the cron job without
>>>  understanding its purpose.)
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message----- From: ale-bounces at ale.org 
>>> [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of Geoffrey Myers Sent: 
>>> Friday, August 26, 2011 3:39 PM To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts 
>>> Subject: Re: [ale] cron entry that runs the 2nd saturday of every
>>>  month
>>> 
>>> Lightner, Jeff wrote:
>>>> When I had to do this back in 2008 on HP-UX I worked out a
>>>> script that relied on the cal (calendar) command.
>>>> 
>>>> The following command line will give you the 2nd Saturday of
>>>> the month:
>>>> 
>>>> cal |cut -c19-20 |grep '[0-9]'|head -2 |tail -1
>>>> 
>>>> The following command will give you today's day of month: date
>>>> +%d
>>> Doing something similar only relying on date alone:
>>> 
>>> date +%d date +%u
>>> 
>>>> You put your script to compare day of month with the output of
>>>> the cal line and run the desired command if they match.   Then
>>>> your cron entry runs EVERY Saturday and the script determines
>>>> whether to run the commands you want based on whether it is the
>>>> 2nd Saturday.
>>>> 
>>>> There may be easier ways to do this on Linux but I figured I'd
>>>> send you this at least as a basis for thought.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message----- From: ale-bounces at ale.org 
>>>> [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of Geoffrey Myers Sent: 
>>>> Friday, August 26, 2011 2:26 PM To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts 
>>>> Subject: [ale] cron entry that runs the 2nd saturday of every
>>>> month
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Is it possible?
>>>> 
>>>> -- Until later, Geoffrey
>>>> 
>>>> "I predict future happiness for America if they can prevent the
>>>>  government from wasting the labors of the people under the
>>>> pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson 
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>>>> 
>>>> 
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>>>> 
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>> 
>> -- Until later, Geoffrey
>> 
>> "I predict future happiness for America if they can prevent the
>> government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense
>> of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson 
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-- 
Until later, Geoffrey

"I predict future happiness for America if they can prevent
the government from wasting the labors of the people under
the pretense of taking care of them."
- Thomas Jefferson