php file to run automatically at a schedule time

niroshan

Hi guys,
I want to write a program that will execute tasks automatically at a scheduled time. It is basically a php program that will send emails automatically to customers on a given date and time.
My idea is to make a php program and create a .bat file to execute php program and insert the .bat file to the system’s scheduler. I want some advice before trying this out. Is this is the way to do this? or is there any other way to make this easier?
Keep in mind that my program will run on a linux server.

I will really appreciate it, if some one can help me.

Thank you,

mikeatrpi

On Linux, look into using cron. Set a cron job to run your PHP script from the command line.

stolzyboy

mikeatrpi's option will only work if you have php installed as a cgi, not an apache module, if you have it as a module, you will need the lynx text browser first(free), then use cron to call lynx and have lynx call the .php page you want to run, if you go to yahoo and search for "run php page with cron" you will find some decent tuts to help you out

steadyguy

I have the same problem, but I'm currently using a third party server: I can't run cron, not to mention lynx. What options do I have?

stolzyboy

third party server, you mean you are hosting somewhere, won't they set up a cron job for you, other than that, i don't know what you could do there

steadyguy

Exactly ... the site is hosted, and they won't set up a cron job for me. The only thing I can think of is to have a little tiny program that executes each time the page is loaded checking if there is a task, and if their is, executing it (the site gets pretty good traffic) ... trouble is that it seems rather inelegant, and requires at least one if not two hits per day to work.

stolzyboy

well that may be your only way to do it if you don't have access to
and the hosting company won't set one up for you, where do
you host thru, so i don't ever go there

steadyguy

lol ... aside from this, though the company's great: the cheapest one I could find with loads of space, and a large bandwidth, not to mention loads of features, and great service

stolzyboy

so what is said company

steadyguy

ICDSoft is the name, easy enough to find with a search.

feldon23

Yeah, ICDSoft doesn't have cron. They run their own proprietary control panel it seems.

stolzyboy

yeah i emailed them yesterday to see if they do and they said they don't do it for security reasons, lame

steadyguy

Funny ... when I wrote the support line (I'm a paying customer, right ...) they said it was because the load on the server would be too great. I'm not sure if that is understandable or not, considering that they probably have a couple hundred virtual servers running.

But regarding security, who know what evil and havoc I would do if I had a cron job on my hands? 😃 But seriously, I think it's a policy of least permissions (or whatever that's called), so I, for one can forgive them for it - I've got a pretty good idea of how to do it without cron, anyway. Inelegant, but hey, it's my only choice.

stolzyboy

yes of course you can do it that way you want, but i kinda liked the packaged you get with them, and i emailed them and said i was thinking of switching, and asked if they could do cron for some scripts i have going now, but they said, NOPE

i replied back and said guess i'll just keep hunting for a better host

didn't hear back from them

feldon23

Originally posted by steadyguy
Funny ... when I wrote the support line (I'm a paying customer, right ...) they said it was because the load on the server would be too great. I'm not sure if that is understandable or not, considering that they probably have a couple hundred virtual servers running.

But regarding security, who know what evil and havoc I would do if I had a cron job on my hands? 😃 But seriously, I think it's a policy of least permissions (or whatever that's called), so I, for one can forgive them for it - I've got a pretty good idea of how to do it without cron, anyway. Inelegant, but hey, it's my only choice.

Both of these suppositions are idiotic.

A cron job uses no more or less CPU than logging in and doing it yourself. Actually, having your PHP script running some kind of kludge to figure out if a task has been done within the last 24 hours, in lieu of a cron job, puts much MORE of a load on the server.

A cron job can do no more or less than you can do by telnetting into their server. If they are terrified of you bringing down the system by some commands you could do in a telnet window, they should go into another business cause they haven't got a clue on web hosting.

stolzyboy

my thoughts exactly

epimeth

why don't you make a page on the server that sends the mails and make your local machine access that page twice a day?

stolzyboy

its not that he has no option of doing it, but cron is the least resource heavy of all the options, and then you only have to worry about if the machine running the site is running, not your comp, the server, your isp, their isp, your backbone, their backbone, there are just too many variables if you want it to be REALLY reliable