Bug#1051805: systemd-cron: shell redirect not working in crontab entries

[Alexandre Detiste]

0) I d like to hear what our dear user(s) think about this matter
or more generally about systemd-cron before going further.

John:

 I see that you use a "cron-monthly-000loaddelay.timer",
 and I guess it's purpose from it's name;
 and this workflow may need to be tweaked;
 the /etc/cron.{hourly|daily|monthly}/ are not anymore
 run in sequence through a single run-parts invocation;
 but through individual .timer / .service pairs.

1) I mixed up "1" and "2" in my last sentence:
I still prefer not to gratuitously break
past assumptions without a clear gain.


I think that the risk that some user start by themselves moving around
some programs
around the PATH directories and expect nothing to break is quiet moot.


And I'm pretty sure I/we already broke some scripts everywhere without
caring  too much.
I do was using boot_daily directly from /lib/systemd/ ;
that broke when the scripts were moved to /usr/libexec:
    https://www.mail-archive.com/debian-devel@lists.debian.org/msg377086.html

This guy using mail_on_failure has certainly some .service to adapt now:
    https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/systemd-cron/+bug/1583743


But on the other hand having this exact path of the launched program
in the generated .service make it much easier to debug.

> Concretely, we already killed stuff like this:
> in the C++ rewrite as "brittle damage" ‒
> https://github.com/systemd-cron/systemd-cron/pull/101#issuecomment-1673266966.

The comment was about the removed part.

>  IMO we should trim the whole function ... KSH_SHELLS
The ~/ path expansion was requested and provided by wavexx
and is a really nice feature and will stay.

> needless magic (like this)

generators are mostly built on magic by design;
if people would not want automagic solution
they would had been writing .service / .timer pairs
for ten years already.



I'd like to close this bug before 2.1.2-1 hit testing.

Waiting for other bugs to pop up in the short time window :-)

Cheers