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Cron Set-Up

ATutor operates best with the help of an automated event scheduler, commonly known as a cron job. The cron interval should be set at between 5-30 minutes, depending on server resources. Setting the cron to 10-15 minutes is recommended.

The cron is run by requesting a specific ATutor page, and can be initiated by any machine that has an Internet connection and access to the ATutor installation.

Notice that the URL being used will be unique for each installation and that for security reasons the requested URL includes a secret six-character alpha-numerica authentication key. The cron will not run if the key is incorrect or missing.

The Mail Queue feature requires the cron to be set-up and running correctly before it can be enabled.

Unix Setup

  1. Enter your hosts cron utility, either using an existing web interface or from the shell with the command crontab -e.
  2. To run the cron every 10 minutes enter one of the following lines into the crontab editor:
    */10 * * * * wget -q -O /dev/null http://your-server.com/atutor/admin/cron.php?k=SECRET-KEY
    Or
    */10 * * * * lynx -dump http://your-server.com/atutor/admin/cron.php?k=SECRET-KEY > /dev/null

    Replace your-server.com/atutor/ with the full server and path to your ATutor installation.

    Replace SECRET-KEY with the key provided on the Cron Configuration page in your ATutor Administration section.

    Replace 10 with the desired interval.

Note: If your site uses SSL then replace http with https and you may also need to add --no-check-certificate to wget.

Windows et al Setup

webcron.org offers free web-based cron services and is available in multiple languages.

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$LastChangedDate: 2006-08-23 11:50:47 -0400 (Wed, 23 Aug 2006) $
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