[Bug 934337] Re: cron truncates command before execution, gives no erro

[Launchpad Bug Tracker]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

** Changed in: cron (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Confirmed

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Foundations Bugs, which is subscribed to cron in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/934337

Title:
  cron truncates command before execution, gives no erro

Status in “cron” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  cron truncates commands at 999 characters, then executes them, giving
  no errors or warnings.

  I'd prefer that cron NOT run the job, and instead throw an error.

  Much less important, it would be nice if the limit were increased.

  
  Worst case actually happened to me, rsync --del output directory got truncated just right, deleting lots of data.  That was fun to figure out.  Length was due to many --excludes.

  I suspect that the truncation is related to the MAX_COMMAND value.

  As a test case, I created the job:

  * * * * * echo
  "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa";
  date >>
  /home/darxus/tmp/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

  Which should create a file in /home/darxus/tmp/ 93 characters long,
  but truncates it at 72 characters long.

  rsync mailing list discussion: http://www.mail-
  archive.com/rsync at lists.samba.org/msg26564.html

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
  Package: cron 3.0pl1-116ubuntu1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-13.55-generic 2.6.38.8
  Uname: Linux 2.6.38-13-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Fri Feb 17 11:59:40 2012
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release amd64 (20091027)
  ProcEnviron:
   PATH=(custom, user)
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: cron
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to natty on 2011-05-02 (290 days ago)

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cron/+bug/934337/+subscriptions