Question

I have a python script, uploaded on a web server which is up 24/7. I want to automate this script, so that it runs every hour automatically. Is this possible? I came across cron job stuff, but I am not familiar about how to achieve this. Any help or example would be helpful.

Answer 1

Open up your cron job file with

crontab -e

the add this line

* 0 * * *  /path/to/my/script

I would recommend using a bash script or something to check if the process is already running.

if [ `ps -u USERNAME | grep -i PROCESSNAME | wc -l` -lt 1 ]
then
  nohup python main.py &
fi

Edit

Type the command crontab -e then press enter. Your screen will go black with a bunch of ~‘s off to the side. Press i you are now in insert mode. Type * 0 * * * /path/to/my/script, make sure this is the absolute path to your script. Press Esc, then type :x and press enter. That should save the cron file, that is also assuming that vi or vim is the default editor for your cron file.

Side notes

Also make sure that your script is executable, chmod 777 myscript.py should do the trick, however please familiarize yourself with chmod and permissions.

Also make sure that you have your #/python/version/to/use as the first line in your python file.