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The Basics
- Nextcloud Server version (e.g., 29.x.x):
- 30.0.5.1
- Operating system and version (e.g., Ubuntu 24.04):
- Docker image (apache) on Debian 12
- Web server and version (e.g, Apache 2.4.25):
- 2.4.62
- PHP version (e.g, 8.3):
- 8.2.27
- Installation method (e.g. AlO, NCP, Bare Metal/Archive, etc.)
- Custom 30.0.4 docker image using official cron example for apache base
- Are you using CloudfIare, mod_security, or similar? (Yes / No)
- no
Summary of the issue you are facing:
Cannot get the official cron example (apache docker image) running in my nextcloud instance.
Steps to replicate it (hint: details matter!):
- Create a fresh docker image ânextcloud:testâ using the official examples
- Dockerfile and accompanying supervisord.conf
- Used the following docker-compose.yml. I wasnât quite sure if the cron jobs were sought under root or www-data, so I put both.
services:
app:
image: nextcloud:test
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- 8089:80
volumes:
# Set timezone same as host
- /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
- ./www_html:/var/www/html
- ./crontab:/var/spool/cron/crontabs/www-data
- ./crontab.root:/var/spool/cron/crontabs/root
- The two crontab files âcrontabâ and âcrontab.rootâ contain
* * * * * date >> /tmp/cron.txt
* * * * * echo "I am root" >> /tmp/cron.txt
Log entries
Nextcloud
Please provide the log entries from your Nextcloud log that are generated during the time of problem (via the Copy raw option from Administration settings->Logging screen or from your nextcloud.log located in your data directory). Feel free to use a pastebin/gist service if necessary.
The container logs show "crond: crond (busybox 1.35.0) started, log level 8.
Initializing nextcloud 30.0.5.1 ...
New nextcloud instance
Next step: Access your instance to finish the web-based installation!
Hint: You can specify NEXTCLOUD_ADMIN_USER and NEXTCLOUD_ADMIN_PASSWORD and the database variables _prior to first launch_ to fully automate initial installation.
Initializing finished
=> Searching for scripts (*.sh) to run, located in the folder: /docker-entrypoint-hooks.d/before-starting
2025-01-30 10:55:07,063 CRIT Supervisor is running as root. Privileges were not dropped because no user is specified in the config file. If you intend to run as root, you can set user=root in the config file to avoid this message.
crond: crond (busybox 1.35.0) started, log level 8
AH00558: apache2: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 172.20.0.2. Set the 'ServerName' directive globally to suppress this message
AH00558: apache2: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 172.20.0.2. Set the 'ServerName' directive globally to suppress this message
[Thu Jan 30 10:55:08.249311 2025] [mpm_prefork:notice] [pid 129:tid 129] AH00163: Apache/2.4.62 (Debian) PHP/8.2.27 configured -- resuming normal operations
[Thu Jan 30 10:55:08.249850 2025] [core:notice] [pid 129:tid 129] AH00094: Command line: 'apache2 -D FOREGROUND'
When I exec into container and list /tmp I do not see what is expected from the cron jobs that were configured - cron.txt with either the âdateâ or the text âI am rootâ written into it. There is no cron.txt present under /tmp no matter how long I wait.
$ docker exec -it test-app-1 bash
root@7a11f36a5527:/var/www/html# date
Thu Jan 30 11:01:38 PST 2025
root@7a11f36a5527:/var/www/html# ls -al /tmp
total 8
drwxrwxrwt 1 root root 4096 Jan 30 10:55 .
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4096 Jan 30 10:54 ..
root@7a11f36a5527:/var/www/html# date
Thu Jan 30 11:12:21 PST 2025
root@7a11f36a5527:/var/www/html# ls -al /tmp
total 8
drwxrwxrwt 1 root root 4096 Jan 30 10:55 .
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4096 Jan 30 10:54 ..
The process list shows that supervisord and busybox crond are running
root@aab600037ee6:/var/www/html# ps -ef
UID PID PPID C STIME TTY TIME CMD
root 1 0 1 11:08 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/supervisord -c /supervisord.conf
root 47 1 0 11:08 ? 00:00:00 apache2 -DFOREGROUND
root 48 1 0 11:08 ? 00:00:00 busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout
www-data 59 47 0 11:08 ? 00:00:00 apache2 -DFOREGROUND
www-data 60 47 0 11:08 ? 00:00:00 apache2 -DFOREGROUND
www-data 61 47 0 11:08 ? 00:00:00 apache2 -DFOREGROUND
www-data 62 47 0 11:08 ? 00:00:00 apache2 -DFOREGROUND
www-data 63 47 0 11:08 ? 00:00:00 apache2 -DFOREGROUND
root 64 0 2 11:08 pts/0 00:00:00 bash
root 70 64 0 11:08 pts/0 00:00:00 ps -ef
I have seen in other posts recommending setting up cron in the host environment. Thatâll be my last resort but I would like to keep all of this self-contained in the NC deployment so I can easily move it to another system as needed. Itâs a small personal instance so itâs fine that my deployment is running more than a single service.
Can someone help point me in the right direction? Where can I look to troubleshoot why the simple cron jobs arenât firing? Again, I wasnât sure if the cronjob was expected under root or www-data (the latter I think) but provided but to cover all bases.
Appreciate the help!