Cron.php fails to complete. (Doctrine\DBAL\Exception: Failed to connect to the database: An exception occurred in the driver: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] Operation timed out in /var/www/html/lib/private/DB/Connection.php:233)

KosmicDaKerbal · November 1, 2024, 5:42pm

After my previous post, I was somehow able to get nextcloud:fpm up and running after almost a month of troubleshooting (yayy!!), but now I am facing a different challenge, now it is with cron.php. I first did the normal method of changing the background job engine from ajax to cron, hoping that it would be that easy; but i couldnt be more wrong. the cron job failed after ten minutes, and I got confused. I followed similar instructions to the official nextcloud:fpm tutorial on github and sure enough there was a separate container just for cron. I used the same exact configuration in my docker-compose.yaml.

This is my current working compose file, It is a little overengineered, but it is more reliable:

services:
  nginx:
    image: nginx:alpine
    container_name: nextcloud-nginx
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - /mnt/SysHDD/Docker-Compose/nextcloud/nginx/:/etc/nginx/:rw
      - /home/server-inspiron/.acme.sh/:/mnt/certs/:ro
      - web:/var/www/html:z,ro
    ports:
      - 443:443
      - 80:80
      - 8096:81
      - 8920:82
    networks:
      nextcloud:
        ipv4_address: 172.21.128.4

  mariadb:
    image: mariadb
    container_name: nextcloud-mariadb
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: --transaction-isolation=READ-COMMITTED --binlog-format=ROW --innodb-file-per-table=1 --skip-innodb-read-only-compressed
    volumes:
      - /mnt/SysHDD/Databases/nextcloud-mariadb/:/var/lib/mysql/:rw
    env_file:
      - db.env
    networks:
      nextcloud:
        ipv4_address: 172.21.128.1

  redis:
    image: redis:alpine
    container_name: nextcloud-redis
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - /mnt/SysHDD/Databases/nextcloud-redis/:/etc/redis
    command: redis-server --requirepass password
    networks:
      nextcloud:
        ipv4_address: 172.21.128.2
  app:
    image: nextcloud:fpm-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    container_name: nextcloud-web
    user: 33:1001
    links:
      - mariadb
      - redis
    volumes:
      - web:/var/www/html
      - /mnt/SysHDD/:/mnt/SysHDD/:rw
      - /mnt/SSD/:/mnt/SSD/:rw
      - /mnt/HDD0/:/mnt/HDD0/:rw
      - /mnt/HDD1/:/mnt/HDD1/:rw
    environment:
      - MYSQL_HOST=172.21.128.1:3306
      - REDIS_HOST_PASSWORD=password
    env_file:
      - db.env
    depends_on:
      - mariadb
      - redis
    networks:
      nextcloud:
        ipv4_address: 172.21.128.3
  cron:
    image: nextcloud:fpm-alpine
    user: 33:1001
    restart: unless-stopped
    container_name: nextcloud-cron
    volumes:
      - web:/var/www/html:z
      - /mnt/SysHDD/:/mnt/SysHDD/:rw
      - /mnt/SSD/:/mnt/SSD/:rw
      - /mnt/HDD0/:/mnt/HDD0/:rw
      - /mnt/HDD1/:/mnt/HDD1/:rw
    entrypoint: /cron.sh
    environment:
      - MYSQL_HOST=172.21.128.1:3306
    env_file:
      - db.env
    depends_on:
      - mariadb
      - redis
volumes:
    nextcloud-mariadb:
    web:
networks:
  nextcloud:
    driver: bridge
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: 172.21.0.0/16
          gateway: 172.21.0.1

after i saw cron failed, I ran docker exec -it -u 0 nextcloud-cron /bin/sh so that I can see what happens when I run cron.php manually.

I use the command php --define apc-enable_cli=1 -f cron.php, and I wait.
normally a successful cron shouldve taken like 3 seconds, but here I was waiting for around ten minutes, after which the following error popped up, along with a stack trace:

Doctrine\DBAL\Exception: Failed to connect to the database: An exception occurred in the driver: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] Operation timed out in /var/www/html/lib/private/DB/Connection.php:233

Stack trace:
#0 /var/www/html/3rdparty/doctrine/dbal/src/Connection.php(453): OC\DB\Connection->connect()
#1 /var/www/html/3rdparty/doctrine/dbal/src/Connection.php(411): Doctrine\DBAL\Connection->getDatabasePlatformVersion()
#2 /var/www/html/3rdparty/doctrine/dbal/src/Connection.php(318): Doctrine\DBAL\Connection->detectDatabasePlatform()
#3 /var/www/html/lib/private/DB/Connection.php(899): Doctrine\DBAL\Connection->getDatabasePlatform()
#4 /var/www/html/lib/private/DB/ConnectionAdapter.php(235): OC\DB\Connection->getDatabaseProvider()
#5 /var/www/html/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/QueryBuilder.php(96): OC\DB\ConnectionAdapter->getDatabaseProvider()
#6 /var/www/html/lib/private/AppConfig.php(1211): OC\DB\QueryBuilder\QueryBuilder->expr()
#7 /var/www/html/lib/private/AppConfig.php(237): OC\AppConfig->loadConfig(false)
#8 /var/www/html/lib/private/AppConfig.php(1351): OC\AppConfig->searchValues('enabled', false, 2)
#9 /var/www/html/lib/private/App/AppManager.php(126): OC\AppConfig->getValues(false, 'enabled')
#10 /var/www/html/lib/private/App/AppManager.php(147): OC\App\AppManager->getInstalledAppsValues()
#11 /var/www/html/lib/private/legacy/OC_App.php(191): OC\App\AppManager->getInstalledApps()
#12 /var/www/html/lib/private/AppFramework/Bootstrap/Coordinator.php(48): OC_App::getEnabledApps()
#13 /var/www/html/lib/base.php(657): OC\AppFramework\Bootstrap\Coordinator->runInitialRegistration()
#14 /var/www/html/lib/base.php(1132): OC::init()
#15 /var/www/html/cron.php(24): require_once('/var/www/html/l...')
#16 {main}

At first, I thought the container isn’t able to log into the database, so i changed the docker compose file to include the mysql credentials in the cron service as well, and then retried the same command. still the same issue. I am unable to decipher the honestly very cryptic error messages, so I am asking the community again to lend me a hand here. Thank you.

jtr · November 1, 2024, 6:05pm

Your cron container does not appear to be associated with the dedicated network your created for nextcloud.

KosmicDaKerbal · November 2, 2024, 4:30am

Thank you, I did what you instructed and cron.php worked, but only when I called it manually. After I left the shell environment I checked after around half an hour, but I saw that cron.php wasn’t called.

This is my crontab file, I made sure to edit it using crontab -u www-data -e

*/5 * * * * php --define apc-enable_cli=1 -f /var/www/html/cron.php

What can I do to fix this?

Edit: Found the Cron Logs, seems like it’s some permission issue, I am unable to figure out where it’s coming from, since for testing I gave 777 permissions to the web volume

/var/log # cat cron.log
crond: crond (busybox 1.36.1) started, log level 8
crond: crond (busybox 1.36.1) started, log level 8
crond: USER www-data pid 118 cmd php --define apc-enable_cli
=1 -f /var/www/html/cron.php
{"reqId":"TEzmOsvdMdbXTlJ01l4U","level":3,"time":"2024-11-02
T04:40:00+00:00","remoteAddr":"","user":"--","app":"PHP","me
thod":"","url":"--","message":"fopen(/var/www/html/config/co
nfig.php): Failed to open stream: Permission denied at /var/
www/html/lib/private/Config.php#190","userAgent":"--","versi
on":"","data":{"app":"PHP"}}
crond: USER www-data pid 119 cmd php --define apc-enable_cli
=1 -f /var/www/html/cron.php
{"reqId":"2KlH1ELFCCnctGHFjOzt","level":3,"time":"2024-11-02
T04:40:00+00:00","remoteAddr":"","user":"--","app":"PHP","me
thod":"","url":"--","message":"fopen(/var/www/html/config/co
nfig.php): Failed to open stream: Permission denied at /var/
www/html/lib/private/Config.php#190","userAgent":"--","versi
on":"","data":{"app":"PHP"}}

jtr · November 2, 2024, 12:40pm

There is no need to modify the crontab within the container. This is managed by the image.

If you open a shell with the same access into the cron container, can you access /var/www/html/config/config.php?

docker compose exec -u33:1001 cron bash
cat /var/www/html/config/config.php

FYI: You can access the cron logs by just checking the container logs docker compose logs cron.

KosmicDaKerbal · November 3, 2024, 3:27am

No, I rechecked the permissions given to the file which somehow changed to rw-r---- even though i gave 777 permissions to the entire folder. I then fixed it by giving 777 permission to the config.php file.

I ran the cron again and kept an eye on the logs, then this error popped up:

crond: USER www-data pid 251 cmd php --define apc-enable_cli=1 -f /var/www/html/cron.php
{"reqId":"XnYsBiZ3yqsWoD6zpVDe","level":3,"time":"2024-11-02T23:35:00+00:00","remoteAddr":"","user":"--","app":"PHP","method":"","url":"--","message":"fopen(/var/www/html/data/data_dir_writability_test_6726b72445a15.tmp): Failed to open stream: Permission denied at /var/www/html/lib/private/legacy/OC_Util.php#516","userAgent":"--","version":"30.0.1.2","data":{"app":"PHP"}}
{"reqId":"XnYsBiZ3yqsWoD6zpVDe","level":3,"time":"2024-11-02T23:35:00+00:00","remoteAddr":"","user":"--","app":"PHP","method":"","url":"--","message":"fopen(/var/www/html/data/nextcloud.log): Failed to open stream: Permission denied at /var/www/html/lib/private/Log/File.php#53","userAgent":"--","version":"30.0.1.2","data":{"app":"PHP"}}
crond: USER www-data pid 252 cmd php --define apc-enable_cli=1 -f /var/www/html/cron.php
{"reqId":"09xstOaGp5QBcuTWDxCK","level":3,"time":"2024-11-02T23:35:00+00:00","remoteAddr":"","user":"--","app":"PHP","method":"","url":"--","message":"fopen(/var/www/html/data/data_dir_writability_test_6726b72484ac6.tmp): Failed to open stream: Permission denied at /var/www/html/lib/private/legacy/OC_Util.php#516","userAgent":"--","version":"30.0.1.2","data":{"app":"PHP"}}
{"reqId":"09xstOaGp5QBcuTWDxCK","level":3,"time":"2024-11-02T23:35:00+00:00","remoteAddr":"","user":"--","app":"PHP","method":"","url":"--","message":"fopen(/var/www/html/data/nextcloud.log): Failed to open stream: Permission denied at /var/www/html/lib/private/Log/File.php#53","userAgent":"--","version":"30.0.1.2","data":{"app":"PHP"}}

I can see this means there are quite a few files which have the wrong permissions. I can set the entire folder to rwxrwxrwx too but i worry that the same issue would arise if nextcloud decides to make new temp files, or new config files when I use it. How do i eliminate this issue from its roots?

also, i am surprised that file permissions matter when using cron and not running the cron.php file manually. how is it different and why did it work when i ran it manually and didnt when i used it with cron?

jtr · November 3, 2024, 4:08am

You appear to be using the Alpine images. Is there a reason you’re doing the following?

    user: 33:1001

KosmicDaKerbal · November 3, 2024, 7:10am

I am using the alpine images just to save a bit on disk space.

for the uid:gid config in docker-compose, I am testing out directory permissions for specific users. On my home server, the uid 33 belongs to the user “www-data”, and the gid 1001 belongs to the group “system”, which contains the users “server-inspiron” (the name of my server), “www-data” and “root”.

the container works with the user “www-data”, the cron.php requires “www-data” as executing user, and the group contains the www-data user. the root volume of the nextcloud installation is chown’d to “www-data:system”. since the crontab is set with user “www-data”, it should execute cron.php as the “www-data” user as well.

what else am i missing that its still unable to access the files?

jtr · November 3, 2024, 3:26pm

The www-data UID is 82 in Alpine-based containers.

the root volume of the nextcloud installation is chown’d to “www-data:system”. since the crontab is set with user “www-data”, it should execute cron.php as the “www-data” user as well.

www-data on your underlying host is not the same as www-data in the container. The main volume in your Nextcloud installation is web and is Docker managed. Unless you migrated volumes from a non-Alpine image or something, you should not have to modify these permissions.

The motivation of my prior question (“Is there a reason you’re doing the following?”) is that I’m trying to figure out why you’re using user / --user at all.

Is there something you’re trying to accomplish? Are you intentionally trying to use an alternative user and group?

KosmicDaKerbal · November 4, 2024, 4:33pm

That makes so much sense, I’ll try it out and see if it works

Well, cron didn’t execute when I didnt specify the user, so I was seeing if specifying a user would help. clearly it hasnt.

Well, the user is built-in, but I made a custom group so that I can also follow the principle of least privilege and only give folder access to the applications that use it.

system · February 2, 2025, 4:33pm

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