If a cron task does not behave as expected, check these items:
- Validate the minute/hour/day/month/weekday schedule.
- Use absolute paths for scripts, interpreters, and files when appropriate.
- Confirm the script has the required execute/read permissions.
- Remember that cron has a more limited environment than an interactive shell; commands that rely on PATH or environment variables may need explicit values.
- Temporarily allow cron output to be emailed so errors are visible.
- Make sure jobs are not overlapping because the schedule is too frequent.
Run the same command manually in an allowed shell when possible to separate command errors from scheduling errors.
