se7enxweb / occronjobs

1.3 2026-10-22 06:18 UTC

Requires

• php: >=8.0
• se7enxweb/ezpublish-legacy-installer: *

GPL-2.0-only

• OpenContent
• 7x

• admin
• extension
• crontab
• cronjobs
• exponential
• runcronjobs

Published on Packagist.org on 2026-10-22 07:52 UTC

README

An Exponential extension that brings the site's cronjobs into the administration interface. From the admin you can:

• read the server's crontab entries that belong to this installation,
• see every runcronjobs.php call found in that crontab, and start any of them on demand with a single click,
• read the output of the last run while it is still running,
• empty the output and error log files again.

It is meant for site administrators and integrators who want to check or re-run a cronjob without opening a shell on the server, for example after an import failed or while testing a new cronjob part.

The extension was written by OpenContent and is maintained by 7x for Exponential 6.x.

Contents

• Requirements
• Installation
• Configuration
• Usage
• Permissions
• Security notes
• Upgrading
• Known limits
• Troubleshooting
• Contributing
• License
• Credits and history

Requirements

• Exponential 6.x (the legacy kernel)

• PHP 8.0 or later, with proc_open() allowed (it starts the PHP command line binary)

• A PHP command line binary on the web server (setting PhpCliPath)

• The admin siteaccess design chain must contain admin2, because the extension's templates live in design/admin2. Check that the admin siteaccess's site.ini.append.php lists it:

  [DesignSettings]
  AdditionalSiteDesignList[]=admin2

• jQuery in the admin pages: the crontab list starts cronjobs and refreshes the log with jQuery.

Installation

With Composer

From the root of your Exponential installation:

composer require se7enxweb/occronjobs

The Exponential legacy installer places the extension in extension/occronjobs. If Composer cannot find the package, add the repository to the repositories list of your composer.json first:

{
    "type": "vcs",
    "url": "https://github.com/se7enxweb/occronjobs"
}

By hand

1. Download a release from https://github.com/se7enxweb/occronjobs/releases, or clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/se7enxweb/occronjobs.git extension/occronjobs

   The directory must be called occronjobs.

2. Activate the extension in settings/override/site.ini.append.php:

   [ExtensionSettings]
   ActiveExtensions[]=occronjobs

3. Regenerate the autoload array, so the classes CronTabReader, OCCronJobProcess and OCCronJobProcessManager are found:

   php bin/php/ezpgenerateautoloads.php -e

4. Clear the caches:

   php bin/php/ezcache.php --clear-all

5. Give the crontab viewer a copy of your crontab (see CrontabPath below):

   crontab -l > extension/occronjobs/settings/crontab.txt

Configuration

All settings are in extension/occronjobs/settings/occronjobs.ini. Override them in settings/override/occronjobs.ini.append.php rather than editing the file.

[ProcessSettings]
# The PHP command line binary that runs runcronjobs.php
PhpCliPath=php
# Seconds to wait after starting each script
SleepTime=2
# Stored with each started script; not enforced (see Known limits)
MaxExecutionTime=3600
# Where the output of a started cronjob is written, relative to the
# document root. Both standard output and errors go to OutputFile.
OutputFile=var/log/process_output.log
# Shown and emptied by the log views
ErrorFile=var/log/process_error.log

[Forbidden]
# Cronjob parts (cronjob.ini [CronjobPart-<name>]) that may not be listed or
# started from the admin. "global" stands for the parts-less run.
Parts[]
Parts[]=cluster_maintenance
Parts[]=unlock
Parts[]=infrequent
Parts[]=global
# Crontab entries (the arguments after runcronjobs.php) that the crontab list
# leaves out
Scripts[]
Scripts[]=check_consistency

[GeneralSettings]
# A text copy of the crontab that the viewer reads. The web server user usually
# cannot read the real crontab, so keep a copy here up to date.
CrontabPath=extension/occronjobs/settings/crontab.txt

[CronOptions]
# Extra fields shown above the crontab list. PreOption[] go before the part as
# --name or --name=value, PostOption[] after it as name=value.
# Types: boolean (a checkbox), date (a text field), anything else (a text field).
PostOption[from]=date
PostOption[to]=date
PreOption[debug]=boolean

A crontab entry is shown only when:

• it is not a comment,
• it contains the document root of the installation ($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']),
• if it names a siteaccess with -s, that siteaccess is one of site.ini [SiteAccessSettings] RelatedSiteAccessList[].

The crontab list additionally needs runcronjobs.php in the entry. An example crontab copy that both views understand:

*/5 * * * * cd /var/www/example/public && php runcronjobs.php -q -s site frequent > /dev/null 2>&1
0 3 * * *   cd /var/www/example/public && php runcronjobs.php -q -s site > /dev/null 2>&1

Usage

The admin tab

The extension defines an admin tab, Cronjobs, with the clock icon in the admin4 design (Icon=clock in settings/menu.ini.append.php). The tab is not added to the top menu by default. To show it, add it in settings/override/menu.ini.append.php:

[TopAdminMenu]
Tabs[]=occronjobs

Without the tab the pages are reached through the Crontab viewer link the extension adds to the Setup menu ([Leftmenu_setup]).

Pages

URL	Menu entry	What it shows
/cronjobs/show_crontab	Crontab	The crontab entries of this installation, one per line. Add ?full=1 to see the whole crontab file as it is.
/cronjobs/crontab	Crontab list	Every runcronjobs.php entry of the crontab, with a link that starts it, the optional fields from [CronOptions] and a console with the running output.
/cronjobs/list	(not in the menu)	The parts from cronjob.ini ([CronjobPart-<name>] and the global scripts), each with a link that starts it.
/cronjobs/logs	Last logs	The contents of OutputFile and ErrorFile.
/cronjobs/clear	Clear logs	Empties the output file and/or the error file.
/cronjobs/launch	(called by the lists)	Starts runcronjobs.php with the given part.

Running a cronjob from the admin

1. Open Crontab list (/cronjobs/crontab).
2. Optionally tick --debug or fill in from / to.
3. Click the entry you want to run. A loading image appears and the console on the page shows the output file, refreshed every two seconds.
4. When the run ends, the entry shows Success.

The request that starts the run is the equivalent of this command, run in the document root:

php /path/to/document/root/runcronjobs.php --debug -s site frequent from=2026-01-01

The launch view empties the output and error files before it starts the run.

Permissions

The module cronjobs has two functions. Grant them in Roles and policies:

Function	Views
cronjobs/list	show_crontab, crontab, list (and the admin tab)
cronjobs/launch	launch, logs, clear

Security notes

• cronjobs/launch runs commands on the server as the web server user. Grant it only to administrators you trust with a shell.
• Since 1.3 every word the launch view passes to the command line that holds more than letters, digits and _ . / : = - is quoted with escapeshellarg().
• The launch view starts a run on a plain GET request. Keep the admin on its own host name and sign out when you are done.
• Use [Forbidden] Parts[] to keep heavy or dangerous parts out of the admin.

Upgrading

To 1.3

• The Composer package is now se7enxweb/occronjobs. If you required opencontent/occronjobs-ls, replace it:

  composer remove opencontent/occronjobs-ls
  composer require se7enxweb/occronjobs

• Regenerate the autoload array and clear the caches after the update.

• No settings were renamed.

Known limits

• MaxExecutionTime is stored but nothing stops a run that takes longer. The launch request waits until the run has ended.
• Errors of a run are written to OutputFile; ErrorFile is only shown and emptied.
• The date fields of [CronOptions] are plain text fields. The extension ships jQuery UI date picker files, but no template loads them.
• The views use the admin2 templates; they have no styling of their own for the admin4 design.
• The file modules/cronjobs/show_logs.php is not registered as a view and does not work.
• The Download output link under the console points to logicalogs/download, a view of another extension; without that extension the link does not work.
• Only an Italian translation is included.

Troubleshooting

The crontab pages are empty. Check that CrontabPath points to a readable file, that its entries contain the document root of the installation, and that any -s <siteaccess> is listed in RelatedSiteAccessList[].

"Script forbidden" in the error log. The part is listed in [Forbidden] Parts[].

Nothing happens when I click an entry. Check that proc_open() is not in disable_functions, that PhpCliPath points to a working PHP binary, and that the web server user may write OutputFile.

The pages are not found (kernel "module not found" or a blank page). The extension is not active, or the caches were not cleared after activating it.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome at https://github.com/se7enxweb/occronjobs. Please describe the Exponential and PHP versions you use.

License

GNU General Public License v2.0. See LICENSE.

Credits and history

occronjobs was written by OpenContent (http://www.opencontent.it) for eZ Publish 4, the content management system eZ Systems developed until its creator discontinued it. 7x maintains it for Exponential, which continues that code base. See CHANGELOG.md for the release history.