FS#38255 - [cron] cronie service is not enabled by default on new installations of archlinux

Attached to Project: Arch Linux
Opened by patrick (potomac) - Tuesday, 24 December 2013, 06:46 GMT
Last edited by Eric Belanger (Snowman) - Saturday, 18 January 2014, 17:01 GMT
Task Type Bug Report
Category Packages
Status Closed
Assigned To No-one
Architecture All
Severity Low
Priority Normal
Reported Version
Due in Version Undecided
Due Date Undecided
Percent Complete 100%
Votes 0
Private No

Details

Description: on new installations of archlinux the cronie service ( cron ) is not enabled by default, I noticed this by installing archlinux last month with the arch linux iso file,

and there is no instructions about this on the wiki page about the archlinux installation :

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Installation_Guide

it's not normal, because on a standard installation of linux the cron service must be enable by default in order to run some important scripts, on a standard installation of archlinux there are some scripts installed on /etc/cron.daily : logrotate, man-db, shadow ( a script who verify integrity of password and group files )

without cronie service these scripts can not be run, we should correct this by enabling by default the cronie service during the installation, or at least edit the wiki page about the archlinux installation in order to warn the user about this problem

Additional info:
* package version(s) cronie 1.4.11-1 (base),

* config and/or log files etc.


Steps to reproduce:

- install archlinux with the last iso image
- after the installation the cronie service is not enabled by systemd
This task depends upon

Closed by  Eric Belanger (Snowman)
Saturday, 18 January 2014, 17:01 GMT
Reason for closing:  Not a bug
Comment by Ike Devolder (BlackEagle) - Tuesday, 24 December 2013, 10:24 GMT
see: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd/cron_functionality , a true cron is not required in the default installation
Comment by patrick (potomac) - Tuesday, 24 December 2013, 12:13 GMT
ok, I see also that a systemd-cron package exists on AUR :

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/systemd-cron/

a good idea would be to push this kind of package on official repositories, and integrate it on the next iso image installation,

the current situation seems to me unsatisfactory because the user is probably unaware that crond is not enabled by default, some important cron scripts won't be executed ( like /etc/crond.daily/shadow ) on a fresh installation of archlinux
Comment by Gaetan Bisson (vesath) - Tuesday, 24 December 2013, 18:46 GMT
Arch Linux always steered clear of daemon configuration and management, which is left entirely up to the user. When you install any package that includes a daemon (such as cronie), a service file is shipped under /usr/lib/systemd/system, and it is up to you to:
- configure this service if you wish (either the daemon management in the service file, or the daemon configuration in its /etc file)
- start this service if you wish
- enable this service (for the next boot) if you wish
- stop this service before removing the package
- disable this service after removing the package
- etc.
Comment by Dave Reisner (falconindy) - Tuesday, 24 December 2013, 18:53 GMT
For the record, we used to ship crond as enabled by default in our /etc/rc.conf.

I'm definitely +1 on not having any surprises. This shouldn't be enabled by default.
Comment by patrick (potomac) - Tuesday, 24 December 2013, 21:56 GMT
ok thanks for your answers, I understand now why cronie.service is not enabled by default,

maybe at least someone can edit the wiki page about the installation of archlinux in order to warn users that cronie service is not enabled, for example adding a link to :

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd/cron_functionality

Comment by Daniel Micay (thestinger) - Saturday, 18 January 2014, 10:34 GMT
The whole point of a wiki is that *you* can fix it :).

Loading...