Cron job not running – even though the entry exists

What the message looks like

CRON[2418]: (root) CMD (/usr/local/bin/job.sh)
/usr/local/bin/job.sh: 3: mysqldump: not found

Common causes

• Cron has a different PATH than your shell and does not read .bashrc.
• The script uses relative paths, so it runs in the wrong directory.
• The execute bit is missing or the shebang points to a missing interpreter.
• The entry is in the wrong user's crontab, or in /etc/cron.d without the user column.
• Cron itself is not running, or a syntax error prevents the file from loading.

Check

1. Cron service and recent runs
   systemctl status cron --no-pager | head -n 5; journalctl -u cron --since '1 hour ago' --no-pager | tail -n 20Copy
2. Entries of the current user
   crontab -lCopy
3. Permissions and shebang
   ls -l /usr/local/bin/job.sh; head -n 1 /usr/local/bin/job.shCopy
4. Test with an empty environment like cron
   env -i /bin/sh -c '/usr/local/bin/job.sh'Copy

Fix

• Use absolute paths in the script and set PATH at the top: PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin.
• Redirect output to a log file: >> /var/log/job.log 2>&1. Otherwise you never see the errors.
• Check the shebang (#!/bin/bash) and set the execute bit with chmod +x.
• In /etc/cron.d do not forget the user column, otherwise the line is ignored.
• Test with env -i so you get the same environment as cron.

FAQ

Why does it work manually but not from cron?

Because cron starts without your shell environment: different PATH, no home directory, no aliases.

Where does the output go?

Cron mails it to the local user. Without a mail server it disappears, so always log to a file.