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Only Leopard Runs Routine Maintenance Tasks after Startup or Waking from Sleep

Charles Moore - 2008.09.04 - Tip Jar

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Thanks to feedback from several readers, we now know that Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" will run the routine maintenance cron jobs after startup or waking up if the computer was off or asleep when they were scheduled. Earlier versions of Mac OS X do not do this.

OS X System Maintenance Routines
Cron Jobs Run on Wakeup or Startup
Running OS X System Maintenance Routines
Using Anacron to Run Routine Maintenance

OS X System Maintenance Routines

From Jeff:

It's easily verified that the daily, weekly, and monthly cron scripts will run at the first available time slot if they miss their overnight executing times by opening "Console.app" from /Applications/Utilities and looking at the entries for "daily.out," "weekly.out," and "monthly.out" under "/Library/Logs." (UPDATE: The logs may sometimes be found in "/var/log" instead. ed)

My system sleeps overnight, and it's easy to see that all three of these cron scripts are executed sometime between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. (about the time I get up and wake up the computer), and, therefore, there is no need to "force" these scripts to run manually.

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Well, that clears that up. I don't get into the Console a whole lot.

Charles

Cron Jobs Run on Wakeup or Startup

From Ian:

"I have heard, but haven't been able to confirm as yet, that recent versions of OS X have been configured to run the cron jobs at a different time if the computer was asleep or off during the regular scheduled time."

That seems to be the case in 10.5.4. The "daily" script ran a little after nine when I fired up my 'Book this morning.

Thanks, Ian.

Charles

Running OS X System Maintenance Routines

From David:

Hi Charles,

You asked for info re. system maintenance. This is what I know. According to this article at Macworld, if your computer is asleep at night, "Leopard is smart enough to run the missed scripts the next time you wake up your computer. (Tiger is supposed to do so, as well, although this automatic feature didn't work as well.)"

The Macworld article is dated June 2, 2008, but Apple has this support document, last modified July 18, 2008, which says "Mac OS X performs background maintenance tasks at certain times if the computer is not in sleep mode. If your computer is shut down or in sleep at the designated times, the maintenance does not occur." The document says Mac OS X 10.5 is one of the Products Affected.

We're through the looking glass here, Mac users.

Take care,
Dave Lillo

Hi Dave,

See Jeff's note above, which would appear to verify what Macworld said.

Charles

Using Anacron to Run Routine Maintenance

From Nancy:

Dear Charles,

I enjoyed your article in Miscellaneous Ramblings about the value of running routine maintenance utilities, and I plan to forward it to friends who are new to the Mac.

I use Onyx as well, but wondered if you were familiar with Anacron.

It is a freeware application that runs the three cron scripts in the background whenever your computer is awake, without having to remember to launch Onyx and trigger the scripts manually. It runs under both Leopard and Tiger, and earlier versions are available for Jaguar and Panther as well. I have used it for a couple of years now with no problems.

Best,
Nancy

Hi Nancy,

I hadn't heard of that utility.

Sounds handy, although I guess Leopard does that now automatically without any third-party help.

I notice that the Anacron site has posted a notice reading:

"Note: This version of Anacron will run on MacOS 10.5 (Leopard) but it is not needed, as the Leopard launchd will run skipped jobs when the machine is next awake."

Charles

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Charles Moore has been a freelance journalist since 1987 and began writing for Mac websites in May 1998. His The Road Warrior column was a regular feature on MacOpinion, and he is a news editor and columnist at Applelinks.com. If you find his articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

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