Use PHP to create, edit and delete crontab jobs?

Question

Is it possible to use PHP to create, edit and delete crontab jobs?

I know how to list the current crontab jobs of the Apache user:

$output = shell_ex         


        

Answer 1

Check a cronjob

function cronjob_exists($command){

    $cronjob_exists=false;

    exec('crontab -l', $crontab);


    if(isset($crontab)&&is_array($crontab)){

        $crontab = array_flip($crontab);

        if(isset($crontab[$command])){

            $cronjob_exists=true;

        }

    }
    return $cronjob_exists;
}

Append a cronjob

function append_cronjob($command){

    if(is_string($command)&&!empty($command)&&cronjob_exists($command)===FALSE){

        //add job to crontab
        exec('echo -e "`crontab -l`\n'.$command.'" | crontab -', $output);


    }

    return $output;
}

Remove a crontab

exec('crontab -r', $crontab);

Example

exec('crontab -r', $crontab);

append_cronjob('* * * * * curl -s http://localhost/cron/test1.php');

append_cronjob('* * * * * curl -s http://localhost/cron/test2.php');

append_cronjob('* * * * * curl -s http://localhost/cron/test3.php');