CRON executes CRONTABS only when run from terminal as "/usr/sbin/cron &"

[Stephen Carrier]

On Mon, Nov 16, 2020 at 12:44:33PM -0800, Stephen Carrier wrote:
> On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 02:03:28PM -0700, Keith Christian via Cygwin wrote:
> > Cygwin people,
> > 
> > Running with this version of Cygwin.
> > CYGWIN_NT-10.0 DESKTOP-ASERVER 3.1.7(0.340/5/3) 2020-08-22 17:48 x86_64 Cygwin
> > 
> > Windows info:
> > $ /lib/csih/winProductName.exeMicrosoft Windows 10 Professional,
> > 64-bit (build 18363)
> > 
> > I installed using cron-config, and created the cyg_server user.cron
> > starts OK, but does not appear to execute the crontabs.
> > No messages or errors  in /var/log/cron.log.
> > 
> > $ cygrunsrv -Q cron
> > Service             : cron
> > Display name        : Cron daemon
> > Current State       : Running
> > Controls Accepted   : Stop
> > Command             : /usr/sbin/cron -n
> 
> What's the output of "cygrunsrv -V -Q cron"?
> 
> What are the file permissions on /var/log/cron.log? ("ls -l
> /var/log/cron.log").  The uid running cron needs write permission there.
> 
> I run cron from the Local System account, which can setuid to other users.
> I don't know the circumstances where one should still use a non-SYSTEM
> account with Windows 10, but they aren't mine and I recommend running
> as SYSTEM if possible.
> 
> Stephen

I have also found the output of "cronevents" helpful.