Cron Job Exit Code Not Zero: Detect Failures

Your cron job exits with a non-zero exit code, indicating failure. Learn how to detect and handle exit codes properly.

Understanding Exit Codes

Exit codes indicate whether a command succeeded or failed:

Exit code 0 - Success
Exit code 1 - General error
Exit code 2 - Misuse of shell command
Exit code 126 - Command cannot execute
Exit code 127 - Command not found
Exit code 130 - Script terminated by Ctrl+C
Any non-zero - Failure

Cron doesn't alert you when jobs exit with non-zero codes. You need to check exit codes explicitly.

How to Check Exit Codes

Always check exit codes after running commands. The check must be inside your script, not in the cron line, because you need to handle the exit code and send appropriate pings.

Bash Example: Check Exit Code

#!/bin/bash
set -e  # Exit immediately on error
# Run command and capture exit code
./backup.sh
EXIT_CODE=$?
# Single ping with exit code in payload
# In DeadManPing panel: set validation rule "exit_code" == 0
# Panel will automatically detect if exit code is non-zero and alert
curl -X POST "https://deadmanping.com/api/ping/backup-daily?exit_code=$EXIT_CODE"

Bash Example: Check Multiple Commands

#!/bin/bash
FAILED=0
# Run multiple commands and check each
./step1.sh || FAILED=1
./step2.sh || FAILED=1
./step3.sh || FAILED=1
# Single ping with step completion data in payload
# In DeadManPing panel: set validation rule "failed_steps_count" == 0
# Panel will automatically detect if any steps failed
curl -X POST "https://deadmanping.com/api/ping/multi-step?failed_steps_count=$FAILED"

Python Example: Check Exit Code

import subprocess
import sys
import requests
# Run command and check exit code
result = subprocess.run(['./backup.sh'], capture_output=True)
# Single ping with exit code in payload
# In DeadManPing panel: set validation rule "exit_code" == 0
# Panel will automatically detect if exit code is non-zero and alert
requests.post(f"https://deadmanping.com/api/ping/backup-daily?exit_code={result.returncode}")

Node.js Example: Check Process Exit Code

const { execSync } = require('child_process');
const https = require('https');
let exitCode = 0;
try {
  // execSync throws on non-zero exit code
  execSync('./backup.sh', { stdio: 'inherit' });
} catch (error) {
  exitCode = error.status || 1;
}
// Single ping with exit code in payload
// In DeadManPing panel: set validation rule "exit_code" == 0
// Panel will automatically detect if exit code is non-zero and alert
https.request(`https://deadmanping.com/api/ping/backup-daily?exit_code=${exitCode}`, { method: 'POST' }).end();

Bash Example: Pipe Failures

#!/bin/bash
set -o pipefail  # Catch failures in pipes
# Pipe can fail but still return 0
pg_dump mydb | gzip > backup.sql.gz
EXIT_CODE=$?
# Single ping with exit code in payload
# In DeadManPing panel: set validation rule "exit_code" == 0
# Panel will automatically detect if exit code is non-zero and alert
curl -X POST "https://deadmanping.com/api/ping/backup-daily?exit_code=$EXIT_CODE"

Monitoring Exit Codes

After adding exit code checks to your scripts, use a dead man switch to monitor whether checks completed successfully. If your script detects a non-zero exit code and exits with error, the ping never arrives, and you get an alert.

Include exit codes in your ping payload so you can track what types of failures occur and identify patterns.

Working Examples

See complete, working code examples in our GitHub repository:

View Examples on GitHub →

Start Monitoring Exit Codes

DeadManPing monitors whether your exit code checks complete. Set up monitoring in 2 minutes, get alerts when jobs exit with non-zero codes.

Start Monitoring Free

Learn more about cron job monitoring and troubleshooting:

Cron Job Exit Code Not Zero: Detect Failures

Understanding Exit Codes

How to Check Exit Codes

Bash Example: Check Exit Code

Bash Example: Check Multiple Commands

Python Example: Check Exit Code

Node.js Example: Check Process Exit Code

Bash Example: Pipe Failures

Monitoring Exit Codes

Working Examples

Start Monitoring Exit Codes

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