Detect Cron Job Skipped: Catch Jobs That Don't Run
Your cron job should run, but it's being skipped. Learn how to detect when jobs are skipped and verify execution.
Why Jobs Get Skipped
Cron jobs can be skipped:
- Previous job still running
- System overload prevents execution
- Cron daemon skips due to resource limits
- Job disabled temporarily
- System time changes cause schedule confusion
Without explicit execution confirmation, you can't tell if the job was skipped.
How to Detect Skipped Jobs
Send an explicit ping when your job executes. If the ping doesn't arrive at the expected time, you know the job was skipped. The ping must be inside your script.
Bash Example: Ping on Execution
#!/bin/bashset -e# Ping immediately to confirm job started# Your work./backup.sh# Single ping at end - if job fails, ping won't arrive and DeadManPing will alertcurl -X POST "https://deadmanping.com/api/ping/backup-daily"Python Example: Execution Confirmation
import requests# Your workperform_backup()# Single ping at end - if job fails, ping won't arrive and DeadManPing will alertrequests.post("https://deadmanping.com/api/ping/backup-daily")Detecting Skipped Jobs with Dead Man Switch
A dead man switch detects skipped jobs by monitoring whether your explicit ping arrives at the expected time. If the ping doesn't arrive, you know the job was skipped.
Working Examples
See complete, working code examples in our GitHub repository:
View Examples on GitHub →Start Detecting Skipped Jobs
DeadManPing monitors whether your execution pings arrive. Set up monitoring in 2 minutes, get alerts when jobs are skipped.
Start Monitoring FreeRelated Articles
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