Is a cron job needed when schedule_tasks is "On"?

Software Support
1

Hi,
( OJS 2.4.8 )
Just set “scheduled_tasks = On” in my config.inc.php, to cater for reviewer reminders.
Do I need a plugin or else to actually send the reminders in 2.4.8?

Thanks in advance for your reply.

Regards,
Juan

2

Hi @jascanio

You need set value to ON in your config.inc.php and set a cron job as you can read in https://pkp.sfu.ca/ojs/README “Scheduled Tasks” section. I will paste it here:

To enable support for using scheduled tasks, edit your config.inc.php and
set the scheduled_tasks setting to On, and set up your operating system to
periodically execute (as the same user your webserver is running under) the
PHP script found at tools/runScheduledTasks.php in your OJS directory.
On *nix operating systems, this can be done by adding a simple cron task:
_
# crontab -e www
0 * * * * php /path/to/ojs/tools/runScheduledTasks.php

In this example the script would be executed every hour.

Regards,
Israel Cefrin
Public Knowledge Project Team

3

Hi @israel.cefrin,
Thanks for your reply.
I already have schedule_tasks On.
I believe there is a plugin (Acron) that might do the job, so there would be no need to set up the operating system to periodically execute the script, so cron jobs would be dealt with by OJS itself.
Is this correct?

Regards,
Juan

4

Hi @jascanio

Yes, ACRON plugin might do this job either.

If you have ACRON enabled you do not need edit CRON job and vice versa.

Regards,
Israel Cefrin
Public Knowledge Project Team