10.4.3 still need unix maintenance routines?

[jkandell]

I know that many folks say to run the unix daily, weekly, monthly maintenance routines if your mac is sleeping or off at night. Is this still necessary with 10.4.3?

[yellow]

Yes, of course..

Log rotations still need to happen, as well as database rebuilding.

[OutThere]

You can always set them to run at times when you know that your Mac will be on, but they can slow down your computer. There are programs available on Versiontracker that will help you set up Chron.

[CalGrunt]

I know that many folks say to run the unix daily, weekly, monthly maintenance routines if your mac is sleeping or off at night. Is this still necessary with 10.4.3?

No, it is NOT necessary with 10.4.3. They are no longer being run late at night as cron scripts because that are now being handled by launchd, which will run anytime you wake up our computer, even during the middle of the day.

[yellow]

No, it is NOT necessary with 10.4.3. They are no longer being run late at night as cron scripts because that are now being handled by launchd, which will run anytime you wake up our computer, even during the middle of the day.

I don't beleive this is true unless you did a clean install of Tiger. If you Upgraded from previous versions of OS X, you're still using cron.

[grapes911]

No, it is NOT necessary with 10.4.3. They are no longer being run late at night as cron scripts because that are now being handled by launchd, which will run anytime you wake up our computer, even during the middle of the day.
Correct. It is necessary for them to run, you just don't have to run them your self. They are still scheduled for early morning, but launchd will run them later if you computer is not on.

[grapes911]

I don't beleive this is true unless you did a clean install of Tiger. If you Upgraded from previous versions of OS X, you're still using cron.
Cron is there regardless. It just doesn't handle any scripts unless you install some yourself. I don't think it matter if you update or fresh install. Either way the system files are being overwritten.

[yellow]

Hmmm how can I verify which daemon is doing my log rotation?

[Bern]

Correct. It is necessary for them to run, you just don't have to run them your self. They are still scheduled for early morning, but launchd will run them later if you computer is not on.

This is only true if your computer has been sleeping. If you have turned it off they will not run until the next 4am - 4.30am time slot.

[risc]

With all this debate about maintenance, cron versus launchd, etc I think the time has come for me to just install Anacron for Tiger again on my 3 Macs here, and even if they don't need it at least I can forget about it. ;)

[Lord Blackadder]

I started running my Mac 24/7 so this isn't an issue for me...

...but could somebody explain to a linux n00b just what the difference is between the two methods?

[grapes911]

This is only true if your computer has been sleeping. If you have turned it off they will not run until the next 4am - 4.30am time slot.
I do believe you are correct.

[grapes911]

With all this debate about maintenance, cron versus launchd, etc I think the time has come for me to just install Anacron for Tiger again on my 3 Macs here, and even if they don't need it at least I can forget about it. ;)
Anacron forces cron stript so run when they missed their scheduled time. I don't think they will touch launchd scripts.

[Makosuke]

This is only true if your computer has been sleeping. If you have turned it off they will not run until the next 4am - 4.30am time slot.So THAT'S why it's irregular on my Mac; I could never figure out why (on a clean Tiger install) it would sometimes run when I turned the computer on, and other times didn't seem to. Because sometimes I was turning it on, and sometimes just waking up.

Still a tad frustrating, as it aught to deal with sleep properly (though that was never a consideration back in the unix days, launchd should be able to deal with this), but at least it makes sense now.