Auto-Start a program??

[KKP925]

I searched and couldn't find a thread for this question...

Can I set Mac OS X to somehow automatically launch a program for me at a given (specific) time of day/night? I need to set my estimating software to auto shut down overnight to back-up, and I need to have it start up again after back-up is finished.

Thanks for any help/input!

 

[colocolo]

I searched and couldn't find a thread for this question...

Can I set Mac OS X to somehow automatically launch a program for me at a given (specific) time of day/night? I need to set my estimating software to auto shut down overnight to back-up, and I need to have it start up again after back-up is finished.

Thanks for any help/input!

google "cron job os x", it might be a start. I don't know of any program right now that does what you want.

I'm in a hurry; if you haven't found a useful answer and are having trouble with cron jobs, I'll try and help you out.

 

[KKP925]

Wow.... this is so much more complicated than I had imagined! The only thing close I could find was something called Launchd.... it looks like it involves programming stuff!

I guess I got quite spoiled by Windows Launch program which allowed scheduled launching of any program at any time specified. Why can't OS X have such a simple tool built in???

 

[ElectricSheep]

Cron has been depreciated in Mac OS X 10.4 in favor of Launch Services.

There are no facilities built into Mac OS X as of yet to make adding agents and daemons to Launch Services easy, but there is a 3rd party freeware application called Lingon that greatly simplifies this task.

You can do more than simply schedule jobs/scripts/Applications. You can have jobs kept running (even if they crash or are terminated), you can have jobs run when a directory changes, and you can have jobs run when a specific file is changed.

Lingon comes with a wizard that will walk you through the process of scheduling a new job with Launch Services.

I used it to have an rsync-based incremental backup script that I wrote run every day at 12:15 am.

 

[jlewis2k1]

cron jobs are pretty simple too use. Here is an application you can use

CronniX

You will still need to learn a little bit about terminal scripts for this to work.

 

[KKP925]

Thanks... I'll give these suggestions a try and see if I can figure them out. I'll keep you posted!

 

[gauchogolfer]

If I may offer an alternative, try using iCal. You can set a repeating event, and have an 'alarm' which opens a file. At that point you could have it open (for example) iTunes.app. Might be easier than going the cron-route.

Edit: or, you could have it run a script (same idea), which is just a simple Applescript that says:

tell application iTunes
launch
end tell

 

[KKP925]

If I may offer an alternative, try using iCal. You can set a repeating event, and have an 'alarm' which opens a file. At that point you could have it open (for example) iTunes.app. Might be easier than going the cron-route.

YOU ROCK!!!
The iCal method works flawlessly! I never thought of that, but then again, I didn't know I could launch an application as an alarm. You made my day, and for that, I thank you many times over!!!

Just FYI as to why this is so important to me:
I run my estimating software's Master station exclusively on a Mini, with 5 other workstations around my shop. I need to have the software (PrintSmith) shut down each night (which it does itself), back-up, and then re-launch so that when my staff come in the next day, their workstations are working. This will work very well using your iCal solution!!!

 

[colocolo]

If I may offer an alternative, try using iCal. You can set a repeating event, and have an 'alarm' which opens a file. At that point you could have it open (for example) iTunes.app. Might be easier than going the cron-route.

Edit: or, you could have it run a script (same idea), which is just a simple Applescript that says:

tell application iTunes
launch
end tell

Infinitely better solution than a messy cron job for the problem stated.

 

[gauchogolfer]

Glad to hear it worked out for you.
That's one of the joys of Tiger, learning all the things that this sweet OS can do for you that you didn't think of.

 

[KKP925]

Thanks to all of you who replied. As you can see, I am (still) a newbie (how do I move up??) to these forums. Overall, the people who use these forums are extremely helpful. I hope I can be of the same help to some of you some day! Thanks again!
Tim