Free way to run scheduled tasks?

[Benjamindaines]

Is there any way to schedule things to run automatically like in XP, but for free? I have seen some pay solutions but I don't want to pay.

 

[grapes911]

The built in cron scheduler is very good. There is no gui for it, but it is easy to learn anyway.

What type of task are you trying to run?

 

[Nutter]

Use iCal.

You can set an alarm for an event that will automatically launch an application, file or script for you.

The alarms even work when iCal isn't running, as long as you haven't disabled this in iCal's Preferences.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

If you need something more powerful than iCal for scheduling tasks, Lingon is free, open-source, Universal, and fills this need on Mac OS X perfectly. I use it myself, and highly recommend it.

 

[Benjamindaines]

If you need something more powerful than iCal for scheduling tasks, Lingon is free, open-source, Universal, and fills this need on Mac OS X perfectly. I use it myself, and highly recommend it.

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for

 

[neelamudr]

Explore the steps to create & run scheduled task

Hi,

I am newbie to Mac Mini. Can you explore the steps to schedule a task & how to run it. I am trying to schedule a software i.e. BucketCommander.jar, its a command line version of Bucket Explorer.

I tried iCal to scheduled, but it takes parameters to run.
Normally to run on command prompt, the require following parameters-
java -jar BucketCommander.jar -action:upload -authenticate:my_profile_name -emailprofile:email_profile

If I schedule through iCal then how to pass those parameters. Please explain complete process of scheduled task.

Regards-
Neelam Sharma

 

[neelamudr]

Schedule task on Mac

Is there any way to schedule task having parameters ??

Let me know the steps, or script to run this.

 

[benhollberg]

If you need something more powerful than iCal for scheduling tasks, Lingon is free, open-source, Universal, and fills this need on Mac OS X perfectly. I use it myself, and highly recommend it.

That doesn't look free to me.

 

[MattInOz]

Hi,

I am newbie to Mac Mini. Can you explore the steps to schedule a task & how to run it. I am trying to schedule a software i.e. BucketCommander.jar, its a command line version of Bucket Explorer.

I tried iCal to scheduled, but it takes parameters to run.
Normally to run on command prompt, the require following parameters-
java -jar BucketCommander.jar -action:upload -authenticate:my_profile_name -emailprofile:email_profile

If I schedule through iCal then how to pass those parameters. Please explain complete process of scheduled task.

Regards-
Neelam Sharma

You could look at setting up an Automator Workflow and have iCal trigger the workflow.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

That doesn't look free to me.

Odd. That tool WAS free when I originally posted the link...

 

[kainjow]

So I need a way to automatically download a file every day. I figure there *has* to be an easy to use utility to do that. Let's see...

Lingon 3 is 10.7+ now, and App Store only ($2.99). They have a 2.x version for 10.6 but it's no longer being updated.

Task Till Dawn is free, but doesn't let me run arbitrary scripts directly. Plus it's Java.

Scheduler is free, but a Carbon app and it's UI is confusing and non-standard.

I guess I'll stick with an iCal alarm that runs my AppleScript which executes curl.

 

[Mal]

Lingon 3 is 10.7+ now, and App Store only ($2.99). They have a 2.x version for 10.6 but it's no longer being updated.

Snow Leopard isn't being updated either (not in any way that is likely to break Lingon). I'd just use the old version of that if on Snow Leopard.

jW

 

[kainjow]

Snow Leopard isn't being updated either (not in any way that is likely to break Lingon). I'd just use the old version of that if on Snow Leopard.

I'd rather not pay $5 for a dead product. Plus Lingon is still tied too closely to launchd.

Maybe I'll just write my own