This repository is a structured collection of bash scripts for scheduling and managing backups using cron jobs in Unix-based systems. It includes organized folders for best practices, test routines, and real-world script variations.

cron-jobs/
│
├── best-practice/          # ✅ Recommended setup with .env and modular scripts
├── db-backup-routine/      # Database-specific backup experiments
├── echo-file/              # Basic test scripts using echo
├── multiple_db/            # Script to handle multiple DB backups
└── crontab.txt            # 🕒 Crontab example for scheduling backups

This folder contains modular and reusable bash scripts following best practices for:

• Structured backups (hourly, daily, weekly, etc.)
• Easy environment configuration
• Cleanup routines
• Directory initialization

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/cron-jobs.git
   cd cron-jobs/best-practice

2. Copy the example .env file

   cp .env.backup.example .env.backup

3. Edit .env.backup to match your system

   BACKUP_DIR="/path/to/backups"
   DB_HOST="localhost"
   DB_USER="your_user"
   DB_PASSWORD="your_password"
   DB_NAME="your_db"
   RETENTION_DAYS=7

4. Set ENV_FILE in laod_env.sh

   ENV_FILE="$(dirname "$0")/.env.backup"

Run any script manually or schedule via crontab.

# Load env first
source ./laod_env.sh

# Example:
./hourly_backup.sh
./cleanup_backups.sh

Open crontab:

crontab -e

Paste the contents from crontab.txt, and update SCRIPT_PATH to your absolute script directory path.

# Example with SCRIPT_PATH set
SCRIPT_PATH="/home/user/cron-jobs/best-practice"

0 */3 * * * $SCRIPT_PATH/hourly_backup.sh
0 0 * * * $SCRIPT_PATH/daily_backup.sh
0 0 * * 0 $SCRIPT_PATH/weekly_backup.sh
0 0 1 * * $SCRIPT_PATH/monthly_backup.sh
0 0 1 1 * $SCRIPT_PATH/yearly_backup.sh
0 1 * * * $SCRIPT_PATH/cleanup_backups.sh

Contains DB-focused backup scripts:

• 1 day.db.linux.sh
• script.linux.sh
• test.linux.sh

These test out database dump techniques, compression, and rotation.

Minimal test scripts:

• script.linux.sh and script.window.sh echo file contents.
• Useful for debugging crontab commands.

Single script handling multiple database backups:

• Uses loops and arrays to backup a list of databases.
• Ideal for multi-tenant systems.

• Make scripts executable:

  chmod +x *.sh

• View crontab logs (Linux):

  grep CRON /var/log/syslog

• Test environment sourcing:

  bash -x ./hourly_backup.sh

# Path to store backup files
BACKUP_DIR="/var/backups/myapp"

# MySQL credentials
DB_HOST="localhost"
DB_USER="root"
DB_PASSWORD="secret"
DB_NAME="app_db"

# Retention policy
HOURLY_RETENTION=8
DAILY_RETENTION=7
WEEKLY_RETENTION=4
MONTHLY_RETENTION=12
YEARLY_RETENTION=5

Feel free to fork and submit pull requests for improvements, new strategies, or enhancements in modularity and compatibility!

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Ahad
Practicing automation with love ♥
Happy Hacking : )