Cron is a great sysadmin tool, but it seems like my cronjobs never run because I can’t quite get syntax or permissions right.
Here’s my “how to use cron to (actually) update your Pi-hole daily” guide.
First, run:
sudo crontab -e (I know that running ‘pihole-up’ doesn’t require sudo, but cron gets angry without it.)
Add the following line to the cron file:
0 5 * * * /usr/bin/date >> /var/log/pihole_update.log && /usr/local/bin/pihole -up >> /var/log/pihole_update.log 2>&1
This will cause pihole to update every morning at 5:00 am, and log the results to /var/log/pihole_update.log preceded by a timestamp (so you know it’s actually working). (If you prefer updates weekly instead of daily, change 0 5 * * * to 0 5 * * 0 and updates will happen at 5:00 am every Sunday instead.)
Pi-hole updates, automated.