jobifygarden/CRON_SETUP.md

Cron Job Setup for JobifyGarden

Since your hosting provider doesn't have Supervisor, you'll use cron jobs to handle scheduled tasks and queue processing.

Prerequisites

1. SSH access to your server
2. Access to crontab configuration
3. Verify your application path (likely /home/jobifyg/public_html or similar)

Setup Instructions

Step 1: Make Queue Worker Script Executable

cd /home/jobifyg/public_html
chmod +x queue-worker.sh

Step 2: Configure Crontab

Edit your crontab:

crontab -e

Add these lines (replace /home/jobifyg/public_html with your actual path):

# =============================================================================
# JobifyGarden Cron Jobs
# =============================================================================

# Laravel Scheduler - REQUIRED
# Runs every minute to process scheduled commands
* * * * * cd /home/jobifyg/public_html && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

# Queue Worker - REQUIRED
# Option 1: Using the helper script (recommended)
* * * * * /home/jobifyg/public_html/queue-worker.sh

# Queue Worker - Option 2: Direct command (if script doesn't work)
# * * * * * cd /home/jobifyg/public_html && php artisan queue:work --max-time=50 --stop-when-empty --sleep=3 --tries=3 >> storage/logs/queue.log 2>&1

# Queue Restart - OPTIONAL but RECOMMENDED
# Restarts queue workers every hour to prevent memory leaks
0 * * * * cd /home/jobifyg/public_html && php artisan queue:restart >> /dev/null 2>&1

# Clear old failed jobs - OPTIONAL
# Clears failed jobs older than 7 days, runs daily at 4 AM
0 4 * * * cd /home/jobifyg/public_html && php artisan queue:flush >> /dev/null 2>&1

Step 3: Verify Cron Jobs Are Running

After saving your crontab, verify it's active:

# List your cron jobs
crontab -l

# Check if cron jobs are running (wait a few minutes)
tail -f /home/jobifyg/public_html/storage/logs/laravel.log

# Check queue worker logs
tail -f /home/jobifyg/public_html/storage/logs/queue-worker.log

What Each Cron Job Does

1. Laravel Scheduler (* * * * * ... schedule:run)

Frequency: Every minute Purpose: Checks and runs scheduled tasks defined in bootstrap/app.php

Scheduled Tasks:

• jobs:fetch - Fetches new jobs from APIs every 2 hours
• jobs:enrich - Auto-categorizes and enhances jobs every 6 hours
• jobs:clean - Removes old jobs (45+ days) daily at 2 AM
• jobs:deduplicate - Removes duplicate jobs daily at 3 AM
• cache:prune-stale-tags - Cleans cache hourly

For detailed explanations and customization options, see SCHEDULED_TASKS.md

2. Queue Worker (* * * * * ... queue:work)

Frequency: Every minute Purpose: Processes background jobs from the queue

Jobs Processed:

• Fetching jobs from external APIs
• Processing individual job listings
• Email notifications (if configured)
• Cache warming
• Other background tasks

Options Explained:

• --max-time=50 - Worker runs for max 50 seconds then exits
• --stop-when-empty - Exits if no jobs are in queue
• --sleep=3 - Waits 3 seconds between jobs
• --tries=3 - Retries failed jobs up to 3 times

3. Queue Restart (0 * * * * ... queue:restart)

Frequency: Every hour Purpose: Gracefully restarts queue workers to prevent memory leaks

4. Queue Flush (0 4 * * * ... queue:flush)

Frequency: Daily at 4 AM Purpose: Clears old failed jobs from the database

Troubleshooting

Cron jobs not running?

1. Check crontab is saved:

   crontab -l
   

2. Check PHP path:

   which php
   # Use the full path in crontab if needed: /usr/bin/php artisan ...
   

3. Check application path:

   pwd
   # Make sure you're using the correct path in crontab
   

4. Check file permissions:

   ls -la /home/jobifyg/public_html/artisan
   chmod +x /home/jobifyg/public_html/artisan
   

Jobs not being processed?

1. Check queue worker logs:

   tail -f storage/logs/queue-worker.log
   

2. Check Laravel logs:

   tail -f storage/logs/laravel.log
   

3. Manually run queue worker to see errors:

   php artisan queue:work --verbose
   

4. Check failed jobs:

   php artisan queue:failed
   

5. Retry failed jobs:

   php artisan queue:retry all
   

Jobs are fetched but not appearing?

1. Check if job fetch is scheduled:

   php artisan schedule:list
   

2. Manually test job fetching:

   php artisan jobs:fetch --limit=5
   

3. Check queue:

   php artisan queue:work --once --verbose
   

Performance Tuning

Low Traffic Site

If your site has low traffic, you can reduce frequency:

# Run queue worker every 5 minutes instead
*/5 * * * * cd /home/jobifyg/public_html && php artisan queue:work --max-time=240 --stop-when-empty --sleep=3 --tries=3 >> storage/logs/queue.log 2>&1

High Traffic Site

If you need faster job processing:

# Run multiple queue workers
* * * * * cd /home/jobifyg/public_html && php artisan queue:work --max-time=50 --stop-when-empty --queue=high,default --sleep=1 --tries=3 >> storage/logs/queue-worker-1.log 2>&1
* * * * * cd /home/jobifyg/public_html && php artisan queue:work --max-time=50 --stop-when-empty --queue=default --sleep=1 --tries=3 >> storage/logs/queue-worker-2.log 2>&1

Monitoring

Check Cron Execution

Your hosting control panel may have a cron job log. Check there for execution history.

Check Application Health

# Visit this URL in your browser (Laravel health check)
https://jobifygarden.com/up

# Check recent jobs
php artisan tinker
>>> \App\Models\Job::latest()->take(5)->get(['id', 'title', 'created_at']);

Monitor Logs

# Watch all logs in real-time
tail -f storage/logs/*.log

# Check for errors
grep -i error storage/logs/laravel.log | tail -20

Important Notes

1. Queue Worker Must Keep Running: The queue worker cron ensures jobs are processed continuously. Without it, jobs will queue but never execute.

2. Schedule Must Run Every Minute: The scheduler cron must run every minute. Laravel internally determines which scheduled tasks should run.

3. Time Zone: Make sure your server's timezone matches your Laravel app timezone (check config/app.php).

4. Testing: After setup, wait a few minutes and check logs to verify everything is working.

5. Production: Make sure APP_ENV=production and APP_DEBUG=false in your .env file.

Quick Test

After setting up cron, test immediately:

# 1. Manually run scheduler
php artisan schedule:run

# 2. Queue a test job
php artisan jobs:fetch Remotive --limit=2

# 3. Process the queue
php artisan queue:work --once --verbose

# 4. Check if jobs were created
php artisan tinker
>>> \App\Models\Job::count();

Support

If you encounter issues:

1. Check the troubleshooting section above
2. Review logs in storage/logs/
3. Ensure Redis is working: php artisan tinker then Cache::get('test')
4. Verify database connection works