Purpose

In some cases, there is a need to schedule recurring jobs in Hipchat Server. Examples include but are not limited to: 

• Cleanup of old attachments
• Cleanup of log files
• Database dumps or backups

Solution

The purpose could be achieved through Linux crontabs. Let's take, as an example, a job that will run every day at midnight and delete attachments older than 90 days.

The command to delete attachments older than 90 days is: 

find /file_store/cumulus/posixdata/f/ -mtime +90 ! -iname *emoticon* -delete

The recurring job would be represented as follows in the root crontab: 

0 0 * * * find /file_store/cumulus/posixdata/f/ -mtime +90 ! -iname *emoticon* -delete

Although this job could be added manually by running crontab -e, it will not persist through upgrades and server reboots. 

The below steps should be run in order for the job to persist in your system: 

1. Log into the Hipchat Server terminal/command-line interface

2. Create a new file in /home/admin/startup_scripts called attachments_cleanup_cronjob or similar

   Do not include a file extension in the name

3. Copy the code below into the file and save it:

   #!/bin/bash
   
   # Check if there's already a job that's finding in the attachments folder
   CHECK=$(sudo dont-blame-hipchat -c "crontab -l | grep 'find /file_store/cumulus/posixdata/f/' | wc -l")
   
   # If there are no jobs, add one
   if [ $CHECK -lt 1 ]; then
       sudo dont-blame-hipchat -c "crontab -l | { cat; echo '0 0 * * * find /file_store/cumulus/posixdata/f/ -mtime +90 ! -iname *emoticon* -delete'; } | crontab -";
   fi
    

4. Save the script, then make it executable:

   chmod +x /home/admin/startup_scripts/attachments_cleanup_cronjob 

5. Run the script once:

   /home/admin/startup_scripts/attachments_cleanup_cronjob

6. Validate the change in the root crontab:

   sudo dont-blame-hipchat -c "crontab -l"

   The following line should be among what the command returns:

   0 0 * * * find /file_store/cumulus/posixdata/f/ -mtime +90 ! -iname *emoticon* -delete