TEST CRON ON ANY LINUX OS

lookup if dummy cron task is running every minute

$ crontab -e

* * * * * env > /tmp/env.output

$ sudo service cron start

you should see now the env.output

$ ls -l /tmp/

-rw-rw-r-- 1 msen     msen         94 Feb  4 08:29 env.output

For Moodle 3.0.2 version

First go to Administration -> Courses -> Backups -> Automated backup setup

• Active (Manual)
• Schedule (check all days)
• Execute at 0:0
• Automated backup storage -> Specified directory for automated backups
• Save to -> /var/moodledata/coursebackup/    (if you choose empty, the courses will get backed up in its own course folder)
• Maximum number of backups kept: 1
• Delete backups older than : Never
• Minimum number of backups kept: None
• Use course name in backup filename: Checked
• Skip hidden courses: Checked
• Skip courses not modified since: 30 days
• Skip courses not modified since previous backup: no check

now edit crontab, run the automated course backup every night at 1:00 am

$ crontab -e

0 1 * * *  /usr/bin/php /usr/share/nginx/html/admin/cli/automated_backups.php > /tmp/moodle-automated-course-backup.log 2>&1

The logs are saved on the temp directory  /tmp/moodle-automated-course-backup.log

monitor the logs

$ tail -200 /tmp/moodle-automated-course-backup.log

to list the backuped courses in size (MB)

$ ls -l –block-size=M /var/moodledata/coursebackup/*

to lookup the directory size

$ du -sh /var/moodledata/coursebackup/

1.8G     /var/moodledata/coursebackup/