Testing cron script

[Bill McCarty]

Hi all,

How do folks like to test system Cron scripts, which run in the context 
system_u:system_r:system_crond_t? The system administrator can't simply 
invoke them using runcon:

runcon system_u:system_r:system_crond_t /etc/cron.hourly/test.cron

because the usual policies don't permit transitions from sysadm_t to 
system_crond_t.

And, modifying the policy to permit such a transition seems to entail 
authorizing too many permissions, at least for my taste.

I've tried running test scripts out of /etc/crontab, but I find that I 
waste a lot of time waiting for Cron to wake up and launch my test script.

I've also tried running scripts, and test scripts, out of root's crontab, 
by using crontab -e. But, doing so entails extending permissions to 
crond_t, and I seem to end up in pretty much the same predicament.

What am I missing?

Cheers,

-- 
Bill McCarty, Ph.D.
Professor of Information Technology
Azusa Pacific University