My forum's 'simple' backup script somehow emailed 500 users a blank test post at 3 AM

It was a cron job I wrote in 10 minutes that ran fine for 6 months, then just... went rogue. Anyone have a better method for automated backups that WON'T spam your entire member list?

2 comments

2 Comments

samwalker4d agoMost Upvoted

Been there, done that, got the angry emails. That cron job probably had a hidden bug that only showed up with weird system timing or a full disk. Honestly, the safest move is to split the backup and the notification into two separate scripts. Let the backup run on its own, then have a second, simpler script that only sends you a single alert if the backup file actually exists and is a fresh copy. That way, even if the backup part breaks, it can't accidentally email everyone.

west.anna4d ago

Love the backup plan, but now you'll just get one angry email when the second script fails too.