The sync job runs all night
An inventory sync should poll every 15 minutes during business hours, weekdays only. Right now it fires around the clock, weekends included. Fix the schedule, graded by when it actually fires.
Scenario
sync-inventory.sh polls a supplier API. The supplier's contract allows polling every 15
minutes during business hours (09:00-17:59), Monday to Friday. The crontab currently polls
every 15 minutes around the clock, seven days a week, and the supplier noticed.
Cron field reminder
┌── minute (0-59)
│ ┌── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌── day of week (0-6, 0 = Sunday)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * * command
Steps (*/15), ranges (9-17) and lists (1,3,5) all work.
Your job
Edit crontab so the job:
- fires at :00, :15, :30 and :45 of every hour from 09:00 through 17:45,
- never fires before 09:00 or after 17:59,
- never fires on Saturday or Sunday,
- still runs
/usr/local/bin/sync-inventory.sh.
How it's graded
Your schedule is evaluated against a set of times (weekday mornings, overnight, weekends) and must fire exactly when the contract allows. Not a string match.
Teaches: cron steps, ranges and the day-of-week field: expressing a real scheduling policy in five fields.
What gets checked
Your solution is verified against each of these:
- The crontab line parses
- Fires every 15 minutes between 09:00 and 17:45 on weekdays
- Does not fire outside the 9-17 hour window
- Does not fire on Saturday or Sunday
- Runs /usr/local/bin/sync-inventory.sh
Solve it in your browser
No setup, no install. Write your solution in the editor and hit Check. The in-house engine renders and grades it instantly, then issues your proof the moment every check passes.
Solve in browser →Prefer your own lab?
- Build the fix locally. New to the tooling? See setting up your lab.
- Push your topology file, device configs, and any playbooks to a public repo (GitHub or GitLab).
- Submit the repo link. We review it by hand, confirm it works, and issue your proof page.