Configure a cron job to run only if laptop is plugged in?

Question

I'm setting up a cron job to update my nmzmail database periodically, but I'd like the cron job to execute only if my laptop is plugged in. Is there a way to do this? If there's not a built in cron command, then is there a way to check via the command line that I could use in a simple script?

Answer 1

I would expand a bit on the first answer, and instead do something like this for a cron entry:

[ $(cat /proc/acpi/ac_adapter/AC/state | awk '{print $NF}') = 'on-line' ] && /path/to/your/script_file

I would rather not even start my script, unless the test is successful. In this instance cron will never start the script, if the laptop is on battery.

Answer 2

A simpler version using awk :

[ $(awk '{print $NF}' /proc/acpi/ac_adapter/AC/state) = 'on-line' ] && /path/to/your/script_file

but this version still looks simpler IMHO :

grep -q on-line /proc/acpi/ac_adapter/AC/state && /path/to/your/script_file

Answer 3

What you could do is to check if /proc/acpi/ac_adapter/AC/state contains the word on-line. You could put the following in at the beginning of your cron job :

# Do nothing when no AC power is available
grep -q on-line /proc/acpi/ac_adapter/AC/state || exit 0