cron ignores /etc/default/cron

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

https://launchpadlibrarian.net/64651044/cron.conf (duplicate #700409) mentions a simple fix.

The unfortunate reality is that /etc/default/* has been deprecated due to concerns over boot speed. Basically, randomly pausing to read and parse these files has a large net-effect of slowing the boot, whereas parsing /etc/init/*.conf once at the boot's startup is extremely fast.

If you are using these files, you should just edit /etc/init/cron.conf yourself, or /etc/init/cron.override if you do not want package upgrades to show diffs if we change the file.

so if your /etc/default/cron has

EXTRA_OPTS='-L 4'

That becomes

exec cron -L 4

In /etc/init/cron.override

I will remove the file from the package, however, so its clear that this file does nothing.

This bug was fixed in the package cron - 3.0pl1-121ubuntu1

---------------
cron (3.0pl1-121ubuntu1) quantal; urgency=low

  * Merge from Debian unstable. Remaining changes:
    - debian/rules: add support for cross-compiling.
    - Drop build-dependency on libaudit, not in main and the security
      team doesn't want it there.
    - debian/control:
      + Requires debhelper >= 7.3.15ubuntu2 (for Upstart).
      + Move MTA to Suggests field.
    - debian/cron.upstart: Add Upstart script.
    - debian/rules: Call dh_installinit to install Upstart job properly.
  * d/cron.default: change to a deprecated message to make it clear
    that the file is no longer in use. (LP: #794082)

cron (3.0pl1-121) unstable; urgency=low

  * debian/control:
    - Put the maintainer address in UTF-8 encoding
  * debian/postinst:
     - Only go ahead when configuring the package (Closes: #653304)
  * debian/source/lintian-overrides:
    - Removed, no longer required
  * crontab.5:
    - Escape the '%' in the examples so that they can work when copied over to
      crontab (Closes: #642309)
    - Remove tabs from manpage since they are not formatted properly in the
      nonfill area
  * cron.8, crontab.1, crontab.5:
    - Fix formatting errors in manual pages with patch provided by David
      Prévot (Closes: #643603)
  * debian/cron.default:
    - Fix typo (Closes: #643897)
  * debian/compat:
    - Set to compatibility version 9 to enable hardened build flags
      (Closes: #653720)
 -- Clint Byrum <email address hidden> Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:05:24 -0700

I think its worth changing the default /etc/default/cron in precise/lucid so that LTS upgraders who have modified that file will be presented with the diff.

Hello Matthias, or anyone else affected,

Accepted cron into precise-proposed. The package will build now and be available at http://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cron/3.0pl1-120ubuntu4 in a few hours and then in the -proposed repository. Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users. If this package fixes the bug for you please change the bug tag from verification-needed to verification-done. If it does not, change the tag to verification-failed. In either case details of your testing will help us make a better decision. Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance!

I successfully tested the -proposed update in a precise system

Hello Matthias, or anyone else affected,

Accepted into precise-proposed. The package will build now and be available at http://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/None/3.0pl1-120ubuntu4 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please change the bug tag from verification-needed to verification-done. If it does not, change the tag to verification-failed. In either case, details of your testing will help us make a better decision.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance!

This bug was fixed in the package cron - 3.0pl1-120ubuntu4

---------------
cron (3.0pl1-120ubuntu4) precise-proposed; urgency=low

  * d/cron.default: change to a deprecated message to make it clear
    that the file is no longer in use. (LP: #794082)
 -- Clint Byrum <email address hidden> Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:04:03 -0700

Hello Matthias, or anyone else affected,

Accepted cron into lucid-proposed. The package will build now and be available at http://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cron/3.0pl1-106ubuntu7 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please change the bug tag from verification-needed to verification-done. If it does not, change the tag to verification-failed. In either case, details of your testing will help us make a better decision.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance!

Verified on lucid

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Suggested packages:
  exim4 postfix mail-transport-agent anacron logrotate checksecurity
The following packages will be upgraded:
  cron
1 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 8 not upgraded.
Need to get 89.6kB of archives.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://127.0.0.1/ubuntu/ lucid-proposed/main cron 3.0pl1-106ubuntu7 [89.6kB]
Fetched 89.6kB in 1s (73.4kB/s)
(Reading database ... 13687 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace cron 3.0pl1-106ubuntu6 (using .../cron_3.0pl1-106ubuntu7_amd64.deb) ...
stop: Unknown instance:
Unpacking replacement cron ...
Setting up cron (3.0pl1-106ubuntu7) ...

Configuration file `/etc/default/cron'
 ==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.
 ==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.
   What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:
    Y or I : install the package maintainer's version
    N or O : keep your currently-installed version
      D : show the differences between the versions
      Z : background this process to examine the situation
 The default action is to keep your current version.
*** cron (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ? D
--- /etc/default/cron 2012-08-01 10:15:38.129819727 -0700
+++ /etc/default/cron.dpkg-new 2012-07-16 19:39:35.000000000 -0700
@@ -1,14 +1,3 @@
-# Cron configuration options
-
-# Uncomment this option for LSB name support in /etc/cron.d/
-LSBNAMES='-l'
-
-# Whether to read the system's default environment files (if present)
-# This will make cron set a proper charset for the mails it sends
-# Comment this or set it to something other than 'yes' to prevent
-# cron from reading it.
-READ_ENV="yes"
-
-# Extra options for cron, see cron(8)
-# For example, set a higher log level to audit cron's work
-# EXTRA_OPTS="-L 2"
+# This file has been deprecated. Please add custom options for cron
+# to /etc/init/cron.conf directly. See the init(5) man page for more
+# information.

Configuration file `/etc/default/cron'
 ==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.
 ==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.
   What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:
    Y or I : install the package maintainer's version
    N or O : keep your currently-installed version
      D : show the differences between the versions
      Z : background this process to examine the situation
 The default action is to keep your current version.
*** cron (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ? Y
Installing new version of config file /etc/default/cron ...
cron start/running, process 11649

The verification of this Stable Release Update has completed successfully and the package has now been released to -updates. Subsequently, the Ubuntu Stable Release Updates Team is being unsubscribed and will not receive messages about this bug report. In the event that you encounter a regression using the package from -updates please report a new bug using ubuntu-bug and tag the bug report regression-update so we can easily find any regresssions.

This bug was fixed in the package cron - 3.0pl1-106ubuntu7

---------------
cron (3.0pl1-106ubuntu7) lucid-proposed; urgency=low

  * d/cron.default: change to a deprecated message to make it clear
    that the file is no longer in use. (LP: #794082)
 -- Clint Byrum <email address hidden> Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:03:40 -0700