Don't use /tmp for sentinel files like this. Create a directory writable only by the user running this crontab, and put the file in there. Then you won't have to worry about someone deleting your file.

Also, replace system touch.. with just 

open DUH, ">/tmp/some.file";
close DUH;

[download]
No separate process required that way. Better security. Ditto with unlink instead of system rm.

And, you really don't want to use a sentinel file like that. See my Highlander - allow only one invocation at a time of an expensive CGI script as a model to use flock with a sentinel file.

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

In reply to Re: lock files vs. non-predictable file names by merlyn
in thread lock files vs. non-predictable file names by RuphSkunk

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