crontab执行shell脚本报错：python: command not found

This is a super common issue—even when you set SHELL=/bin/bash in crontab and specify the shebang in your script, cron runs with a very limited default PATH that usually doesn't include the directory where your Python installation lives. Here are three solid fixes to get your backup working:

• Use Python's absolute path (most reliable)
  First, find exactly where Python is installed on your system by running this in your regular terminal:

  which python
  # Or use `which python3` if you're using Python 3
  

  Let's say the output is /usr/bin/python3. Update your shell script's command to use this full path instead of just python:

  /usr/bin/python3 -m grafana_backup.cli save --config $settings_file
  

  This bypasses any PATH issues entirely since you're telling cron exactly where to find Python.

• Set PATH directly in your crontab
  Open your crontab for editing with crontab -e, then add a PATH line at the top (alongside your SHELL setting) that includes the directory where Python lives. For example:

  SHELL=/bin/bash
  PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
  # Your scheduled job below
  0 2 * * * /full/path/to/your/backup_script.sh
  

  Make sure the PATH includes the directory from your which python output (e.g., if Python is in /usr/bin, that's already included above).

• Add PATH to your shell script
  If you don't want to mess with crontab settings, you can define the PATH at the top of your backup script:

  #!/bin/bash
  # Add necessary directories to PATH
  export PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:$PATH"
  # Run the backup command
  python -m grafana_backup.cli save --config $settings_file
  

  This ensures the script loads the full PATH it needs before trying to execute Python.

I'd recommend the first option (absolute path) as it's the most resilient to future environment changes.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Alex Romero