Why is apache access log not showing GET requests related to cron job?

Question

In my wp-config.php, I have

define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);

I am on a Mac (Catalina), and if I run from the terminal crontab - l I see

* * * * * wget -q -O - 'https://mysiite.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron&cron=true'; echo "wordpresscron" >> /somepath/stdout.log

In my log file, I see wordpresscron being echoed.

But when I view my apache access log I don't see any GET requests related to the cron.

Now, if I manually enter at the terminal

wget -q -O - 'https://mysiite.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron&cron=true'

An entry gets written into the apache access log.

So I just can't figure out what is going on. Seems my cron is working, but apache log is not showing this...

Ideas?

Edit:

Maybe this has something to do with the fact that I am changing the system time on my MAC to test the triggering of events?

For instance, take a look at this output showing jobs that are pending:

So there are some jobs to run. If I type from the terminal

wp cron event run --due-now

These pending jobs all get immediately completed. I modified my crontab a bit, it is now

* * * * * cd /sitefolder; wp cron event run --due-now; echo "ran cron" >> /users/brian/sites/stdout.log

And I see ran cron being echoed to the log.

So I am truly at a loss. It is as if the cron is running, and when the wp cron event run --due-now command is issued, it is ignored, and I can't imagine the conditions under which it might be ignored when ran as a cron. Maybe when ran as cron it is being ignored because it sees that I made a system time change (although I can't imagine why that would cause a command to be ignored). Or could it be a weird permissons issue, in which case at command line I have permissions to run wp cron event run --due-now, but the cron job somehow does not have permission?

Anyway, this is driving me nuts.

Answer 1

Ok, things are working now. Not sure if it was fact that cron environment didn't have its PATH set as needed, or if there was other reason, but I followed the instructions here:

https://peterwilson.cc/real-wordpress-cron-with-wp-cli/

and

https://purpleturtlecreative.com/blog/2020/02/how-to-replace-the-wordpress-cron-with-a-linux-cron-job/

So now, my crontab is

PATH=/usr/local/opt/[email protected]/bin:/usr/local/opt/[email protected]/bin:/usr/local/opt/[email protected]/sbin:/usr/local/opt/[email protected]/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
* * * * * /bin/bash /folder/wordpresscron.sh

(with newline after the crontab entry)

And the script:

#!/bin/bash
clear
cd /site
for hook in $(wp cron event list --next_run_relative=now --fields=hook --format=ids);
  do wp cron event run "$hook";
done;
echo "now in cron" >> /folder/stdout.log

Anyway, glad I can move on now!