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DiscordChatExporter/.docs/Scheduling-Linux.md

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Scheduling exports with Cron

Make sure you already have DiscordChatExporter.CLI and .NET Core properly installed (instructions here).

You can use Cron on macOS, but this method is preferred.


  1. Open Terminal and create a new text file with nano /path/to/DiscordChatExporter/cron.sh

Note: You can't use your mouse in nano, use the arrow keys to control the cursor (caret).

  1. Paste the following into the text file:
#!/bin/bash
# Info: https://github.com/Tyrrrz/DiscordChatExporter/blob/master/.docs

TOKEN=tokenhere
CHANNELID=channelhere
DLLFOLDER=dceFOLDERpathhere
FILENAME=filenamehere
EXPORTDIRECTORY=dirhere
EXPORTFORMAT=formathere
# Available export formats: plaintext, htmldark, htmllight, json, csv
# /\ CaSe-SeNsItIvE /\
# You can edit the export command on line 40 if you'd like to include more options like date ranges and date format. You can't use partitioning (-p) with this script.

# This will verify if EXPORTFORMAT is valid and will set the final file extension according to it. If the format is invalid, the script will display a message and exit.
if [[ "$EXPORTFORMAT" == "plaintext" ]]; then
FORMATEXT=.txt
elif [[ "$EXPORTFORMAT" == "htmldark" ]] || [[ "$EXPORTFORMAT" == "htmllight" ]]; then
FORMATEXT=.html
elif [[ "$EXPORTFORMAT" == "json" ]]; then
FORMATEXT=.json
elif [[ "$EXPORTFORMAT" == "csv" ]]; then
FORMATEXT=.csv
else
echo "$EXPORTFORMAT - Unknown export format"
echo "Available export formats: plaintext, htmldark, htmllight, csv, json"
echo "/\ CaSe-SeNsItIvE /\\"
exit 1
fi

# This will change the script's directory to DLLPATH, if unable to do so, the script will exit.
cd $DLLFOLDER || exit 1

# This will export your chat
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t $TOKEN -c $CHANNELID -f $EXPORTFORMAT -o $FILENAME.tmp

# This sets the current time to a variable
CURRENTTIME=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S")

# This will move the .tmp file to the desired export location, if unable to do so, it will attempt to delete the .tmp file.
if ! mv "$FILENAME.tmp" "${EXPORTDIRECTORY//\"}/$FILENAME-$CURRENTTIME$FORMATEXT" ; then
echo "Unable to move $FILENAME.tmp to $EXPORTDIRECTORY/$FILENAME-$CURRENTTIME$FORMATEXT."
echo "Cleaning up..."
  if ! rm -Rf "$FILENAME.tmp" ; then
  echo "Unable to remove $FILENAME.tmp."
  fi
exit 1
fi
exit 0
  1. Replace:
  • tokenhere with your Token.
  • channelhere with a Channel ID.
  • dceFOLDERpathhere with DCE's directory path (e.g. /path/to/folder, NOT /path/to/folder/DiscordChatExporter.dll).
  • filenamehere with the exported channel's filename, without spaces.
  • dirhere with the export directory (e.g. /home/user/Documents/Discord\ Exports).
  • formathere with one of the available export formats.

Note: Remember to escape spaces (add \ before them) or to quote (") the paths ("/home/my user")!

Note: To save, hold down CTRL and then press O, if asked for a filename, type it and press ENTER. Hit CTRL+X to exit the text editor. Check out this page if you want to know more about nano.

  1. Make your script executable with chmod +x /path/to/DiscordChatExporter/cron.sh

  2. Let's edit the cron file. If you want to run the script with your user privileges, edit it by running crontab -e. If you want to run the script as root, edit it with sudo crontab -e. If this is your first time running this command, you might be asked to select a text editor. Nano is easier for beginners.

  3. Add the following to the end of the file * * * * * /path/to/DiscordChatExporter/cron.sh >/tmp/discordchatexporter.log 2>/tmp/discordchatexportererror.log. Don't forget to replace the /path/to/DiscordChatExporter/cron.sh!

Note: If you don't want logs to be created, replace both /tmp/discordchatexporter.log with /dev/null.

Then replace the *s according to:


Examples:

  • If you want to execute the script at minute 15 of every hour: 15 * * * *
  • Every 30 minutes */30 * * * *
  • Every day at midnight 0 0 * * *
  • Every day at noon 0 12 * * *
  • Every day at 3, 4 and 6 PM 0 15,16,18 * * *
  • Every Wednesday at 9 AM 0 9 * * 3

Verify your cron time here.


Extra information

The week starts on Sunday. 0 = SUN, 1 = MON ... 7 = SUN.

Be aware that if you set the day to '31', the script will only run on months that have the 31st day.

Learn more about running a cron job on the last day of the month here (expert).

The default filename for the exported channel is YYYY-MM-DD-hh-mm-ss-yourfilename. You can change it if you'd like.

Don't forget to update your token in the script after it has been reset!


Special thanks to @Yudi