cron stopped running jobs, dyld_process_snapshot_get_shared_cache failed

I have the same issue on 15.4.1 with the tool '/usr/sbin/avbdeviced' on an M1 based system but I also tried running '/usr/sbin/cron' with the same issue.

I tried my work machine, also on Apple Silicon at 15.4.1 and saw the same issue.

Of course the cron utility is launched by launchd(8), not by humans on the shell, so it makes sense that it would crash if launched the wrong way, so I'd say in both cases things may be working as indented.

Using launchd more directly would make sense on macOS.

A crontab is still supposed to work with launchd calling the legacy cron daemon.

This is configured in /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vix.cron.plist

It has a condition that /etc/crontab must exist to keep cron alive.

You can see the status and PID with

launchctl print system/com.vix.cron

And then us PS to see /usr/sbin/cron running

tl;dr a human running

/usr/sbin/cron start 

is not correct and the cron binary would not be meeting its launch constraints and be terminated.

Here is the particular constraint that is being violated shown. The parent process must be launchd, and not a shell like zsh for example.

from crash log:

Termination Reason: CODESIGNING 4 Launch Constraint Violation

This is probably why, but I don't know enough developing apps on macOS. I've only dealt with simple shell scripts & Python scripts and an occasional AppleScript.

Binary Images:

0x1051d0000 - 0x10526bfff dyld_path_missing (*) <aca43a8d-6369-3a2c-af92-3d4c458523d6> /dyld_path_missing

0x104e48000 - 0x104e4ffff main_executable_path_missing (*) <c2a991a1-6d90-317e-b5d1-2127f69cb08c> /main_executable_path_missing

0x0 - 0xffffffffffffffff ??? (*) <00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000> ???

Seems like a possible PATH issue.

Perhaps a Zsh configuration profile issue?

Error Formulating Crash Report:

dyld_process_snapshot_get_shared_cache failed

I'm also a bit concerned about the last two lines there as it may indicate a file system issue, or perhaps an issue with some third party app that is interfering with the normal operation of macOS.

So I'd just assume that cron itself is running fine. 'ps' is just the command line equivalent of a snaphot dump of some of what Activity Monitor shows, so you've already seen cron is running.

The process in your crontab may be failing to launch perhaps if they used to work but don't now. There may be detail in the console app to see, now just ignoring/deleting the crash reports from attempting to manually run the cron daemon.

It will probably be something simple that you've overlooked because the red herring crash reports misdirected you.

As an alternative, if you want to bypass cron and configure jobs for launchd directly then Launch Control from Soma Zone will create the plist files and let you stop/start jobs to see if they work etc.

Is Rosetta involved?

👍🏽

• .All system apps and executable binaries in Ventura and later are subject to launch constraints, limiting the circumstances in which they can be launched.
• Among other things, launch constraints can prevent the user from running copies of bundled apps, and certain command tools (Mach-O binaries).
• If the user attempts an operation that’s not permitted by launch constraints, that app or executable will be terminated, with a crash report and log entries recording a Launch Constraint Violation.
• There’s no way to look up what launch constraints apply to any component in the system.
• The only way to disable launch constraints is to disable SIP.
• In Sonoma, these will be extended to environment constraints covering third-party code.

https://eclecticlight.co/2023/06/13/why-wont-a-system-app-or-command-tool-run-launch-constraints-and-trust-caches/