cron

Speed up Ampache using cron

A common complaint is that Ampache can be slow! Lets look at making that a things of the past!

We have added new options to the database and some example systemd units/timers into /docs/examples. The concept is simply to preload caches that Ampache queries in the background instead of each time you use them.

By default Ampache tries to do everything at once but lets do things a bit smarter!

Process

First up; make sure you've enabled the memory cache in your config file.

Then enable the cron_cache option in the Admin settings page.

• Copy or create the unit file and timer using the example below. (Edit to match your web path and web user.)

sudo cp /var/www/html/docs/examples/ampache_cron.* /etc/systemd/system/

• Enable the service and timer.

sudo systemctl unmask ampache_cron.service
sudo systemctl unmask ampache_cron.timer
sudo systemctl enable ampache_cron.timer
sudo systemctl enable ampache_cron.service

• Start the service

sudo systemctl start ampache_cron.timer

• Check the status

root@web:~# systemctl status ampache_cron
● ampache_cron.service - ampache_cron
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/ampache_cron.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: inactive (dead) since Wed 2020-04-15 13:32:19 AEST; 11min ago
TriggeredBy: ● ampache_cron.timer
       Docs: https://github.com/ampache/ampache/wiki/cron
    Process: 129213 ExecStart=/usr/bin/php bin/cron.inc (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 129213 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)

Apr 15 13:30:01 web systemd[1]: Starting ampache_cron...
Apr 15 13:32:19 web systemd[1]: ampache_cron.service: Succeeded.
Apr 15 13:32:19 web systemd[1]: Finished ampache_cron.

• Enjoy!

Unit File (ampache_cron.service)

This unit file will run channel 7 from the /var/www/html folder. Set your correct channel (and update the PID file to match)

Description=ampache_cron
After=network.target remote-fs.target nss-lookup.target
Documentation=https://github.com/ampache/ampache/wiki/cron

[Service] 
PrivateTmp=true 
KillMode=mixed
Type=oneshot
User=www-data
Group=www-data
ExecStart= php bin/cron.inc
WorkingDirectory=/var/www/html
ProtectSystem=yes

[Install] 
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Run the cron on a timer

Now that your cron is running you want it to keep running. The timer below will repeat the cron every 15 minutes. (for me personally it takes between 20 seconds and 2 minutes)

Timer file (ampache_cron.timer)

[Unit]
Description=start ampache_cron.service

[Timer]
OnCalendar=*:0/15
Unit=ampache_cron.service

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

Scheduled Task for Windows (ampache_cron.xml)

For Windows servers you can do the same thing just using the inbuilt Windows task scheduler

This example files uses the same path as the Windows Installation Guide make sure you update the file after importing to match your environment.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<Task version="1.2" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/2004/02/mit/task">
  <RegistrationInfo>
    <Date>2020-04-23T15:03:41.4222785</Date>
    <Author>DESKTOP-AVHVJ8Q\user</Author>
    <URI>\Ampache_Cron</URI>
  </RegistrationInfo>
  <Triggers>
    <CalendarTrigger>
      <Repetition>
        <Interval>PT1H</Interval>
        <Duration>P1D</Duration>
        <StopAtDurationEnd>false</StopAtDurationEnd>
      </Repetition>
      <StartBoundary>2020-04-23T03:00:00</StartBoundary>
      <ExecutionTimeLimit>PT30M</ExecutionTimeLimit>
      <Enabled>true</Enabled>
      <ScheduleByDay>
        <DaysInterval>1</DaysInterval>
      </ScheduleByDay>
    </CalendarTrigger>
  </Triggers>
  <Principals>
    <Principal id="Author">
      <UserId>S-1-5-21-265541621-1343530117-3658157868-1001</UserId>
      <LogonType>S4U</LogonType>
      <RunLevel>LeastPrivilege</RunLevel>
    </Principal>
  </Principals>
  <Settings>
    <MultipleInstancesPolicy>IgnoreNew</MultipleInstancesPolicy>
    <DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>true</DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>
    <StopIfGoingOnBatteries>true</StopIfGoingOnBatteries>
    <AllowHardTerminate>true</AllowHardTerminate>
    <StartWhenAvailable>false</StartWhenAvailable>
    <RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>false</RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>
    <IdleSettings>
      <StopOnIdleEnd>true</StopOnIdleEnd>
      <RestartOnIdle>false</RestartOnIdle>
    </IdleSettings>
    <AllowStartOnDemand>true</AllowStartOnDemand>
    <Enabled>true</Enabled>
    <Hidden>false</Hidden>
    <RunOnlyIfIdle>false</RunOnlyIfIdle>
    <WakeToRun>false</WakeToRun>
    <ExecutionTimeLimit>PT72H</ExecutionTimeLimit>
    <Priority>7</Priority>
  </Settings>
  <Actions Context="Author">
    <Exec>
      <Command>C:\Bitnami\wampstack-7.3.6-2\php\php.exe</Command>
      <Arguments>bin\cron.inc</Arguments>
      <WorkingDirectory>C:\Bitnami\wampstack-7.3.6-2\apache2\htdocs</WorkingDirectory>
    </Exec>
  </Actions>
</Task>