Sitemap Gen in multi-server environment?

I am currently faced with one issue, I hope that you guys can help clarifying.

I have currently three www front ends along with 2 db master/slave servers running my forums. When I visit the sitemap generator page and run the script manually, only the one front end gets the sitemap data generated that was assigned to me via the load balancer. I understand that I can then run an rsync between the three servers to update the contents.

How does it work when I run the scheduled task / cron job though. ./vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_sitemap.php will be run, but on which box? Are the cron jobs executed on all three boxes simultaneously or just one?

I guess this is more of a general question about the inner workings of vB scheduled tasks, still thought I'd ask for this case though.

Thanks in advance!

In case of "regular" vB scheduled task, sitemap generator will be executed on the box that will server "cron.php" request at that particular moment (i.e. one random server). You can setup system cron task for every server though to regenerate sitemap on all boxes or create rsync script that will put sitemaps on all your hosts.

How would I go about running the cron on all three servers?

You should setup a cron task for every box either in hosting control panel or in command line using crontab. The cmd line would be:
/usr/local/bin/php /path/to/forum/vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_sitemap.php

Originally Posted by Oleg Ignatiuk

You should setup a cron task for every box either in hosting control panel or in command line using crontab. The cmd line would be:
/usr/local/bin/php /path/to/forum/vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_sitemap.php

That was waaaaay too obvious. I forgot that it was not required to run the maintenance tasks via the vB scheduled tasks but that it all could be run as a system cron.

I'll give that a shot!
Thanks Oleg, great work as usual.

You are welcome!